Registration is now open for the CAP’s annual meeting, CAP19, which will be held Sept. 21-25 in Orlando, Florida. In this CAPcast interview, Dr. Jennifer Hunt, Chair of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, discusses the rich career and educational opportunities at this annual event. Learn more and register for #cap19ORL: https://www.capannualmeeting.org/.

Immunotherapy targeting the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway represents a new therapeutic paradigm and a promising treatment option for advanced non-small-cell lung cancers, melanoma, and more recently, gastric and gastroesophageal carcinomas. As the role of PD-L1 IHC testing in the diagnostic work-up of solid tumors continues to expand, practicing pathologists are playing an increasingly larger role in test selection and integration of these molecular data into their reports, according to Dr. Larissa Furtado, who is teaching a course PD-L1 testing at CAP19 (www.capannualmeeting.org).

In this CAPcast, Dr. Furtado provides an overview of PD-L1 testing, as well as how pathologists can confront the challenges related to implementing PD-L1 IHC testing into their laboratories.

Because pathologists confront informatics problems on a regular basis, it’s critical for them to effectively diagnose and treat common informatics problems in partnership with other clinical providers, hospital/client leadership, IT staff, and laboratory staff.

In this CAPcast, Dr. John Sinard discusses common process and technology-based informatics issues and how pathologists can develop clinical diagnostic informatics acumen to deal with these issues. Dr. Sinard will be teaching a course on this topic at CAP19, along with his co-faculty Dr. Alexis Carter and Dr. Myra Wilkerson. For more information and to register for CAP19, visit www.capannualmeeting.org.

Pathology systems such as digital microscopy, laboratory instruments, middleware, LIS, and EHR are starting to incorporate components based on machine learning and artificial intelligence. However, pathologists are poorly equipped to verify the quality of performance of the various digital pathology and other laboratory systems other than by using documents provided by the system vendors, according to Dr. Matthew Hanna, who is teaching a CAP19 course on navigating the implementation challenges of systems incorporating machine learning and artificial intelligence (learn more about CAP19: https://capatholo.gy/2Vzqkm9).

In this CAPcast interview, Dr. Hanna discusses these challenges and how pathologists can avoid problems using best practices in performance assessment from initial deployment through ongoing maintenance of quality.

The paradigm for prostate cancer treatment is evolving. While there is an increasing desire to manage low-risk cancers without aggressive treatment, there is also a need to identify high-risk cancers and treat appropriately.

In this CAPcast interview, Dr. Sean Williamson, a surgical pathologist from the Henry Ford Health System, discusses the diagnostic challenges of evaluating prostate biopsies, the significance of neuroendocrine differentiation in prostate cancer, and recent consensus guidelines and classification schemes. Dr. Williamson and Dr. Giovanna Giannico will be teaching a course on this topic at CAP19, which will be held Sept. 21-25 in Orlando, Florida: https://capatholo.gy/2Vzqkm9.

Soft tissue pathology—it can be a challenging area of specialty for many general pathologists. In this CAPcast, Dr. Jerad Gardner discusses the common pitfalls and benign mimics that pathologists are most likely to encounter, as well as how to navigate the many ancillary tests available for soft tissue lesions. Dr. Gardner will be teaching a course on this topic at CAP19, which will be held Sept. 21-25 in Orlando, Florida: https://capatholo.gy/2Vzqkm9.

Maximizing patient safety and reducing diagnostic errors is rooted in a quality management approach. The manual Quality Management in Anatomic Pathology (https://capatholo.gy/2UNJ9lk) provides pathologists and laboratory directors with the tools necessary to implement a comprehensive quality program, with an emphasis on regulatory compliance and cross-references to the CAP Laboratory Accreditation Program checklists and CLIA. In this CAPcast, one of the book’s co-authors, Dr. Gene Siegal, discusses the challenges related to quality, the common causes of error, and the key elements of a comprehensive quality program.

Clear, concise communication is required in all pathology practices with many constituencies, such as colleagues, clinicians, staff, nurses, administrators, and patients. But effective communication with all these audiences may be difficult. In addition, conventional modalities such as meetings, conference calls, written communications, and emails may have limited effect or may be used inappropriately and newer communication platforms, such as social media, may be unfamiliar to many pathologists.

In this CAPcast interview, Dr. Timothy Allen discusses better modes of communication as well as pitfalls in written, verbal, and visual interactions. Dr. Allen will be teaching a course on this subject in September at CAP19. Learn more about CAP19: https://capatholo.gy/2Vzqkm9.

Clear, concise communication is required in all pathology practices with many constituencies, such as colleagues, clinicians, staff, nurses, administrators, and patients. But effective communication with all these audiences may be difficult. In addition, conventional modalities such as meetings, conference calls, written communications, and emails may have limited effect or may be used inappropriately and newer communication platforms, such as social media, may be unfamiliar to many pathologists. In this CAPcast interview, Dr. Timothy Allen discusses better modes of communication as well as pitfalls in written, verbal, and visual interactions. Dr. Allen will be teaching a course on this subject in September at CAP19.

Injuries to patients or laboratory staff due to unsafe conditions can result in unwanted publicity, adverse accreditation decisions, and damage to the pathologist’s professional reputation. Pathologists who recognize and correct unsafe conditions are less likely to be involved in related court proceedings, according to Dr. Richard Scanlan, who will be teaching a course on this topic later this year entitled, “Don’t Be THAT Lab,” at CAP19 which will be held Sept. 21-25 in Orlando, Florida. In this CAPcast interview, Dr. Scanlan discusses some of the challenges related to managing a laboratory and how laboratory directors can mitigate risks.