Transcription

• Stevon Burrell

  Pathologists take AI for a test drive and an advancement in efficient test utilization in today's laboratories. Coming up next on the Path News Network Daily Edition. This is the Path News Network Daily Edition, powered by the College of American Pathologists. I'm Stevon Burrell. It's Thursday, October 30th, and here are the latest headlines. Pathologists can now test drive artificial intelligence thanks to the CAP. The CAP's AI studio gives members a hands-on way to explore real AI models before using them in their labs. It's like buying a car, said Dr. Rajendra Singh, member of the CAP Digital and Computational Pathology Committee. Quote, you want to test drive it first to see if it really works for you. Launched in June, the platform already has nearly 20,000 users worldwide. Learn more by visiting the link in today's show notes. And are you ready for your media close-up? The CAP is offering virtual media training sessions to help members deliver clear messages and handle tough questions with confidence. The training covers adapting your style for different audiences, crafting compelling soundbites, and staying composed under pressure. Real-world examples from fellow members and insights into how reporters work make the sessions. practical and engaging. Follow the link in the show notes to register for sessions in November and December. And finally, efficient use of tests is critical for improving patient care and managing strained laboratory resources. The CAP's new 2026 quality management tool, Comparative Impatient Analyte Volumes, helps laboratories of all sizes assess and optimize inpatient testing. The data-driven program, known as QPA5 and QPA10, supports smarter use of resources, reduces waste, and enhances overall efficiency. Joining me now to discuss this new initiative and its impact on laboratory operations is Dr. Keri Donaldson. Dr. Donaldson, what is the Comparative Inpatient Analyte Volumes, PT/EQA program, and why was it developed to address today's laboratory and healthcare challenges?

• Dr. Keri Donaldson

  In comparative analysis or comparative quality or process renewals allows us to understand how does your ordering within your institution or between institutions compare to others. And so it allows you to understand how our tests are used and across different settings.

• Stevon Burrell

  How can programs like QPA 5 and QPA 10 help laboratories of different sizes improve test utilization and resource management.

• Dr. Keri Donaldson

  It's all about understanding how your performance compares to others and whether either within your system or between your system to other peers, there are opportunities. So it's about identifying ordering practices and whether those ordering practices are different. So these types of surveys allow an understanding, not necessarily what I would consider benchmarking, but allows understanding of. comparative practices either within hospital systems or between hospital systems of similar sizes and complexity.

• Stevon Burrell

  What benefits do you see for laboratories and healthcare systems that adopt these quality management tools?

• Dr. Keri Donaldson

  You know, if you think about continual quality improvement, one of the fundamental aspects is understanding how your practice applies within your space and between your spaces if you're within a system or to other similar institutions across the country. So this is really a question of awareness, right? And being able to describe your practice. So one of the things that these products allow for is a normalization of utilization within your institution, across different maybe laboratories in your institution, and then comparatively to other similar institutions across the country. So I think fundamentally one of the opportunities here is one of awareness, being able to describe your practice within your space, and then being able to compare that practice either within your space, within, let's say you're in a multi-site laboratory system or multi-hospital laboratory system or health center, comparing those different practice models based upon utilization, and then actually looking at external, not necessarily benchmarks, but I would say normative practice. So that's extremely valuable. So the first, the first thought process would be awareness. This type of product allows for awareness or assessment, right? The second one would be the evaluation, right? So if awareness is the first fundamental sort of objective of these types of surveys. The second one would be evaluation or comparison, right? Am I different? What is different? And, you know, it's extremely valuable to be able to do that in laboratory space right now.

• Stevon Burrell

  Do you have any final thoughts to share about this program for those listening?

• Dr. Keri Donaldson

  If you think about this from a awareness perspective, start to be able to describe what you're doing, compare what you're doing to others. And then the third one, highest level would be describe the value that you provide. The value within that space from a utilization perspective, looking at patient outcomes, looking at utilization differences, making sure that not only things are maybe over or underutilized or appropriate utilization occurs within these spaces. So it should eventually translate to value, either value definition of the value that you're performing in terms of your engagement with your health system, or ultimately value creation. Right. So the right and it. builds upon itself, right? So the fundamental first steps we talked about, awareness, evaluation, and then sort of stating that value and showing that you're doing a good job. So that's how we think of these types of products.

• Stevon Burrell

  That's all we have for today. You can find us on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or Spotify. Subscribe on your favorite platform. Look for more news like this in our weekly newsletters published every Tuesday and Thursday. We're back tomorrow at 5 a.m. Eastern with more CAP News. For The Daily Edition, I'm Siobhan Borel. Have a great day!