CAPcasts

In this CAPcast, Mary Edgerton, MD, FCAP, talks with experts in pancreatic cancer research, diagnosis, treatment, and patient advocacy: Paula Kim, co-founder of Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN); Ariban Maitra, MD, FCAP, Nilo Azad, MD; Ralph Hruban, MD; and, Fatima Zelada-Arenas, Senior Director of Research and Education at PanCAN.

This month we'll be looking at the excellence of the CAP's proficiency testing, add-on services responsible for Medicare cuts, Excited Delirium, and more. We'll also sit down with Matthew Foster MD, FCAP, to go over what CAP members advocated for, how it was received in Congress and how members can get involved in the future.

This episode features a conversation with Oksana Volod, MD, FCAP, editor and co-author of the new book, Whole Blood Viscoelastic Assays in Clinical Diagnosis: An Illustrated Case-Based Guide. A comprehensive resource on viscoelastic testing for pathologists, clinical laboratory scientists, and other health care professionals, the book addresses hemostasis, physiology, conventional assays for its assessment and their advantages and disadvantages, and therapeutic agents used in patient management.

Joseph Sirintrapun, MD, FCAP, and Diana Cardona, MD, MBA, FCAP, discuss implementing digital pathology at Duke Health. Dr. Cardona shares the challenges and easy wins Duke Health has experienced so far in the process and where she sees digital pathology heading in the next 5 to 10 years. This episode is part of a series of conversations featuring institutions at varying degrees of digital pathology implementation.

Artificial intelligence, also known as AI, is streamlining processes within health care, particularly related to diagnosing and managing patient care. In this interview with Becker’s Healthcare, M.E. (Doc) de Baca, chair of the College of American Pathologists’ Council on Informatics and Pathology Innovation, discusses the complexities of integrating AI into patient care, considering the practical, ethical and collaborative aspects that need to be addressed for effective implementation and improved patient care.

October has been recognized as Breast Cancer Awareness Month for nearly four decades. In this CAPcast, Mary Edgerton, MD, PhD, FCAP talks with Regina Barzilay, PhD, Ross Simpson, MD, FCAP, Timothy Law, MD, and Patient Advocate Rebecca Seago-Coyle. The group discussed what’s on the horizon for breast cancer research, how it will impact patient outcomes, and the role of pathology data in these efforts.

The digital transformation of pathology is underway, and laboratories increasingly need equipment and software that enables the use of innovative diagnostic tools such as machine learning/artificial intelligence. To implement any of these diagnostic tools, laboratory leadership must take several pre-analytic considerations into account.

Matthew Hanna, MD, FCAP, authored a new case on this topic for the Informatics Essentials for Pathologists Program. In this episode, he shares insights on the prerequisites necessary for a successful digital pathology system implementation.

This month we'll discuss efforts to improve Medicare payments for pathologists, advocacy wins with UnitedHealthcare, and name changes for cytotechnologist. We also sat down with Pam Wright, Senior Director for Economic and Regulatory Affairs at the CAP, to discuss this year's Practice Expense Survey and go in-depth on what the survey is, why it's important, and how its results can help pathology practices.

Artificial intelligence is an exciting technology impacting the practice of pathology. When applied to the area of precision medicine, especially to treat oncologic disease, even more frontiers open for providing better patient care. This episode, a joint effort between the Personalized Health Care Committee and Digital and Computational Pathology Committee, features Dr. Marilyn Bui and Dr. Eric Walk discussing machine learning developments and the future of AI in precision medicine.

Srividya Sathiyamoorthy, MD, MS, FCAP, shares her personal journey to wellness after dealing with years of musculoskeletal pain and offers advice to other pathologists about the importance of seeking help and advocating for yourself.