Post-laboratory
Once the report has been typed, it must be transmitted to the correct destination, an achievement sometimes akin to landing a man on the moon. Issues at this end of the cycle include whether the report actually got sent, whether it got sent but never arrived, or whether it arrived but was somehow allowed to languish in the patient’s file or elsewhere in the doctor’s office. In up-to-date departments, pathology reports carry an electronic signature and may be delivered by auto-faxing or even via the Web. It is incumbent upon the laboratory to ensure that faxes are accurately dispatched, yet physicians are apt to occasionally change their addresses and phone numbers, an act that is guaranteed to fool the database. If excessive time passes without any word or report from the laboratory, most internists, surgeons or oncologists would spontaneously press for the results.