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Laboratory Services for Health Care Professionals

Contact Us

413-322-4000
or
800-778-5599

Baystate Reference Laboratories (BRL) is Baystate Health's clinical diagnostic laboratory service, providing state-of-the-art, convenient pathology testing and management services to physicians, hospitals, and other health care services throughout the region.

Learn more about our laboratories and clinical resources below. For a comprehensive list of specialty and general laboratory testing services, see our test catalog.

Our program includes:

  • Twenty-three board-certified pathologists: Our team of pathologists covers a wide variety of subspecialties. We even have two dermatopathologists on staff, rare for a hospital laboratory.
  • Local laboratory: Nearly all of our testing is done on-site, which reduces cost and wait time for providers.
  • Fast turnaround: Most testing can be completed same-day.
  • Quick on-boarding: If you are a new client, we can bring you on board faster than most commercial labs, setting up interfaces and courier services to make ordering tests simple and efficient.
  • Live, local customer service department: Have a question? Speak with our locally based customer service staff in real time, 24/7.
  • Cost competitive: Not only do we offer the same testing services as commercial labs, we have low lab costs, which we extend to our customers.
  • Customized service: We offer an extensive network of courier services as well as a wide range of billing and reporting options, and have the ability to interface with physicians, electronic health records, and other Baystate Health facilities.
  • Extensive library of test results: Because we have a larger library than most commercial labs, we rarely need to send out biopsies for further testing.
  • Academic-affiliated medical center: Our in-house testing menu is broad because we serve a 722-bed teaching hospital that handles complex medical cases.
  • Specialty testing services: Other hospitals in New England send specimens to us for testing because of our state-of-the-art technology, library, and clinical experts.

BRL Laboratories and clinical resources

Clinical Chemistry Services

The clinical chemistry laboratory is a 24/7 service, offering a wide menu of tests encompassing high-volume automated chemistry, endocrine, therapeutic drug monitoring, clinical toxicology, and other specialized testing

Total laboratory automation instrumentation allows specimens to be processed, centrifuged, aliquoted, and analyzed without human intervention, increasing laboratory efficiency.

We are a clinical resource, with technical expertise available 24 hours-a-day to discuss individual cases, practical questions, and patient care issues.

Hematology & Coagulation Services

The clinical hematology laboratory offers a wide menu of assays including high-volume automated hematology and coagulation tests, evaluation of urine and other body fluids, and specialized testing in coagulation, hemoglobin electrophoresis, and more. We support patient care  by providing quality results and test interpretation while sustaining clinical research and promoting medical education in laboratory diagnosis and management.

Our laboratory analyzes specimens 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. We are a clinical resource, with technical expertise available 24 hours-a-day to discuss individual cases, practical questions, and patient care issues. Board-certified hematopathologists support the technical staff, review difficult cases, and perform daily consultative services.

Clinical Microbiology Services

The clinical microbiology laboratory offers state-of-the-art infectious disease diagnoses and consultative services for the clinical staff and physicians throughout Massachusetts. We support patient care by providing quality results and test interpretation while sustaining clinical research and promoting medical education in laboratory diagnosis and management. We use both traditional microbiological and modern molecular techniques routinely.

Staff expertise include:

  • bacteriological analysis
  • antibiotic susceptibility testing
  • virology
  • tick-borne pathogens
  • molecular microbiology
  • mycobacteriology
  • mycology
  • parasitology
  • bioterrorism preparedness

We are a clinical resource, with technical expertise available 24 hours a day to discuss individual cases, practical questions, and patient care issues.

Anatomic Pathology

Baystate Pathology is an academic pathology group practice serving patients and providers in Massachusetts. All of our anatomic pathologists are certified by the American Board of Pathology in anatomic pathology, and many have other subspecialty board certifications, and are nationally recognized experts in their respective fields.

Their combined diagnostic skills and diverse subspecialty qualifications, along with Baystate's state-of-the-art technology, deliver the highest quality diagnostic services available.

We have expertise in the following subspecialties:

  • Anatomic Pathology
  • Electron Microscopy
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Cytopathology
  • General Surgical Pathology
  • General Tumor Pathology
  • Breast Pathology
  • Dermatopathology
  • Hematopathology
  • Pulmonary Pathology
  • Prostate/ Genitourinary Pathology
  • Perinatal/ Placental Pathology
  • Oral Pathology
  • Autopsy Pathology
  • Molecular Pathology

 

Cytopathology

As a nationally recognized laboratory with a focus on clinically-oriented service and diagnostic excellence, education, and translational research, the cytopathology service of Baystate Pathology routinely handles a broach range of specimen types. Liquid-based gynecologic specimens (Pap tests) are fully computer-imaged using the ThinPrep Imaging System, with additional tests available on a single Pap specimen vial, including:

  • Pap test morphologic review
  • HPV DNA testing
  • Gonorrhea, chlamydia, and trichomonas testing

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