ASCP’s Patient Champions program empowers patients by educating them about diagnostics, laboratory tests, and pathology follow up care using real-life stories from a diverse group of patients, our Patient Champions. By educating patients about the crucial role the laboratory plays in patient care and helping patients understand their diagnoses and lab results, the patient-health care practitioner trust and collaboration increases.
Through ASCP’s Patient Champions program, patients, advocates, and caregivers receive information about how pathology and laboratory medicine is involved in their care. Specifically, Patient Champions’ resources explain why and how certain tests are performed, why they are important, and what the results mean. The program’s educational flyers describe laboratory tests associated with specific diagnoses or conditions, such as prostate diseases and diabetes.
As both patients and healthcare practitioners adapt to handle the COVID-19 pandemic, the program has provided information on how the laboratory plays a critical role in ensuring that patients continue to receive high-quality care.
Initiatives around this topic involve sharing stories and creating educational content about COVID-19. The materials include information about testing methods, risk in specific populations and how the virus affects those with existing chronic or cancer diagnoses.
Educating patients about pathology as the cornerstone of medicine through real-life patient stories increases trust, transparency, confidence, and understanding of the entire health care system. Patients who are educated about their diagnoses and prognoses and who advocate for their own health care decisions have higher levels of trust with their practitioners.
