Dark Daily recently posted an article on Digital Pathology that touched on some critical concepts for pathologists, laboratory managers, and leadership. Most agree, the transformation to digital pathology is long overdue and the impact on patient care is the leading beneficiary. Like the early days of the internet, not everyone is quite ready to “sign-up” but it’s coming. And we know a foundation in digital pathology will set us up for decades worth of breakthroughs in the cancer research, improved patient outcomes and a wildly different economic paradigm.
It’s this new economic driver that will create pathology’s new “winners and losers” as the author, Jude, discusses. Pathology groups need to develop their strategy quickly to embrace and adopt digital pathology, or find themselves at risk of being “AOL’d”. The forward looking practices like Advanced Pathology Associates, see digital pathology beyond just a simple ‘microscope replacement’ and as a way to transform the economic opportunities to make a real impact on healthcare.
The early adopters of digital pathology are earning themselves a competitive advantage. Dr. Cacciabeve’s group mentioned in the article is one of the many examples of early adopters of digital pathology that’s starting to see the immediate benefits. It’s becoming clear that digital pathology can improve patient care and help drive top and bottom lines for labs and sub-specialists that adopt the technology quickly. We see this with our customers at Proscia – like Hospital Puerto Montt which was the topic of a recently published case study. More efficient workflows, new revenue streams, etc – we’re just getting started.
I’d encourage a good read of the article. As with any big change, while it’s daunting through one lens, it’s inspiring through another.
