The Importance of COMMUNICATION TO enhance The Value and efficiency of Aquatic Diagnostics  

The objective of obtaining and evaluating a sample is to gain information on the nature of the sampled tissue that can be used to make appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic decisions about a patient and, ultimately, improve the patient's outcome. Veterinarians submit samples to diagnostic laboratories for a wide variety of reasons - research, routine wellness testing, screening tests, and disease staging, but the cornerstone of histopathology is still in disease diagnostics. When samples are sent to a diagnostic lab, effective communication between the practitioner submitting the sample and the pathologist examining it is essential. The practitioner must articulate sufficient information about the patient, the lesion, the sample, and their intentions for the pathologist to make an informed and accurate diagnosis. A lack of proper information can lead to delayed reports and diagnostic errors. Submission topics discussed will include medical records, differential diagnoses, pictures and diagrams. The pathologist must then effectively convey accurate and complete diagnostic information to the veterinary practitioner in a relevant, timely, and comprehensible manner. A lack of clarity can lead to the misinterpretation of reports or confusion on the impact of the results. Reports, images, comments and interpretations, literature references, phone calls and the roles of the pathologist in publications will be reviewed.  In this way, we will improve communication between veterinary practitioners and veterinary pathologists to satisfy the joint goals of enhanced diagnostic value and efficient and timely clinical decision-making.