APIII - Advancing Practice, Instruction & Innovation Through Informatics

Marriott City Center, Pittsburgh, PA | September 20 - 23, 2009

Presented at the 1998 APIII Conference                        Return to 1998 Abstract Index


ENHANCING PATHOLOGY SERVICES USING A FMP/WEB-BASED INTERFACE


State University of New York Health Science Center
Department of Pathology
Syracuse, New York
Jannie Woo, PhD
Robert Hutchison, MD
Robert Schelper, MD


We developed an integrated Pathology Department Web site in 1997 to promote research, education, and patient care. Anatomic Pathology and Clinical Laboratory services are introduced through the WWW. Laboratory manual test information is available on the web site. Innovative patient care Web services have been developed and are planned for implementation. In Hem-oncology, we created a peer review interpretive service, using a FileMaker Pro (FMP)/Web based interface. Patient cases are presented in a confidentiality-preserving format for review by submitting oncologists and consulting pathologists. Comments are rapidly returned to the attending pathologists at our hospital via e-mail, enabling expert discussion. In Hematopathology, we are expediting bone marrow reporting using a FMP/Web based interface. Residents and technologists enter laboratory data, observations and interpretations into a pre-formatted page with subsequent pathologist review. In Neuropathology, we invite ordering clinicians to submit clinical muscle biopsy information online into a FMP layout. The FMP/Web-based interface is used to create and present an interpretative report with images, facilitating interactive review between ordering clinicians and consulting pathologists.

This approach serves to improve patient care by facilitating communication among clinicians and pathologists, thereby addressing concerns of accrediting and governmental agencies regarding clinical history and feedback in pathology reporting. With increasing depth of content, the WWW can provide an effective interface for stimulating and expediting communications between clinicians and pathologists.

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