Study of Turnaround Time of Surgical Pathology Reports in a tertiary care teaching hospital

Introduction: Turnaround time is defined as the time interval between the receipt of specimen in the laboratory and the availability of the verified report to the authorized person or clinician. In histopathology, TAT is influenced by multiple steps including specimen collection, fixation, grossing, tissue processing, embedding, microtomy, staining, slide examination, and report preparation.

AIM: To evaluate the turnaround time (TAT) in surgical pathology reporting by identifying workflow inefficiencies and analysing contributory factors.

Result:  Out of 1959 surgical pathology reports, Majority ( No.1244, 63.5 %) were reported within 3 to 5 days, 231(11.7%) were reported within 5-7 days, Minimum TAT was <3 days for 171 cases ( 8.7%) and maximum TAT 7-10 or > 10 days for 284 cases (14.49%) out of TAT. Total 1959 histopathology biopsy and specimen reported at pathology department, C. U. Shah medical college hospital in Surendranagar, Gujarat, India from 1^st May 2025 to 31^st july 2025 were retrospective analysed.

Conclusion: Turnaround time monitoring in surgical pathology is a mandatory and valuable quality tool under NABL accreditation. Defining specimen-specific TAT benchmarks, continuous surveillance, and systematic delay analysis contribute to improved laboratory performance and patient care.