Effective Communication is Necessary for Pathologists to Make Accurate Diagnoses

Generally, the communication in academic oncology institutions is favorable; however, when oncologists and pathologists become busy, specimens may be sent to reference laboratories. When that happens, and a reference laboratory pathologist is examining 200 to 300 specimens a day, ranging from surgical pathology specimens to bone marrow biopsies, there isn’t enough time to effectively communicate with each physician regarding each patient.

During the Society of Hematologic Oncology 2025 Annual Meeting, CancerNetwork® spoke with Sanam Loghavi, MD, following a discussion titled “The Evolving Landscape of Anemia in MDS & MPNs: Clinical Updates and Best Practices” where she was a panel member.

During the interview, Loghavi emphasized the importance of following specific protocols, such as filling out requisition sheets and patient history, to ensure that correct and complete data gets to the pathologist so they can make an accurate diagnosis as quickly as possible.

Loghavi is an assistant professor in the Department of Hematopathology in the Division of Pathology and Lab Medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Transcript:

In the academic centers, the communication is good. Where the problem may exist [is that] in pathology in general, a lot of practices are reference labs. A lot of community practice oncology offices may send their specimens to reference labs, and the reason is mostly because people are very busy. If I’m a pathologist who’s practicing at a reference lab, and I have to see 200 to 300 cases a day, that’s a mixture of surgical pathology specimens, [gastrointestinal] biopsies, and bone marrow biopsies. First of all, there’s no time to be able to effectively communicate about every sample with every physician. What would be helpful for that type of practice, which is for sure one of the more common types of practices, is for the clinicians to provide the pathologists with the necessary information that enables them to make an accurate diagnosis. The requisition sheet, the [patient] history, or however that information is conveyed to the pathologist, should hopefully be as complete as possible to equip them to be able to make an accurate diagnosis.