Frequently Asked Questions
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February 23, 2010 – The Role of the Center in Promoting Transformative Pathology
What will the CAP Institute offer that will be different from what is already available? What will be the role of the CAP Center for Quality in promoting transformative pathology? And how is this new? Isn’t “quality” already built into the DNA of everything the College does?
While the College has traditionally focused on standard setting for performance of laboratory testing, the Center will focus on standard setting related to direct patient care. As the strategic driver of transformational pathology, the Center will be a forum to facilitate coordinated consensus activities. It will also help to drive transition of the field of pathology toward more collaboration with other specialists and more involvement with digital and molecular technologies.
The Center will bring together specialty groups, industry representatives, patient advocacy organizations, and others with relevant interest and expertise to collaborate in intensive, expedited development of best practices for emerging drugs and devices. Their work product will be nonproprietary and available to any group (participating or not) for educational purposes.
February 17, 2010 – What will the CAP Institute Offer?
What will the CAP Institute offer that will be different from what is already available?
The CAP Institute will offer specificity and timeliness – courses will be tightly honed to targeted skills and closely tied to the particular challenges of modern practice. The learning method will be selected to meet the course objectives, not the other way around. And that may translate to anything from certificate programs to self-assessment modules and practicums.
January 25, 2010 – How Does The Center Fit In?
Where does the Center for Quality come into this transformation picture?
Building systems for patient safety will ensure that our patients don’t find that they’re in a boat that leaks. That’s why the College is talking about a transformation campaign—there will be lot of persuasion involved and we need to drive that change. A seismic, permanent attitude shift is needed to ensure that the technologies we bring to the bedside are well understood.
New diagnostic tools are welcome addition to test menus, but they are popping up like kudzu. Fellow clinicians are trying to evaluate options on a cascade of new choices appearing on test menus. Learning opportunities via the CAP Institute will enable us to explain in clear and concrete terms the risks and benefits that attach to these diagnostic opportunities, and how patients for whom they prescribe new therapeutic modalities should be followed. Could other specialists and nonphysician technical staff take on some of these roles? No doubt, and given the opportunity, they surely will. But will they be equally qualified to advise on these options, and to monitor new therapeutic interventions for safety and efficacy over time? Not likely. Patient safety is our traditional responsibility. To concede that duty is the cultural equivalent of patient abandonment.
January 20, 2010 – What About Maintenance of Certification?
I thought that meeting American Board of Pathologists (ABP) requirements for maintenance of certification program would ensure that I stayed current. Won’t the new CAP certificate program duplicate what is already in place?
Only board-certified pathologists will be eligible to participate in the CAP certificate program. Courses available through the CAP Institute will be framed to drill down into specific specialty areas that today’s pathologist needs to master; they will not duplicate material already covered on the Board exams. CAP Self-assessment modules (CAP SAMS) that will be components of certificate programs will document of lifelong learning activities required for MOC. The time-limited certificates of competence will not only support competency assessment for ABP recertification, but also enable laboratory managers to evaluate and document lifelong learning by members of their staffs.
January 11, 2010 – Why The Center?
What is the rationale that supports The Center for Quality?
Our future role will be less technical and more collaborative, less about what a test suggests than what the combination of available diagnostic information from pathology, radiology, nuclear medicine and clinical knowledge will tell us. New tools must be introduced thoughtfully, which means appropriate quality control and staff education. Patients will press for new therapeutics; colleagues will want to try new diagnostics. That’s all to the good. But to bring innovation safely to the bedside, the quality systems must be watertight. That requires collaboration across specialties and disciplines.
The Center will create a feedback loop that will accelerate information sharing among experts from specialties and organization with relevant expertise. It will become a fulcrum to balance what we can learn from bench science and clinical experience with technical knowledge as it emerges from industry-based enterprise. The best practices documents that emerge from the Center will influence improvements in patient care. They will also create benchmarks for regulators and third parties seeking evidence to justify pay for performance.