I wanted to share some insights about a simple application of digital technologies in the histopathology industry.
Some basics about the field and industry:
- Histopathology is the study of examining and diagnosing manifestations of diseases in the tissue(1). The discipline is commonly used to diagnose possible cancer formations.
- Labs receive tissue samples that must undergo multiple processes to make it possible for a pathologist to evaluate the tissue structure. Examples of these stages are grossing, fixation, tissue processing, embedding, sectioning and staining.
- The processes were developed in the 19th century and remain largely unchanged. However, technologies, materials, and lab organization have.
Diagnosis speed is crucial for quality patient care. Traditionally, labs have completed all processes manually which is both time consuming and psychically demanding for lab technicians. Turnaround time could take days, even weeks. To improve the throughput capacity, laboratories across the world (in the last two decades) have been acquiring specialized instruments to improve the efficiency of processes.
Two issues that many laboratories face is the cost of ownership and production organization. Laboratories, especially under public health care systems, face strong cost pressures from the purchasing department.
The non-digital solution has been to offer lease type deal which is more cash flow friendly, but the downside is that it usually offers much less production flexibility. Customers are often locked to semi-rigid contract and need to pay a monthly fee based on a fixed output quantity. Laboratories still need to pay based on the minimum slide requirement regardless of output schedule. For many laboratories, this becomes a dealbreaker.
The digital solution has been to connect instruments to healthcare specific systems (LIS) to record output, then invoice customers based on their usage. They pay more per patient, but the production flexibility is a benefit what many customers value. It is a small but powerful pricing innovation enabled by the digitalization of the instruments.
The Royal College of Pathologists. (n.d.). Histopathology. https://www.rcpath.org/discover-pathology/news/fact-sheets/histopathology.html#:~:text=Histopathology%20is%20the%20diagnosis%20and,clinicians%20manage%20a%20patient’s%20care.)
Requests for slides and blocks. (n.d.). https://www.utsouthwestern.edu/education/medical-school/departments/pathology/services/slides-and-blocks.html
