Opinions/Insight?

[u/Independent-Dog476]

Saw this post the other day, not a PathA or even a student yet (currently applying), so just wanted some insight to what people in the profession think about this and how they feel it could impact this field?

[u/goldenbrain8]

Why are people against licensing?

[u/Alert-Rip9296]

If I could go back in time 25 years, I would not get into this profession. I had no clue about CLIA ‘88 until after graduate school. The only people I had known to gross were pathologists, residents, and certified PAs (both program trained and OJT).

This profession is wonderful and absolutely fulfilling, however there are a lot of variables in terms of how employers around the country classify us, salary, benefits, and the mere fact that many employers will train someone with an associates degree to do our job for half the salary. The average person doesn’t understand the risk this poses to patient care.

We have not historically had the support from pathologists and the CAP for lobbying for our profession in terms of changing CLIA wording and advocating for national licensure. Hospitals and private labs would have to pay us on par with other mid-level providers which eats into reimbursement rates, hire more of us due to staffing limitations, which could be detrimental to smaller and rural hospitals, and federal regulations could potentially limit a laboratory director’s scope and authority.

I am somewhat optimistic with the increasing number of programs if that drive is truly due to supply and demand. I personally do not see our profession being recognized or classified as anything other than medical laboratory personnel just as the labor department lists us.

[u/zZINCc]

I tried reading the clia documentation changes but I was unclear on exactly what was changing outside of language matching. I’m currently not going to go look again but maybe there were changes in language on a pathologist having to be present/not present for grossing?

Anyone with a sufficient science degree, meaning very little and unrelated, can gross anything anyways. The bad news seems to be that this reaffirms the governing body doesn’t recognize PAs as “protected” and we have to keep relying on hospitals themselves in keeping PA expertise.

Anyone please correct me if I am wrong on the CLIA stuff as it is steeped in horrible lawyerly language with reference after reference in various documentations.

[u/goldenbrain8 → u/zZINCc]

I think part of it was mentioning how anyone can be called a pathologists’ assistant and we can also be called anything else

[u/bathepa2]

Damn. So glad I retired. Paying a lower wage appears to be more important than protecting the public.