Paula,
i was faced with the same question.  Some LIS manager wanted to save the
government $$$$$$ by saving time and pencils.  He calculated it took 1.5
minutes to write the accession number on the slide (I'd love to have his
calculator for my paycheck).  our question to him was,"how can you tell what
number it is if the label falls off?"  We use impervious labels for our pap
smears.  Some labels fall off in the stain line.  If the slides did not have
the accession number and/or the patient's name, we could not tell which case
it was.  My vote, keep writing on the slides. It provides a good way to
track cases.  Also question 08.2115, 1998 edition, of the CAP checklist
asks, "Are slides identified adequately?"  Do this test.  If those were your
slides, would you want to be absolutely sure they had the correct accession
number on them?  Ok, time to get off that high horse I rode to work on.
Good luck!

Joe Nocito, B.S., HT(ASCP)QIHC
Histology Supervisor
Christus Santa Rosa Hospitals
San Antonio, Texas 


> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Paula Wilder [SMTP:histo20@hotmail.com]
> Sent:	Wednesday, July 28, 1999 7:58 PM
> To:	Histonet@pathology.swmed.edu
> Subject:	Slide labels, CAP regs
> 
> Hello everyone!
> 
> My institution is looking into impervious slide labels.  With that in
> mind, 
> my supervisors want to eliminate writing directly onto the slide itself.  
> Instead, they want to print labels, attach them to the slides, and go from
> 
> there.  However, I am not sure about any CAP regulations or otherwise
> which 
> might exist.  Could someone point me in the right direction?  Any
> assistance 
> would be greatly appreciated.
> Thanks so much!
> 
> Paula Wilder
> St. Joseph Medical Center
> Towson, MD. 21204
> 
> 
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