Distribution of surgical pathology reports by a computer-driven telephone facsimile (FAX) device

The current environment of medical economics increasingly mandates that written reports on surgical pathology specimens be distributed as soon as they are verified by responsible staff members and that they find their way infallibly to clinical physicians attending the patients in question. This brief overview describes the institutional experiences of the authors in managing this aspect of data delivery at large teaching hospitals. A system for FAX-transmittal of surgical pathology reports is described, used in conjunction with a commercial computer software package that was designed explicitly for anatomic pathology.