Specialization, Autol11ation, and Regulation (1965-1990)
Chapter 10 Specialization, Autol11ation, and Regulation (1965-1990) There are no areas In Texas, wtth the exceptzon ofthe Btg Bend country, whtch tS farther than 100 mtles from the servtces ofthe board-certtfiedpathologtst. George W. Thoma, Jr., MD, reporting in 1965 to the Texas Society of Pathologists.647 LABORATORY MEDICINE AND THE PRACTICE of pathol ogy were on the verge of transformation in the mid-1960s. As cnti cal paths of science and technology merged, however, so also did long-time political and socioeconomic trends. With science and technology on the verge of explosion, regulation of medicine was in its infancy and civil rights disturbances were at a boiling point. In science, the sixties brought newvisions of theoretical immu nology and immunopathology.648 Already, science had fostered sig nificant advances in technology, and now automation was encour aged regardless of laboratory size. Physicians were advised that the cost of their upgraded laboratory equipment could be recovered over a period ofyears even when a laboratory performed only a small number of tests."649 Norman Jacob, MD, of San Antonio, recalls his first attempt to purchase Technicon's autoanalyzer in the late 1950s. He had at tended a meeting of the American Associ~tion of Pathologists and 233 234 THE HISTORY OF PATHOLOGYIN TEXAS Bacteriologists in Houston, and had seen a demonstration of equip ment that could perform two tests-urea and glucose. The cost was $5,500, but with the expenditure Dr. Jacob saw the wave of the fu ture. Based at Santa Rosa Hospital in San Antonio, he returned to advise Sister Mary Vincent, known as a tough administrator, that it was "the way to go." Fully expecting her to balk, he was surprised when she curtly responded, "Well, get it!" He called the company in Tarrytown, N ew York, and spoke with the owner's son, who promised to promptly send and set up the equipment.
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