We answer your questions

Anatomical-pathology is a discipline that studies abnormal changes caused by diseases at the tissue or cellular scale.

It is performed by a medical specialist who analyses samples (puncture, biopsy, smear, operating room...) first with the naked eye and then under a microscope. This examination provides an accurate diagnosis of a lesion and provides information to the doctor who collected the sample on the procedure to be performed.

The pathologist, or anatomical-pathologist, is usually unknown to the general public because he or she is not in direct contact with the patient. However, he has an important role in the screening and diagnosis of pathologies such as metabolic, inflammatory diseases or cancers.

Using histological and cytological techniques (analysis of tissues and cells), the pathologist develops a diagnosis and can guide a therapeutic decision by providing prognostic details.

He works closely with medical specialists (dermatologists, radiologists, oncologists, surgeons...) to establish adapted treatment plans to each patient.

We are not a medical biology laboratory, but a pathology laboratory, with a team of medical specialists. We manage tissue and cell collections, while the medical biology laboratory is a place where various biological fluids (blood, urine, pus...) are collected and analyzed.

We also perform urin alysis but to look for different abnormalities: we look for abnormal cells (urinary cytology), whereas the biology laboratory will look for an infection (ECBU).

The expertise field of pathological anatomy is broad, all tissues are concerned. This may include:

• Biopsies: fragment of an organ.
• Operative part: total or partial removal of an organ or tumor.
• Puncture: collecting a sample with a needle (example: thyroid, breast...)
• Liquids: urine, effusion, flow...
• Smear: collection of samples by scraping (example: cervical-vaginal smear)

The samples collected by your doctor are preserved in specific vials and they are then sent to our center mainly through our logistic units (couriers). Some samples are sent to us by postal service.

Each sample, identified in an unambiguous way and supplied with an examination request form, is received by the qualified technical experts. They ensure the conformity of the samples, and they assign an unambiguous numbering to the file. Files are registered in our database.

After a macroscopic examination, a specific treatment of the sample is performed in order to prepare the stained slide. These slides are studied by pathologists under the microscope; additional techniques can be used, such as immunohistochemistry or molecular biology. This will allow a medical diagnosis.

The medical diagnosis, registered in our database, is sent to prescribers and other medical professionals involved in the patient treatment, using digital or postal services.

All slides and sampling sets are kept in our facilities for 10 years, in accordance with the legislation.

They are histopathological and/or cytological examinations performed intraoperatively by the surgeon. The purpose of these examinations is to adjust the surgical procedure according to the characteristics of the pathology highlighted during the operation.

The pathologist attending the operation analyzes in real time under the microscope the samples collected by the surgeon.

This technique has the advantage of speed, but the quality obtained with this technique is lower than the quality of standard histological techniques. The diagnosis performed extemporaneously must be approved by the sample analysis after fixation and conventional staining.

The report is always sent to the doctor who collected the sample. Copies can be sent to other persons involved in the patient's follow-up.

Because the anatomopathology reports are subject to medical interpreting, they are sent to your doctor. He will give it to you in person while providing with appropriate instructions.

Depending on the prescribers, the results of gynecological screening smears are sent directly to the patient as soon as the fees are paid.

In some cases, additional techniques can be used to improve the interpreting and establish a medical diagnosis. Furthermore, opinions from scientific experts may be requested. As a result, the time required to deliver results is extended.

There is no need to worry, because it does not necessarily mean that it is serious.

For security and confidentiality reasons, no results can be communicated by phone or by e-mail.

The results are sent to your ordering physician, and to your referring physician in case of special request.

Your physician has received your examination results, as soon as you have received your fees.

Regarding smears, we send you the examination results as soon as we receive the refund of the fee note from your health organization.

For other samples, the results will be sent to your physician who will inform you.

From collection to examination by the pathologist, the sample is subjected to a transformation through a sequence of codified technical steps using multiple medical collaborators. This process of transforming the collection into a final sample that will be reviewed by the pathologist requires several days.

The microscopic examination performed by the pathologist may take a few tens of minutes or several days depending on the complexity of the lesion observed. It is an intellectual work leading to the formulation of a diagnosis and not a numerical result coming from an automatic system.

It also happens that the microscope examination must be performed with further techniques that require the sample to be returned to the technical field.

The results of an anatomopathological examination are sent directly to your doctor in charge of your medical file. No other non-medical person will receive the report.

