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Manipal Journal of Medical Sciences

Abstract

The timeliness of histopathology reports is one of the most crucial aspects of patient care. Turnaround Time (TAT) is one such parameter that is often considered when performing tests in pathology labs. Simply put, it is the time interval between the day a specimen is accessed in the lab, to the day the final report is signed out. Aims: This study aimed to compare the turnaround times in histopathology labs of developed and developing countries and to explore the impact of turnaround times on medical treatment. Materials and Methods: Our current review on retrieved articles from databases such as PubMed, EBSCO host and MEDLINE. This study includes the articles published between the years 2000 to 2020. The articles were searched by using keywords such as “turnaround time (TAT)” “developing countries”, “developed countries”, “mean TAT” and “impact of TAT on medical treatment”. Results: The search fetched 30 articles, among which 11 were relevant to our study. Conclusion: TAT was higher in developing countries compared to developed countries. Lower TAT in developed countries was linked to better infrastructure, resources, and technological advancement. Shorter TAT enables early diagnosis and treatment, which in turn helped to achieve better health care outcomes in developed countries compared to developing countries.

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