CAPcasts

Trichomoniasis is the most common, non-viral, sexually transmitted infection. Pathologists providing laboratory testing for this infection should understand the advantages and disadvantages of the commercially available, FDA approved/cleared methods, explains Mayo Clinic pathologist Bobbi Pritt, MD, FCAP, in this CAPcast. Dr. Pritt led the development of the Clinical Pathology Improvement Program offerings on this topic (https://capatholo.gy/3x9XUCy).

Following the release of the White House’s National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness, the CAP responded to the Biden Administration by outlining pathologists’ priorities as government officials work to implement the strategy. The CAP’s Advocacy efforts have included several touchpoints with the Administration and Congress. In this CAPcast, Jonathan Myles, MD, FCAP, will discuss the CAP’s actions this year to influence the government’s response to the pandemic.

More than one year into the pandemic, leading pathologists discuss the challenges of managing the impact of COVID-19 on multiple public health fronts, including health disparities in which “preventable differences in the burden of disease ... are experienced by socially disadvantaged populations,” according to the CDC, and what that means in terms of testing and disease diagnosis and treatment.

This CAPcast interview features the audio recording of a recent CAP Zoom media briefing, "The Rapidly Changing COVID-19 Testing Landscape: Vaccines, Variants, and Health Disparities." The moderator is Kisha A. Mitchell Richards, MD, FCAP, Director of Pathology and Laboratory, Greenwich Hospital; expert panelists are CAP President Patrick Godbey, MD, FCAP; Kalisha Hill, MD, MBA, FCAP, FASCP, Governor, CAP; Regional Chief Medical Officer, Amita Health St. Joseph Medical Center and St. Mary's Hospital Kankakee; Medical Director, Pathology and Laboratory Services, Amita Health St. Mary's Hospital Kankakee; and Carey Z. August, MD, FCAP, President, Board of Directors, CAP Foundation; Chairman of Pathology and Medical Director of Laboratories, Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center.

How can CAP members effectively advocate for their specialty when they cannot currently speak to their members of Congress in person? Or perhaps they are hesitant to speak to Congressional members due to a perceived lack of knowledge on advocacy issues. Fortunately, plenty of CAP members have participated in virtual meetings with members of Congress, and their legislative staff, and can provide some insight. In this CAPcast, Rasleen Saluja, MD, a pathologist in Chicago, Illinois, discusses her experience advocating virtually with her Congressional representatives. Dr. Saluja is currently the Blood Banking and Transfusion Medicine Fellow at Northwestern University and after graduation, she will join the pathologists at Carle Foundation Hospital in Champaign, Illinois.

For more information on the CAP’s Advocacy efforts, please visit the Advocacy section of CAP.org and be sure to follow CAP Advocacy on Twitter at @CAPDCAdvocacy. And for more information about the Pathologists Leadership Summit, which will be held virtually May 1-4, 2021, please visit https://www.pathologistsleadershipsummit.org/.

The legislative attention span has never been more difficult to catch and carry—particularly in the current virtual environment. The most effective approach to reach lawmakers to advocate effectively for the pathology specialty is two pronged—the first is to create a one-minute elevator pitch and secondly, polish your virtual speaking skills, according to leading communications experts and media trainers Teri Goudie and Caylen Bufalino, who will be leading two courses on these topics on May 2 at the Pathologists Leadership Summit (https://www.pathologistsleadershipsummit.org/), which will be held virtually and is free for CAP members.

Cancer immunotherapy has revolutionized oncology through dramatically increased survival rates, even in late-stage disease. Some biomarkers are already covered in what has become routine testing in many laboratories, affording pathologists an opportunity to play a central role in developing and implementing these biomarkers in ways to improve patient care, explains Eric Walk, MD, FCAP, Chief Medical & Scientific Officer and Senior VP of Medical & Scientific Affairs with Roche Diagnostics, in this CAPcast.

Dr. Walk recently wrote an article on this topic, which is posted on CAP.org under the Precision Medicine Resource Center: https://capatholo.gy/345u6dd.

Throughout the COVID pandemic, the CAP has worked to introduce innovative hybrid and virtual inspection models to ensure safety for our inspectors and laboratories while working around evolving travel restrictions. During this podcast, Francis Sharkey, MD, FCAP, one of the pioneers of this new model, will discuss how he refined his inspection process and how the tools that he developed overlap with what the CAP provides. Dr. Sharkey, who is with UT Health in San Antonio, Texas, has completed both hybrid and virtual inspections for domestic and international laboratories.

To stay up-to-date with the latest information on the CAP’s inspection models during the pandemic, go to cap.org and search “Inspector Tools and Training”.

The CAP’s Accuracy-Based programs use genuine human specimens that exhibit essentially no matrix effects. Such samples can be used to compare different methods to each other and to reference methods. In so doing, pathologists and laboratory professionals can assess whether the method used in their laboratories is accurate, not just that your performance matches your peer group. In this CAPcast, Gary Horowitz, MD, FCAP, Chair of the CAP’s Accuracy-Based Programs Committee, explains why it’s important to incorporate accuracy-based testing into your quality process.

For more information about the CAP’s Accuracy-Based programs, please visit https://capatholo.gy/3qtcJMF.

State pathology societies strengthen the profession and bolster pathology’s influence on advocacy issues at the state and federal levels. When working with elected officials, we know that the number of members in an organization and the viability of the organization affects its ability to guide policy and impact decisions, explains Matthew Foster, MD, FCAP, vice-chair of the CAP’s Federal and State Affairs Committee and immediate past president of the Virginia Society for Pathology, in this CAPcast interview. Dr. Foster will be leading a session on state advocacy at the Pathologists Leadership Summit, which will be held virtually May 1-4, 2021.

There's a lot of hype surrounding artificial intelligence (or AI) and pathology. Indeed, many pathologists are afraid that AI or machine learning will replace them. But there’s no evidence to suggest that pathologists will be replaced by the robots just yet, explains Matthew Hanna, MD, FCAP in this CAPcast interview. Dr. Hanna will be leading a session on this topic at the Pathologists Leadership Summit, which will be held virtually May 1-4, 2021.