Experience with the implementation of digital pathology and vision for the future
The ongoing digital transformation process of all health care processes including surgical pathology laboratory is becoming mainstream option. The implementation of HW and SW requirements is reflecting institutional/laboratory needs and national or local authority budget planning and relevant subventions. The executive professional team is based on IT, IQA, EQA specialists, pathologists, oncologists, biologist, radiologists, another specialists and directorship workers. The main goal is to create at least perpetual beta version of a digital workflow process with continual improvements and modular design possibility. Unfortunately nowadays more informational systems in one institution do exist with variable and usually low or no level of an integration, that is crucial point of stabile, swift and flexible part of workflow and communication in health care. An automated multi-integrative, multidisciplinary and ergonomic digital platform with e.g. IVD applications, statistical analysis tools is needed to perform stabile, low or no bias rate of digitally transformed healthcare workflow with increased diagnostic efficiency based also on EBM databases.
Digital pathology is transforming laboratories from analog "islands" into connected, fast, and traceable workplaces. It brings faster slide reading, remote collaboration, and clear data for clinicians, yet at the same time places high demands on people, processes, and technologies. The lecture showed where we are today and what is needed for a true digital transformation. Digitization is not just the conversion of an image, document, or audio into bits; it is a way to reshape the workflow so that it is faster, clearer, and shareable. The key is a modular process that can be adapted: handling small and large samples differently, involving the clinician remotely, or adjusting the order of steps. Compared with isolated "islands" of systems, transformation shifts the horizon—you see more at once, in more places, and with higher-quality control. The difference between digitization and digital transformation thus lies in scope: from converting individual items to changing the entire ecosystem of medicine.From digitization to transformation