The feedback I get from the histotechnologists, when we cover the grossing so the PAs can take vacation, is that they prefer the PAs’ sections. I don’t doubt it. I have been on the other side of this, and it is a struggle to do grossing, intraoperative consults, meetings, quality assurance, and signout and to maintain the pace, all in a day. Only a pathologist can do the microscope and administrative work for the core laboratory and so on, but the PAs and grossing technicians make us more efficient. They therefore have a positive impact on the consulting physician’s satisfaction with turnaround times, and those shorter TATs make timely treatment possible and improve the whole system downstream from the tissue diagnosis.
PAs are paid well because they are skilled at what they do. I have not forgotten how to do solid grossing myself, but I cannot do it all, all the time, and be as effective a diagnostician in my practice. In short, our PAs are indispensable to our practice.
Daniel J. Boudreaux, MD
Staff Pathologist
St. Mary’s Health Care System Athens Trinity Health
Athens, Ga.
Multicancer early detection
Congress’ recent passage of the Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act represents a crucial step forward in advancing early cancer detection in hope of improving patient outcomes. By supporting policies that expand awareness, reimbursement pathways, and research incentives for multicancer early detection (MCED) technologies, this law helps create a stronger foundation for innovation in cancer screening.
MCED testing has the potential to transform oncology by identifying scores of cancer types through a minimally invasive blood collection. Earlier detection is consistently associated with improved survival rates, reduced treatment costs, and better quality of life for patients. However, widespread adoption of novel technologies has historically been slowed by lengthy reimbursement pathways and limited investment confidence. The Nancy Sewell Act signals federal recognition of MCED’s promise.
Companies such as Precision Epigenomics are working to develop affordable and effective epigenetic-based platforms like Episeek to detect cancer-associated DNA methylation signals across multiple tumor types. Legislative support helps foster collaborative translational research, validation and utility studies, and commercialization efforts required to bring the next generation of screening tools to patients.
By encouraging investment in and accelerating access to MCED technologies, Congress is helping move health care toward a more proactive, prevention-focused model that benefits patients, providers, and the health care system alike. Make no mistake: Additional work remains, but the enactment of the Nancy Sewell Act provides a clear path to reimbursement. This represents a much-needed boost to the ambitious goal of an affordable, fast, scalable, and effective stage I and II MCED test that improves outcomes.
Richard Bernert, MD
Chief Operating Officer
Precision Epigenomics
Tucson, Ariz.
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