[Histonet] What's on that H&E?

[Bruce Gapinski]

Dear Histonians,
                How many sections do put on a slide from a block cast in a small embedding mold? Do you automatically include any levels?  Then please tell me how many slides your techs cut per hour?
                The problem is (may be) that we put 4 levels on a slide with two sections per level. That is:

  1.  Full face (or pretty close) 2 sections
  2.  Level 2 sections
  3.  Level 2 sections
  4.  Level 2 sections
So I have 8 sections on my H&E. This takes me some time, and I understand all histologists may not be doing things this way. But the problem is, when we discuss output and my techs appear slow I find that other labs put much less tissue on a slide. Some labs give a fatty string of serial sections in two rows, and that appears to be just like my slide. But only on the surface (pardon the pun).
My pathologists just renegotiated the contracts for all our dermatologists after the new 88305TC pricing, and those doctors say "Oh, we can get slides cheaper than that." Maybe they can but what would they see on the H&E, and would they care?
        So now I'm faced with doing things as we have or stop giving those levels. I understand my job as a Histologist is to demonstrate the tissue. So I'll stick to the levels, because  I:

1.       Work for the patient

2.       Am supervised by the Pathologists

3.       Am reimbursed by our company
Tell me what you do in you lab, please

Bruce Gapinsk HT (ASCP)
Chief Histologist
Marin Medical Laboratories
PathGroup SF


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