Scott A Martin1, Patricia E Styer. 1. Department of Laboratory Medicine, St John's Mercy Medical Center, St Louis, Mo 63141, USA. martsa@stlo.smhs.com
Abstract
CONTEXT: The PathFocus program affords the opportunity for participating pathology practices to be compared with other practices that have similar characteristics. OBJECTIVES: To demonstrate variability in workload among different pathology practice settings and to determine practice characteristics that influence staffing levels. DESIGN: Among 228 group practices in the PathFocus database, group practice settings were analyzed. The practice characteristics that were highly correlated with staffing levels are presented. RESULTS: Activities that showed significant variation include surgical pathology (P = .003), cytopathology (P = .006), miscellaneous (P = .006), and professional development (P = .003). Group practices report up to 4% of hours devoted to clinical pathology consultation, on average, and from 20% to 25% to administration and management. There are strong positive associations with staffing levels for lower-complexity Current Procedural Terminology code volumes (P < .001) and higher-complexity Current Procedural Terminology code volumes (P = .006). CONCLUSION: The settings of pathology practices carry specific commitments of time that are different and not equally distributed among all practice settings and strongly influence staffing requirements.
CONTEXT: The PathFocus program affords the opportunity for participating pathology practices to be compared with other practices that have similar characteristics. OBJECTIVES: To demonstrate variability in workload among different pathology practice settings and to determine practice characteristics that influence staffing levels. DESIGN: Among 228 group practices in the PathFocus database, group practice settings were analyzed. The practice characteristics that were highly correlated with staffing levels are presented. RESULTS: Activities that showed significant variation include surgical pathology (P = .003), cytopathology (P = .006), miscellaneous (P = .006), and professional development (P = .003). Group practices report up to 4% of hours devoted to clinical pathology consultation, on average, and from 20% to 25% to administration and management. There are strong positive associations with staffing levels for lower-complexity Current Procedural Terminology code volumes (P < .001) and higher-complexity Current Procedural Terminology code volumes (P = .006). CONCLUSION: The settings of pathology practices carry specific commitments of time that are different and not equally distributed among all practice settings and strongly influence staffing requirements.