Level One Priorities
Within each of the advocacy areas, ordering sequence does not denote importance. As issues evolve, their respective priority levels may change.
Patient Safety and Laboratory Quality
- Laboratory developed tests
- Direct access to testing
- Patient safety within the laboratory and the healthcare environment
- Medical error identification and reduction
The Future of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
- Personalized medicine
- Paradigm of practice
Laboratory Workforce
- Funding for laboratory professional training and students
- Educational opportunities to improve the supply of qualified laboratory professionals
- Adequate funding for graduate medical education in pathology
- Recognition of pathologists and laboratory professionals as an integral part of the healthcare team
- Performance evaluation: pay for performance
Personnel Standards and Licensure
- Formal personnel training and certification requirements
- Principles for the licensure and national certification of laboratory professionals
- Scope of practice of pathologists and laboratory professionals
Payment
- Reasonable and adequate coding reimbursement
- Opposition to methods of payment for clinical laboratory services which implement co-payments or competitive bidding
- Accurate and appropriate coding for clinical laboratory professionals
- Opposition to illegal and unethical practices with regard to laboratory billing (e.g. fee splitting)
- Monitoring of proposals to bundle Medicare services
Health Information Technology
- Pathology and laboratory medicine informatics
- Electronic medical records (EMRs)
- Health data repository
Health Care Systems
Global Health
- Support for global health initiatives to promote quality laboratory practice
