mhatomic pathology turnaround times. Use and abuse

Anatomic pathology service is judged by accuracy of diagnosis and rapidity of reporting of that diagnosis to clinicians. Turnaround times have been used in anatomic pathology to show how long it take to produce a tissue report. Rapid tissue diagnosis is important to patients, clinicians, administrators, and anatomic pathologists. Documentation of turnaround times (TAT) to substantiate efficient service can be similarly important. The authors describe how turnaround times can be used and discuss their impact from different perspectives.