Pathology

While you may never meet one in person, a pathologist can have a big impact on your health.

A pathologist is a physician who specializes in identifying the nature, cause and stage of disease by analyzing body tissues and fluids. Their expertise plays a critical role in making an accurate diagnosis and guiding treatment decisions.

At Spectrum Healthcare Partners, we have a robust team of highly trained pathologists who specialize in two main areas:

  • Anatomic pathology: Anatomic pathologists use high-powered microscopes to analyze tissues taken from patients during surgery or by biopsy; they also perform autopsies
  • Clinical pathology: Clinical pathologists use sophisticated testing technology to analyze chemicals and cells in blood, sputum, bone marrow and urine

Many of our pathologists are also subspecialists—experts in understanding specific types of disease, or advanced types of testing such as genomics and molecular pathology.

Learn more about the range of subspecialty pathology services available at Spectrum.

Why doctors and hospitals choose Spectrum for pathology services

Doctors, hospitals and physician-owned laboratories trust Spectrum’s pathology services for these important reasons:

  • A rigorous quality-control program ensures consistently accurate test results
  • Efficient processes guarantee fast turnaround times
  • Our pathology specialists use today’s most advanced diagnostic techniques

What’s more, our services are convenient for patients. You can have lab work completed at your doctor’s office or other healthcare facility, with results interpreted centrally at one of our three southern Maine locations.

Plus, to help you manage your health, you can sign up for automatic e-mail reminders to schedule regular screening tests for cancer and other diseases.

Spectrum’s locations: Where our pathologists practice

New Hampshire and Maine’s leading hospitals and health systems, including LincolnHealth, Maine Medical Center, Mid Coast Hospital, Southern Maine Health Care, and Wentworth-Douglass Hospital choose Spectrum to provide the highest-quality specialty services. To find the location nearest you where our pathologists practice, please visit our Locations page.

It’s important to know that at these locations, Spectrum pathologists are the only pathologists providing services. So having your lab work at one of these facilities ensures that you’ll receive the excellent care you deserve.

Value Added Services

Laboratories also turn to Spectrum Healthcare Partners’ Pathology Division for these additional services—a testament to the wealth of pathology expertise that resides here:

  • Second-opinion services
  • Subspecialty consultative services
  • Clinical laboratory management and medical direction
  • Pre-inspection laboratory evaluation
  • Educational and clinical conferencing and teaching
  • Intra-office frozen section lab services
  • Grossing services (pathology specimens are inspected with the bare eye to obtain diagnostic information, while being processed for further microscopic examination)

Quality Metrics Data

Our pathology division has a high standard of excellence measured by quality metrics to assure and improve patient care best practices. Spectrum’s major discordance rate (the rate of inaccurate  diagnoses) is .0018%, which is significantly lower than the 3% benchmark identified in the work of Peck, et al (1). In addition, Spectrum’s pathology division performs routine second reviews of  specimens 17.83% of the time, which exceeds the 8% benchmark identified in the work of Chantal, et al (2). In the second quarter of 2021, Spectrum’s average turnaround time was 1.76 days,  which exceeds the College of American Pathologists’ benchmark of 2.0 days.

Conferencing and Education Support

We provide pathology expertise for a wide spectrum of clinical care conferences and support pathology teaching programs at MMC-Tufts University School of Medicine, University of Vermont College of Medicine, the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine and the University of Southern Maine.

We also support educational experiences for rotating medical students and residents from a variety of programs.

Questions?

If you want to know more about Spectrum’s pathology services, simply give us a call at 207.482.7800. We’re here to provide answers.

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