Summary
The College of American Pathologists (CAP) emphasizes the complementary role of AI in pathology, highlighting the need for local pathologists to evaluate AI system performance. CAP recommends federal policies prioritize patient safety, innovation, and the role of pathologists. Additionally, the American Board of Pathology will update diplomate status for retired pathologists, automatically transitioning those certified in 1975 or earlier.
Pathology and AI
March 2026—“AI tools make predictions. Pathologists make diagnoses,” the CAP said in a Feb. 3 statement for the record submitted to the U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee on health, employment, labor, and pensions of the Committee on Education and the Workforce. The subcommittee held a hearing titled “Building an AI-Ready America: Adopting AI at Work.”
“The best performance of AI in pathology accrues when machine capabilities provide physicians (i.e., pathologists) with added information to extend analysis, enhancing rather than replacing human expertise,” the CAP said in its statement.
The clinical performance of AI is dependent on the characteristics of the local data over which the AI operates, the CAP explained, and thus “local pathologists are the best-positioned experts to evaluate the performance of AI systems using their laboratories’ data at the time of deployment and over time during use.”
Should the committee pursue legislation related to AI, the CAP recommended that federal policies not be overly burdensome from a laboratory perspective and that the policies prioritize patient safety, ensure clinical validity, allow for innovation, and preserve the role of pathologists as physicians and advocates for patients. The CAP also recommended that new federal requirements, if any, not duplicate existing regulations and not infringe on the practice of medicine.
“Further adoption of AI in pathology,” the CAP said, “will also require investment in digital infrastructure and workforce training.”
Reporting begins May 1
Section 6226 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, passed Feb. 3, updated the data reporting requirements for clinical diagnostic laboratory tests that are not advanced diagnostic laboratory tests. The next data reporting period will be this year from May 1 to July 31 and is based on an updated data collection period of Jan. 1, 2025 through June 30, 2025.
The applicable information includes the HCPCS code associated with the test, each private payer rate for which final payment has been made during the data collection period, and the associated volume of tests performed corresponding to each private payer rate. Only applicable laboratories must report the information (details at https://bit.ly/CLFS-reporting).
Most clinical diagnostic laboratory tests are paid based off the weighted median of private payer rates.
Retired status diplomates
The American Board of Pathology is updating how diplomate status will be recorded for those who are no longer in active practice. The changes, it said, ensure the ABPath maintains accurate records and correctly reports diplomates’ current practice and licensure status.
Effective July 1 this year, the ABPath will automatically update the status to retired for diplomates who received primary certification in 1975 or earlier and who do not currently hold an active medical license.
Diplomates who are transitioned to retired status under this policy will not be required to meet additional retired status requirements.
Non-time-limited diplomates who received primary certification in 1976 through 2005 and are no longer in active practice can request retired status by contacting the ABPath.