Pathologists' workload and patient safety

Pathologists play a pivotal role in providing good laboratory services. They are involved in the interpretation of laboratory and pathology results, and through their role as administrators, which include medical oversight, ensure proper functioning of the laboratory. An overworked pathologist can result in deficiencies in any of these roles and cause dysfunction of the laboratory and laboratory errors. Laboratory derived information comprises 70% of medical information necessary for patient management. Therefore, any laboratory error has a potential to adversely affect patient care and thus patient safety.