Roger I've run into this exact issue as an LIS vendor. The concern was that the name on the slide would somehow be construed as the actual pathologist who performed the diagnosis, despite the fact that the LIS maintained the identity of the pathologist who actually signed off the case in it's database. It just 'disturbed' some pathologists.
Long story short, unique initials were utilized instead and the politics of the situation evaporated. As a suggestion, should this continue to be an issue at your facility, why not use a numbering system or some other designator to identify a pathologist group/workgroup if you will (yes, it would be a group of 1) Feel free to email or call me separately if you'd like a few more details. Michael Mihalik PathView Systems | cell: 214.733.7688 | 800.798.3540 | fax: 952.241.7369 -----Original Message----- From: histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu [mailto:histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of Roger Heyna Sent: Friday, January 04, 2013 2:01 PM To: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu Subject: [Histonet] Pathologists' Names on H&E Labels For years, our lab's information system has been set up so that the name of the pathologist assigned to a case prints on our H&E labels to assist with sorting and grouping the slides after staining. As new pathologists join our team, concerns regarding this practice have come up. The pathologists are concerned that having their names on the slides pose medical-legal liability, and they want the names removed. I've yet to hear clear ramifications involved with having doctors' names on slides. What liability is really involved? We are a large, urban academic medical center with high specimen volumes. Our pathologists rotate through different sub-specialties, sometimes on a daily basis. For us, having the pathologists' names on the H&E labels seems to be the easiest way to get the H&E's to the correct pathologist. Are other labs printing the names of the pathologists on their H&E labels? Is anyone aware of any legal risk involved in this practice? Would anyone mind sharing how they sort and divide the slides before submitting them to their pathologists? Thank you, Roger Heyna, BS, HTL(ASCP) Loyola University Medical Center Maywood, IL _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet