News Release

Published on: November 11, 2005

CAP Applauds Bill to Suspend, Review Federal Cytology Proficiency Testing

Legislation responds to concerns about outdated program

Northfield, IL.—College of American Pathologists President Thomas M. Sodeman, MD, FCAP, praised key House lawmakers today for legislation to suspend and revise a federal program to evaluate physicians and other professionals who perform Pap tests.

"The Proficiency Testing Improvement Act of 2005 sends a clear message from Congress that the federal government’s badly outdated cytology proficiency testing program must not continue until we can ensure it reflects the best possible--and most current--science and laboratory practices," Dr. Sodeman said.

The Proficiency Testing Improvement Act of 2005, H.R. 4268, would suspend cytology proficiency testing (PT) for one year and not allow it to resume until the Secretary of Health and Human Services makes changes advocated by the CAP and nearly 60 other national and state pathology societies. Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Ga., chair of the House panel with jurisdiction over the PT program, the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee, introduced the legislation. Reps. Sue Myrick, R-N.C., and Tom Price, R-Ga., added their names as original co-sponsors.

The CAP argues that gynecologic cytology has improved greatly since the PT program’s creation 13 years ago as part of the 1992 final regulation for the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988. But all the while, the PT provisions have stood still, resulting in a program today that fails to recognize the many practice improvements.

"We fail to see how judging pathologists and other laboratory professionals by standards that lag well behind current best laboratory practices promotes quality care. In fact, it could jeopardize access to care by causing qualified professionals to stop performing Pap tests," Dr. Sodeman said. "The PT regulation, with its focus on individual performance, ignores the reality of how laboratory medicine is practiced: that diagnoses often are reached through collaboration among professionals. Further, the grading criteria in the PT program have been surpassed by new standards universally recognized and used in gynecologic cytology."

Dr. Sodeman thanked the bill’s sponsors and called on Congress to take action to suspend the PT program before adjourning for the year.

The College of American Pathologists (CAP) is a medical society serving about 16,000 physician members and the laboratory community throughout the world.  It is the world’s largest association composed exclusively of pathologists and is widely considered the leader in laboratory quality assurance. The CAP is an advocate for high quality and cost-effective patient care.