News, Analysis, Trends, Management Innovations for
Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Groups

Hosted by Robert Michel

News, Analysis, Trends, Management Innovations for
Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Groups

Hosted by Robert Michel
Sign In

Samsung Medical Center Combines 5G with Digital Pathology to Speed Anatomic Pathologist’s Readings of Frozen Sections, Cuts Test TAT in Half

HIMSS names SMC a ‘world leader’ in digital pathology and awards the South Korean Healthcare provider Stage 7 DIAM status  

Anatomic pathologists and clinical laboratory managers in hospitals know that during surgery, time is of the essence. While the patient is still on the surgical table, biopsies must be sent to the lab to be frozen and sectioned before going to the surgical pathologist for reading. Thus, shortening time to answer for frozen sections is a significant benefit.

To address an overwhelming number of frozen section tests and delays in surgical pathology turnaround times (TATs), Samsung Medical Center (SMC) in Seoul, South Korea, used 5G network connectivity to develop an integrated digital pathology system that is “enhancing the speed of clinical decision-making across its facilities,” according to Healthcare IT News

This effort in surgical pathology is part of a larger story of the digital transformation underway across all service lines at this hospital. For years, SMC has been on track to become one of the world’s “intelligent hospitals,” and it is succeeding. In February, SMC became the first healthcare provider to achieve Stage 7 in the HIMSS Digital Imaging Adoption Model (DIAM), which “assesses an organization’s capabilities in the delivery of medical imaging,” Healthcare IT News reported.

As pathologists and clinical laboratory leaders know, implementation of digital pathology is no easy feat. So, it’s noteworthy that SMC has brought together disparate technologies to reduce turnaround times, and that the medical center has caught the eye of leading health information technology (HIT) organizations. 

Kee Taek Jang, MD

“The digital pathology system established by the pathology department and SMC’s information strategy team could be one of the good examples of the fourth industrial revolution model applied to a hospital system,” anatomic pathologist Kee Taek Jang, MD (above), Professor of Pathology, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center told Healthcare IT News. Clinical laboratory leaders and surgical pathologists understand the value digital pathology can bring to faster turnaround times. (Photo copyright: Samsung Medical Center.)

Anatomic Pathologists Can Read Frozen Sections on Their Smartphones

Prior to implementation of its 5G digital pathology system, surgeons and their patients waited as much as 20 minutes for anatomic pathologists to traverse SMC’s medical campus to reach the healthcare provider’s cancer center diagnostic reading room, Healthcare IT News reported.

Now, SMC’s integrated digital pathology system—which combines slide scanners, analysis software, and desktop computers with a 5G network—has enabled a “rapid imaging search across the hospital,” Healthcare IT News noted. Surgical pathologists can analyze tissue samples faster and from remote locations on digital devices that are convenient to them at the time, a significant benefit to patient care.

“The system has been effective in reducing the turnaround time as pathologists can now attend to frozen test consultations on their smartphone or tablet device via 5G network anywhere in the hospital,” Jean-Hyoung Lee, SMC’s Manager of IT Infrastructure, told Healthcare IT News which noted these system results:

Additionally, through the 5G network, pathologists can efficiently access CT scans and MRI data on proton therapy cancer treatments. Prior to the change, the doctors had to download the image files in SMC’s Proton Therapy Center, according to a news release from KT Corporation, a South Korean telecommunications company that began working with SMC on building the 5G-connected digital pathology system in 2019.

SMC Leads in Digital Pathology: HIMSS

Earlier this year, HIMSS named SMC a “world leader” in digital pathology and first to reach Stage 7 in the Digital Imaging Adoption Model (DIAM), Healthcare IT News reported.

DIAM is an approach for gauging an organization’s medical imaging delivery capabilities. To achieve Stage 7—External Image Exchange and Patient Engagement—healthcare providers must also have achieved all capabilities outlined in Stages 5 and 6.

