What is Pathology?
Pathology is the medical specialty concerned with the study of the nature and causes of diseases.
It underpins every aspect of medicine, from diagnostic testing and monitoring of chronic diseases to cutting-edge genetic research and blood transfusion technologies.
Pathologists diagnose every detected cancer in the world. Pathology plays a vital role across all facets of medicine throughout our lives, from pre-conception to postmortem. In fact, it has been said that “Medicine IS Pathology”.
Due to the popularity of many television programs, the word ‘pathology’ brings up ideas of dead bodies and people in lab coats investigating the cause of suspicious deaths for the police. That’s certainly a side of pathology, but in fact it’s far more likely that pathologists are busy in a hospital clinic or laboratory helping living people.
Pathology is the medical science that saves lives by helping other doctors make informed decisions about their patients’ treatments. Pathologists study the cause of disease and the ways in which diseases affect our bodies, across all branches of medicine.
The doctors you see in surgery or at a clinic all depend on the knowledge, diagnostic skills and advice of Pathologists.
Whether it’s a GP arranging a blood test or a surgeon wanting to know the nature of the lump removed at operation, the definitive answer is usually provided by a Pathologist.
There are nine different disciplines of Pathology.
- Anatomical Pathology
- Chemical Pathology
- Clinical Pathology
- Forensic Pathology
- General Pathology
- Genetic Pathology
- Haematology
- Immunopathology
- Microbiology
Pathology Services is Category 6 in the Medicare Benefits Schedule with item codes 65060 to 74999
Group P1 - Haematology … 65060 to 65181
Group P2 – Chemical … 66500 to 66900
Group P3 – Microbiology … 69300 to 69500
Group P4 – Immunology … 71057 to 71203
Group P5 – Tissue Pathology 72813 to 72857
Group P6 – Cytology 73043 to 73065
Group P7 – Genetics … 73287 to 73324
Group P8 – Infertility and Pregnancy Tests
Group P9 – Simple Basic Pathology Tests (can be carried out by Doctors other than Pathologists) ... 73801 to 73811
Group P10 – Patient Episode Initiation …73920 to 73939
Group P11 – Specimen Referred … 73940
Group P12 – Management of Bulk-Billed Services … 74990 to 74991
Group P13 – Bulk Billed Pathology Episode Incentive Items … 74992 to 74999