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The Role of the Pathologist in Population Health
David J Gross, Mary Kennedy, Tarush Kothari
1From the Policy Roundtable, College of American Pathologists, Washington, DC (Dr Gross); Clinical Informatics, College of American Pathologists, Northfield, Illinois (Ms Kennedy); the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Lake Success, New York (Drs Kothari and Crawford); Eastern Great Lakes Pathology, Amherst, New York (Dr Scamurra); the Division of Laboratory Medicine, Geisinger Medical Laboratories, Danville, Pennsylvania (Dr Wilkerson); and the Department of Pathology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina (Dr Cohen).
Insights
Pathologists can significantly improve population health by leveraging laboratory data. Proactive engagement and skill enhancement are key for pathologists in all practice settings to maximize their contributions to health systems.
Area of Science:
- Medical laboratory science
- Public health
- Health systems research
Background:
- The College of American Pathologists is researching the role of pathologists in value-based care and population health.
- Understanding the impact and engagement of pathologists in population health management is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the impact of population health on pathologists.
- To identify roles pathologists play in population health management.
- To assess the feasibility of pathologist engagement in diverse practice settings.
- To explore pathologists' capacity to analyze laboratory data for population health.
- To outline steps for pathologist involvement in population health initiatives.
Main Methods:
- Conducted 10 semistructured interviews with pathologists and laboratory leaders active in population health.
- Supplemented interviews with a comprehensive review of the medical literature.
Main Results:
- Pathologists can add significant value to population health through laboratory data analysis.
- Contributions are possible in both large and small practice settings.
- Pathologists must be proactive and may need to enhance skills and data quality to maximize impact.
Conclusions:
- Pathologists are making innovative contributions to population health.
- This article highlights promising activities among pathologists and laboratorians in population health management.
Context.—:
As part of its value-based care initiative, the College of American Pathologists has pursued research to better understand the role pathologists can have in population health.
Objectives.—:
To answer the following questions: (1) what is the impact of population health and population health management on pathologists; (2) what roles are pathologists playing in population health management; (3) is population health something that pathologists in both larger and smaller settings can engage in; (4) are pathologists in a position to analyze laboratory data for population health, and, if so, what are the key information sources those pathologists must access; and (5) what steps can a pathologist take to become involved in population health?
Design.—:
We conducted 10 semistructured interviews with pathologists and other medical laboratory leaders who have been active in population health. These interviews were supplemented with a review of the medical literature.
Results.—:
Pathologists have demonstrated that laboratory data can provide unique value-added contributions to improving the health of populations. These contributions are not limited to pathologists in large, integrated settings. However, pathologists need to be proactive to contribute to health systems' population health efforts and may need to both enhance their own skills and the quality of their data to maximize the value of their contributions.
Conclusions.—:
Although not necessarily a definitive summary of the roles that pathologists are playing in population health, this article identifies some of the promising and innovative activities occurring among pathologists and laboratorians.
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