[Histonet] RE: Histology lab assistant

[D'Attilio, Shelley]

Hi all, 
Matt asked about the duties of a non-certified Histology aide.  We have had this position for about 4 years and I consider it absolutely vital to the running of the lab.  We originally started with a half-time assistant working in the afternoons (the time with the busiest call volume).  This summer, I was able to increase the hours and make the position full time, working 0830-1700.

The assistant's responsibilities are as follows:

*	Filing slides and paperwork
*	Morning slide distribution to pathologists (match slides to reports, last check of number of parts submitted)
*	Answering the phone (a big boon to histotech productivity!)
*	Coordinates send-out testing--pulls slides and block and takes to pathologist, fill out paperwork, package, etc.
*	Moves slides from the stainer to the automatic coverslipper
*	Some non-technical tasks related to our weekly Tumor board preparation
*	Back-up gross room assistant for patient registration, specimen accessioning, and assist with gross exam
*	Compilation of some CAP-required statistics (e.g. frozen section turnaround times)
*	Reviewing bills and handling reference lab reports

Eventually, this position may also be assigned minor daily maintenance on the slide labeler and H&E stainer and alcohol recycling.

Giving these tasks to an assistant, especially answering the phone and managing sendouts, allows our histotechs to focus on their core competencies as well as other technical responsibilites such as regular procedure review and other items related to our CAP accreditation.

Our professional staff is a mixture of HT(ASCP) and HTL(ASCP), with a few folks who are trained or in training.  These people have the necessary education to sit for the certification exam following their training period and they are expected to pass the exam as a condition of their continued employment.

Regards,

Shelley D'Attilio MT(ASCP)
Manager, Chemistry, Cytology and Histology
Dept. of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Stormont-Vail HealthCare
Topeka, Kansas



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