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Why You Should Have a Board-Certified Pathologist Supervise Your Necropsy

As your histology lab staff know well, doing a necropsy is extremely complex, and it requires exacting detail to evaluate animal tissue.

Being an animal autopsy, you're well aware of how important these are for research studies if given money from a sponsor. Since necropsies usually occur for diagnostic or research purposes, it's going to require a reliable pathologist to get it done.

If you don't have a pathologist on your team, it can lead to some severe consequences, especially when taking a gamble with someone else. This is perhaps the road you're on now as you realize you don't have enough staff available to properly supervise a necropsy.

You need to know why you should have a board-certified Pathologist supervise your necropsy since taking chances could end up bringing a reputation crisis.

In this regard, it's important to know why outsourcing is a better solution for your histology lab.

What Does the Pathologist Do During a Necropsy?

The Pathologist will guide the trained prosectors to remove tissues from the animal using exacting techniques. Often times, inexperienced prosectors or lab technicians remove tissues only partially. This can ruin a study if the entire organ is not harvested properly. This is where extensive training and guidance from a Board-Certified Pathologist is critically necessary.

Afterward, they'll submit a report based on their findings. This eventually leads to a final report on the histopathological findings and then it is sent to the FDA.

Dealing With Staff Shortages

With constant budget cuts in your lab, maybe you’ve had to let some employees go. Or you struggle to find good talent. This could become a major problem when you don't have anyone board-certified to take on complex necropsies.

Because the sponsor putting up money for the study expects you to complete this by a specific deadline, you may cut corners and assign someone without proper pathology knowledge.

Maybe the procedures go reasonably well, though it's a tremendous risk. Just one mistake in the necropsy procedure may tarnish your reputation beyond repair. A lot of this could happen during a critical part of the testing: Creating quality slides.

Finding an Expert Pathologist and Slide Technology

Another problem you may face is not being able to invest in quality technology to take the necropsy through the proper steps. Creating slides is a major part of this, and high-definition slides are imperative to gain the best possible results.

Investing in this equipment is a major expense, however, so it may lead you to cut corners again, along with no on-site pathologist.

It's all the more reason to consider outsourcing, something you're maybe new to if you haven't done it before. By outsourcing, you'll be assured to gain board-certified staff that know how to give you excellent results without critical errors.

Through an outsourced histopathology lab, you'll have pathologists who already have access to digital slide equipment for razor-sharp imaging. The same goes through their commitment to GLP so all test results on a necropsy follow proper procedures.

Since you need quality time for the best possible results on necropsy tests, an outsourced pathologist actually speeds things up for you thanks to their ongoing expertise.

Contact us at HSRL, where we'll provide services like this to help maintain your reputation for years to come. 

HSRL Specializes in Histopathology & Specimen Storage Services

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