NORTHFIELD, Ill.—As the current COVID-19 health crisis demonstrates, medical laboratories and the pathologists who oversee them to develop and conduct tests are relied upon to steer many of the health care decisions for the ultimate wellbeing of patients everywhere.
The College of American Pathologists (CAP) released its 2019 annual report to provide more information on how pathologists improve laboratory quality, work with federal and state governments to protect the specialty and patients, and serve an essential purpose in diagnosing disease and improving patient care.
“This organization empowers members to harness their collective energy to become the
best pathologists they can be and receive fair compensation for their work,” writes CAP President Patrick Godbey, MD, FCAP, in the opening letter to the report. “The ultimate goal is to improve the health of our patients by diagnosing disease accurately and guiding effective therapy.”
With nearly 18,000 members, the CAP is the world’s largest organization of board-certified pathologists and is responsible for helping laboratories ensure they are conducting safe and accurate tests through laboratory accreditation and proficiency testing (PT).
In addition to providing laboratory quality solutions, the CAP mobilizes members for the advancement and protection of pathology through legislative advocacy and provides continuing education opportunities so that pathologists and laboratory professionals have the most up-to-date best practices for new technologies and testing.
Highlights from the 2019 annual report include:
- The CAP has supplied 22,706 laboratories with PT programs and accredited 8,077 laboratories worldwide, requiring 1,965 pathologists to conduct on-site inspections.
- Through direct member action, the CAP advocated to protect patients from surprise medical bills stemming from unexpected out-of-network care provided at in-network hospitals.
- More than 1,000 pathologists chose the Pathologists Quality Registry as the quality registry tool to ensure their practices can provide value and receive fair compensation for their essential services.
- In the 2019 laboratory accreditation checklist edition, the CAP added 130 new requirements and revised approximately 290 requirements to keep accredited laboratories in line with specialty best practices.
- In 2019, members of the Cancer and Pathology Electronic Reporting Committees led the release of 98 revised cancer protocols and biomarker templates, which helps ensure testing, diagnosis, and treatment are aligned and properly classified for the benefit of patient care.
- The CAP offered 496 live and online educational courses for pathologists and laboratory professionals.
- The CAP Foundation hosted See, Test & Treat events across the US that provided free cancer screening and medical education to over 800 underserved women.
- The CAP Foundation awarded 25 scholarships to residents, fellows, and medical students to support leadership development and advanced training opportunities in informatics and translational diagnostics.
About the College of American Pathologists
As the world's largest organization of board-certified pathologists and leading provider of laboratory accreditation and proficiency testing programs, the College of American Pathologists (CAP) serves patients, pathologists, and the public by fostering and advocating excellence in the practice of pathology and laboratory medicine worldwide. For more information, visit yourpathologist.org to watch pathologists at work and see the stories of the patients who trust them with their care. Read the 2019 CAP Annual Report at CAP.ORG.