[Problems to be solved to qualify to receive laboratory examination management fee III or IV for board-certified doctors in the fields of both laboratory medicine and anatomical pathology].

At least one full-time doctor in laboratory management and consultation on data analysis is required to receive laboratory examination management fee III or IV according to the rules for Japanese public health insurance medical fees. A qualified pathologist, board-certified as a clinical laboratory physician cannot receive this fee together with the pathological diagnosis management fee even if he or she manages laboratory examinations. As a result of this regulation, surgical pathologists working in laboratory examinations are gradually decreasing in Japan; however, it is possible for surgical pathologists working as full-time attending physicians in the Department of Laboratory Medicine to receive the laboratory examination management fee. Consultation regarding laboratory data analysis is required, and experience in diagnostic pathology is beneficial for data interpretation or tissue sample handling in the field of neoplastic diseases.