[Histonet] Re: tracking turnaround time of intraoperative consultations

[Della Speranza, Vinnie]

Thanks Dr. Richmond. CAP's turnaround time requirement for frozen sections is unchanged.

My question was prompted by the fact that we have an individual internal to our organization pushing for measuring turnaround from time of order to time result is issued, which muddies the water, at least for us as we do not have electronic ordering from the OR. This is prompted by JCAHO's requirement that turnaround time for critical tests be measured (Frozen section is considered a critical test by this organization)

As far as I know, there is no national standard to be met if one measures turnaround from time of order, so the data then is up to the institution's interpretation for what is acceptable. 

One of the respondents indicated that they consider the time the sample gets to pathology as the time the test was ordered. Of those who responded to my query, one lab has electronic order entry and is just beginning to track both the in lab turnaround time and the time from order to result. 

Vinnie Della Speranza
Manager for Anatomic Pathology Services
Medical University of South Carolina
165 Ashley Avenue  Suite 309
Charleston, South Carolina 29425
Tel: (843) 792-6353
Fax: (843) 792-8974
 

-----Original Message-----
From: histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu [mailto:histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of Robert Richmond
Sent: Wednesday, June 24, 2009 1:29 PM
To: histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
Subject: [Histonet] Re: tracking turnaround time of intraoperative consultations

Vinnie Della Speranza, Manager for Anatomic Pathology Services Medical
University of South Carolina
Charleston SC asks about tracking turnaround time of frozen sections (note
that not every intraoperative consultation requires a frozen section).

The few services I've worked on that attempted to track turnaround time
timed them from time of receipt in the laboratory (using a time stamp for
that) to telephoning the report (the pathologist had to write down the time
on the hand-scribbled report). The prescribed maximum turnaround was 20
minutes, which is pretty easy to meet. Cases with multiple frozen sections
were not timed.

Has there been some change in the CAP requirements for recording turnaround
time of frozen sections in the last three years?

Bob Richmond
Samurai Pathologist
Knoxville TN
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