In the case of gynecological screening smear results, you will directly receive your result. If you appoint a person to retrieve your results, they will need to present an identity document, as well as yours, and a power of attorney.

In the usual way, the report of an anatomopathological examination is sent to the doctor who performed the collection.
Copies may be sent to other doctors (specialists or referring physicians) if they are listed on the examination request form.

At any time, you have the right to receive a copy of the anatomopathological report of your sample according to the decree of March, the 5th 2004 on the approval of recommendations of good practices relating to access to information concerning a person's health, and in particular the accompanying of this access (JORF n°65 of March, the 17th 2004 page 5206 text n° 16 ; NOR: SANP0420786A).

See the corresponding articles of law:

• - Decree of March, the 5th 2004
• - Article L1111-7 of the Code de Santé Publique
• - Practical sheets for requesting access to the medical file

To receive a copy of your examination report, please contact us, we will send you an application form to send back with a photocopy of your ID document.

There are various payment means:

• - By credit card on our online payment page
• - By bank transfer (specifying imperatively the examination reference number in the bank transfer reason)
  Société générale – IBAN : FR76 3000 3022 1600 0202 0680 506 – BIC-SWIFT : SOGEFRPP
• - By bank check payable to “PRAXEA DIAGNOSTICS”, to be sent with the voucher in your note fee to: PRAXEA DIAGNOSTICS – 1 rue Galvani 91300 MASSY.
• - If you are covered by the C2S (Complémentaire Santé Solidaire), by the CMU (Couverture Médicale Universelle), the AME (Aide Médicale de l’Etat) or the ALD (Affection de Longue Durée), please send us a photocopy of your updated certificate, without the payment, including the voucher in your note fee.
• We don't accept "carte vitale", mutual cards or third-party payments.

Please send us a copy of your legal certificate mentioning your 100% coverage or Universal Health Insurance on the date of the treatment.
Your payment agency will be asked to pay us directly. No advance payment is required.

These fees correspond to the delivery of your sample to our laboratory by our couriers and to the returns of mail for the healthcare form, the bill of fees, and possibly the report.
The fees may differ depending on the payment and delivery options.
These fees are not covered by social insurance. They may be partially or totally covered by your mutual insurance company.

During your consultation, your physician took a sample or removed a lesion that he considered necessary to be analyzed for diagnostic purposes.
This analysis was conducted by our laboratory and performed by pathologists.
These are two separate acts, not within the same competence. So, you have two medical procedures to settle.

The analysis of your sample certainly required additional research. These were done in order to obtain a more precise diagnosis or to guide you towards a targeted therapy.
Since these searches do not require the same scanning methods, you will receive several fee notes.

Your reference number is on your fee bill.
This will be sent to you after analysis of your sample. If you just had your examination, you must wait until you receive this note before you can proceed with the payment.

The physicians known as certified in sector 1 apply the rate defined by the Health Insurance. Physicians in sectors 2 or 3 are allowed to apply unrestricted tariffs and may therefore overrun fees.

These additional fees may be fully or partially covered by some mutual insurance companies.

These fee overruns cannot be applied for patients with 100% coverage or Universal Health Coverage.

Payments by credit card are only possible online, through our website via our secure platform. You can also pay by bank transfer or by check. See : How to proceed for the payment?

After receiving your payment, we will send you a healthcare form. You will have to send it back to your social insurance institution for a refund.

As a pathology laboratory, composed of a group of medical specialists, we do not offer patients the third-party payment as it is practiced in a medical analysis laboratory. We do not have the required equipment (carte vitale reader) to be able to send an electronic healthcare form to your CPAM. We provide you with a paper healthcare form, which you will send to your social security institution.

You have to send your healthcare form to your social insurance institution in to obtain a refund.

Your healthcare form will be sent to you by post after the payment of your fee.

Within a 100% coverage or Universal Health Insurance, we will send your healthcare form to your social insurance institution after receiving your entitlement certificate on the date of the treatment.

All you need to do is contact us to obtain a duplicate.

This is not required in the case of an anatomopathological examination. All you have to do is send your healthcare form to your social insurance institution to get refund.

Some doctors overcharge fees. These fee overruns and shipping fees are not covered by social insurance. It is possible that your mutual insurance company will not cover, or only partially cover, these additional costs.