From the President’s Desk

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A lot of this information would be relevant to a laboratory utilization committee. These are typically seen as dull, but a well-functioning committee can offer highly strategic advice and critical information to the leaders of a variety of service lines. If you have an opportunity to get involved in your laboratory utilization committee, I recommend trying it. It could be a great step toward having a more strategic role at your institution. A pathologist’s perspective can help ensure that women’s health or cardiology or any other service line is offering the most appropriate test panels for their patient populations.

Unfortunately, it is incumbent upon pathologists to make everyone else aware that we are a foundational part of any care team and that we should be included in strategy as well. There are areas where our value is obvious to the entire clinical team—the oncology service line is a fitting example of that. Treatment for cancer patients cannot start until we have done our jobs and presented a clear diagnosis. Our work is regularly included in tumor board discussions, where pathologists’ perspectives are intrinsic to robust discussions.

That model should be extended to other areas, but it will be up to us to raise our hands and help make it happen. In my experience, pathologists tend to be included early in the development of new service lines only by happenstance—a pathologist hears about plans to grow a service line while chatting with a colleague in a lounge, for instance, and offers to get involved. Or a pathologist finds out that the human resources team is recruiting neurosurgeons and knows that it will be important to add neuropathologist expertise to the pathology department to support those efforts. Wherever possible, we should try to find ways to be more purposeful about our inclusion, expanding what has worked so well in oncology to other areas and to hospital administration in general.

On a personal note, I’d like to share some happy career news. I’ve moved to a new position as vice president for system laboratories and pathology at UofL Health in Louisville, Ky. I’m excited about continuing in a leadership role while getting to work more closely with other pathologists and laboratorians every day.

Dr. Volk welcomes communication from CAP members. Write to her at president@cap.org.