Histology Technical Issues Communications Tool

The Histology Technical Issues Communications Tool is a simple tool that has increased the overall quality of slides reaching the pathologists. The tool has identified previously unnoticed trends with certain tissue types, decreased technical issues identified by pathologists, and decreased turn-around-times. It has also increased pathologists’ overall satisfaction with the work they are getting from histotechnologists, thereby creating a better working team. Through audits it was shown that better communication along the path of the specimen processing, between histotechnologists and pathologists, could improve outcomes before the end of the process, as well as identify trends related to certain tissue types, monitor quality improvements, and improve quality control. With relatively little extra work for either the pathologists or histotechnologists, Annapolis Valley District Health Authority has implemented an effective written method to increase quality control, pick up previously unidentified trends, and track whether troubleshooting is working.