Health care providers may be unfamiliar with the workings of the pathology laboratory. The delivery of a specimen to the pathology laboratory initiates a complex series of events resulting in a pathologic diagnosis/interpretation. The following section reviews the importance and key objectives in the pathologic evaluation of tissue and provides information on the types and members of the pathology laboratory.

Pathology is a medical specialty that determines the cause and nature of diseases by examining and testing body tissues (from biopsies and pap smears, for example) and bodily fluids (from samples including blood and urine). … It is a blood test that screens for serious genetic conditions.