PART 8: PATHOLOGY

The pathology module focuses on conducting tests and examinations related to pathology. A pathologist can use this module to analyze various types of specimens, including tissues, cells, and bodily fluids, to diagnose diseases and provide valuable information for patient care and medical research.

How to create a pathology case.

1. To create a pathology case, follow steps 1 to 29 under how to create a laboratory analysis order for an existing patient. 

How a pathology specimen is processed by a laboratory technician.

1. To access the Pathology module, hover the mouse over the hamburger icon and click to open the menu.

2. Click on the Pathology module to expand.

3. Click on Dashboard under the pathology module.

The dashboard for pathology will be displayed. The dashboard provides  summaries for Cases in progress, Awaiting Pathology Review, Additional Pathology Request and Complete test in a week

All the pathology test requests entered under  Add Order (Test Request) are displayed under a table that displays the Request Date, Stage, Last Name, Assigned Technician, Assigned Pathologist and Lab Number.

4. The pathology module allows you to filter the test request . Click on the My cases checkbox to filter the cases. 

5. The Status dropdown menu is used to filter the pathology cases by their status.

6. You can filter the requests in an ascending or descending order for each menu item For instance, click on the Lab Number menu item.

7. To search for a pathology test, enter the patient name or the lab number  under the Search by LabNo or Family Name text field. The search results will retort a list of matching patients.The cancel icon (x) is used to cancel the search.

8. Click on the desired patient from the search result. In this illustration, the Start button is clicked.

Note: The top sections of the pathology page display information about the pathology request.

Note: There is a sequence of stages in pathology examination. The Status drop-down menu provides a list of the different stages. The first stage is known as grossing which is the default stage in preparing a pathology sample.

9. In this illustration, the drop-down menu item is clicked and processing is the status that will be selected.

10. Select technician to assign for processing the specimen from the drop-down menu items. In this illustration, Test, Test is the selected technician . 

11. Click on the Save button.

12. The Blocks section allows you to add the number of blocks that will be used for specimen processing. Click on the upward facing arrow to add the number of blocks then click on the Add Block button. In this illustration,  three blocks will be added.

13.  Fill in the locations for the blocks. These could be racks where the specimens are stored. You can print labels for the blocks by clicking on the Print Label button

In this illustration, the location has been entered and a label printed for one of the blocks.

14. Once the Blocks have been set, Click on the upward facing arrow to add the number of slides  then click on the Add Slide(s) button.

15. Fill in the location for the slides. 

16. Click the Upload button to upload scanned copies of the slides. This allows a pathologist to view the copies of the slides if the pathologist is not physically located in the lab.

17. Click on the  Print Label button to print the labels for the slides.

18. Once the specimens have been sliced in the slides. They can be stained by clicking on the Status drop-down menu and selecting the Staining status.

19. Click on the Save button upon changing the status.

20.  Once the specimens have been stained, they are now ready for review by a pathologist. Click on the Status drop-down menu and select the  Ready for pathologists status. 

21. Click on the Select Pathologist drop-down menu and select the pathologist and click on the Save button.

How to review and conclude a pathology test.

Once a  case is ready for a pathology review and a pathologist has been selected, the pathologist can conduct a review through the following steps;

1. Click on drop-down menu item under the Technique Used section

2. Select the technique to be used by checking the checkbox for a technique.

3. To remove a technique, click on x to cancel a technique.

x

Note: A pathologist can put in a request for the slides upon review  

4. The pathologist will then click on the Requests drop-down menu.

5. The pathologist will select the respective checkboxes for the request.  In this illustration, the pathologist has asked for the slides to be rotated and chose two stains.

Note: Once  the requests have been placed, the status for the requests are opened by default.

6. Change the status for the slides to slicing by clicking on the status drop-down menu and selecting slicing for slides  then click on the Save button.

7. The pathologist will access the case, scroll down to the request section and click the status for the requests to Completed. 

8.  Once the status has been changed to completed, the slides are now ready for the pathologists to review the changes. Select Ready for Pathology and click on the Save button.

 The pathologist can now write up the Gross and Microscopy Exam findings under the 

9. Type in the findings for the Gross Exam and Microscopy Exam findings in the respective rich text boxes. 

10. Select the conclusion from the drop-down menu by clicking on the drop down  menu. The conclusions are hard coded in the system.

11.  Click on a checkbox to select the respective conclusion. 

12. To remove a conclusion, click on the x icon to cancel the conclusion

13. Type the text conclusion under the Text Conclusion rich text box.

The results are now ready for release. The lab technician can add a report for the case by uploading the report  or generating it from the system.

14. To add a report, click on the Add Report button under the report section.

15.  At this point, the lab technician can either upload a report or generate it from the system. To upload a report, click on the Upload file button. 

16.  Upon clicking on the Upload file button, a file upload dialogue will be opened on your workstation. Navigate to the location where you have saved the report. In this illustration, the report file for patient Casey was saved under downloads. Click on the report to select it then click on the Open button.

Note: upon clicking on the Open button, the report will be uploaded successfully.

17.  To remove the report, click on the cancel icon x. 

18. To illustrate system generation of a report, click on the Generate Report button. 

A toast message will be displayed at the top right of the screen once the report is generated.

19.  The pathology case can now be released. Click on the Ready for Release checkbox 

20. Click on the Save button. 

21. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the ready for release checkbox then click on the Save button.

The pathology case for the patient will be listed as completed under the dashboard.

How to refer a pathology specimen to immunochemistry.

1. A pathology case can be referred to immunochemistry for further test.  To refer to a pathology test for immunochemistry, click on Refer to ImmunoHistoChemistry checkbox then click on the Select Test drop-down menu and select a test.

2. Click on the Save button. 

How to upload or generate a pathology report.

1. Follow steps 1 -3 under How a pathology specimen is processed by a laboratory technician.

2. Click on the desired patient under the dashboard. In this illustration, a patient by the name Roger Rabbit  is clicked.

3. Click on the Add Report button.

4. Upon clicking on the add report button, you can either upload or generate a report. To upload a report, click on the Upload file button.

5. Upon clicking on the Upload file button, a file upload dialogue will be opened on your workstation. Navigate to the location where you have saved the report for Cytology. In this illustration, the report file for patient Roger  Rabbit  was saved under downloads. Click on the report to select it then click on the Open button.

Note: upon clicking on the Open button, the report will be uploaded successfully.

6.  To remove the report, click on the cancel icon x. Otherwise, Click on the Save button at the bottom of the page.

7. As a user, you can generate a report from the system as opposed to uploading one. To do so, Click on the item to Generate Report button.

Note: a pdf containing the patient report will be generated successfully.

8. Click on the Save button.