In addition, the following must also have been adopted:

  • The majority of image-producing service areas are exchanging and/or sharing images and reports and/or clinical notes based on recognized standards with care organizations of all types, including local, regional, or national health information exchanges.
  • The application(s) used in image-producing service areas support multidisciplinary interactive collaboration.
  • Patients can make appointments, and access reports, images, and educational content specific to their individual situation online.
  • Patients are able to electronically upload, download, and share their images.

“This is the most comprehensive use of integrated digital pathology we have seen,” Andrew Pearce, HIMSS VP Analytics and Global Advisory Lead, told Healthcare IT News.

SMC’s Manager of IT Planning Seungho Lim told Healthcare IT News the medical center’s goal is to become “a global advanced intelligent hospital through digital health innovation.” The plan is to offer, he added, “super-gap digital services that prioritize non-contact communication and cutting-edge technology.”

For pathologists and clinical laboratory leaders, SMC’s commitment to 5G to move digital pathology data is compelling. And its recognition by HIMSS could inspire more healthcare organization to make changes in medical laboratory workflows. SMC, and perhaps other South Korean healthcare providers, will likely continue to draw attention for their healthcare IT achievements.   

Donna Marie Pocius

Related Information:

Using 5G to Cut Down Diagnostic Reading by Half

KT and Samsung Medical Center to Build 5G Smart Hospital

Samsung Medical Center Achieves Stage 7 DIAM and EMRAM

Finding the Future of Care Provision: the Role of Smart Hospitals

K-Hospital Fair 2022, Success in Digital Transformation (DX) Introducing “Smart Logistics”

Digital Health Market to Hit $809.2 Billion by 2030: Grand View Research, Inc.

South Korea: The Perfect Environment for Digital Health

Implications of Academia’s Early Adoption of Whole Slide Scanning and Digital Pathology Systems

Understanding requirements of digital pathology workflow matters as regulatory and reimbursement elements align toward wider adoption beyond 2023. Upcoming Dark Daily webinar May 10 to cover infrastructure requirements

Nearly all pathology residents and fellows, as well as many histologists and other medical students, have been trained using digital images and, therefore, digital pathology tools. This resounds as a major and important development now working in tandem with recent coding decisions and regulatory recommendations that may combine to advance digital pathology to a significant tipping point.

As Dark Daily’s sister publication, The Dark Report, has described in great detail over the past several years, the trend toward digital pathology implementation started in the mid-2000s. Much has been learned through trial and error that may make the practical path forward clearer for those still on the sidelines.

Digital pathology infrastructure and information technology (IT) requirements are better known after years of research at academic centers throughout the United States—but only for those closest to the action. Two examples are University of Southern California (USC) on the West Coast and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) on the East Coast.

During a free 60-minute educational webinar on May 10, W. Dean Wallace, MD, (far left) of University of Southern California (USC) and Orly Ardon, PhD, MBA, (immediate left) of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) will explain digital pathology infrastructure, IT, and lessons learned through firsthand experiences. The webinar is sponsored by Hamamatsu, and continuing education credit is available for listening. (Photo copyrights: USC and MSKCC.)

Seven Advantages of Early Adoption of Whole Slide Imaging and Digital Pathology

Many pathologists know that academic centers throughout the U.S. have been the first to adopt and use digital pathology scanners and systems. Early work in what have become custom digital pathology ecosystems has enabled academic pathology groups to:

  • Learn how to implement, validate, and design workflows that include digital pathology systems and computational pathology.
  • Determine how physical environments need to change for slide scanners, achieving quality images, maximizing scanner utility, and expanding scanning capabilities in medium- and high-throughput laboratories.
  • Contract with pharmaceutical companies and drug developers to read digital images in support of drug research and clinical trials.
  • Understand how digital pathology applies for various use cases, including primary diagnosis, frozen section diagnosis, consultations, second opinions, and telepathology.
  • Successfully spread pathologist technical and professional support across multiple laboratory locations and remote customers.
  • Learn best practices for conducting tumor boards and peer reviews of pathology cases.
  • Validate and verify new hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stains.

Hospital and Lab Leaders Have Questions About Digital Pathology Requirements

As a result of early adopter projects, digital pathology infrastructure and IT requirements are better understood and documented for a variety of use cases, according to W. Dean Wallace, MD, Professor of Pathology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. Wallace specializes in pulmonary and renal pathology with a strong interest in informatics, as well as radiology and pathology correlation, and he warns of the danger of implementing an “incomplete digital pathology system.”

Wallace will join Dark Daily for a 60-minute webinar, “Digital Pathology Implementation Strategies,” on Wednesday, May 10, at 1 p.m. Eastern. Registration is free.

This webinar is for hospital and health system leaders, as well as independent pathology groups and reference lab executives, who want to know:

  • Key workflow aspects of the components needed in a digital pathology service.
  • Common limitations of commercial digital pathology products.
  • How to structure a digital pathology implementation team.
  • A goal-based approach to developing a business case for digital pathology implementation.

Wallace and Orly Ardon, PhD, MBA, Director of Digital Pathology Operations at MSKCC, will lead the call and take questions during the webinar’s live Q&A segment.

Questions About Digital Pathology Implementation

At MSKCC, teams have scanned and archived more than six million histology slides and are prospectively scanning all in-house H&E slides.

“There is a lot of interest out there for digital pathology implementation,” Ardon told Dark Daily, “not only the AI-machine learning opportunities that are enabled with digital slides, but how do we even start a basic digital pathology journey. Institutions and labs don’t realize how many factors they have to think about before they start scanning the first slide.”

“People have limited understanding of the complexities of the business case,” Wallace added. “Do you want to go with a full 100% deployment or a targeted deployment? Do you want to get digital pathology to support tumor boards? By introducing scanners into the tumor board workflow, you can actually cause more problems than you are solving if you are not careful.

“The other aspect of it is the actual technical deployments. You need to begin with careful analysis of functions or services to support,” Wallace said, adding the soft costs of digital pathology can take lab and pathology administrators by surprise.

Ardon and Wallace will present their insights and experiences during the webinar, which has been sponsored by Hamamatsu. Those interested can learn more and register at Dark Daily here. P.A.C.E. credit is available for this program through the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science (ASCLS).

On the Horizon: Incentives and Further Alignment Toward Digital Pathology Adoption

Dark Daily’s new webinar is timely. Earlier this year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) entered what has been called a “tryout” period to gather data about the use of new, digital-pathology-related Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes in clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups. (See coverage in The Dark Report.)

Some believe the efforts of CMS, clinical labs, and pathology groups will result in new reimbursable codes, reimbursement values, and other incentives for using digital pathology (starting sometime in 2024)—if analysis shows use of digital pathology is as widespread as numerous publications would seem to indicate.

The CPT coding development coincides with recent discussions within the federal Clinical Laboratory Improvement Advisory Committee (CLIAC) about sweeping recommendations to allow continued remote work once the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency ends on May 11 and recognize digital data as a vital component of diagnostic specimens. (See coverage in The Dark Report.)

CLIAC’s recommendations may translate into a running start for modernizing the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA). CLIA as it is written currently is dated and needs to account for new and emerging technologies, such as digital pathology, medical laboratory industry sources have said for years. (See a recent Dark ReportDark Daily webinar.)

These developments, as they further align with actions by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), could unleash swells of interest in onboarding whole slide scanners and digital pathology tools. Remote workflows became a priority during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it appears they will continue for a period as the Public Health Emergency unwinds, according to the FDA.

Watch Digital Pathology Implementation Strategies

Most executives at hospitals and health systems, private pathology practices, and independent reference labs are on the sidelines watching how digital pathology in research and clinical practice is unfolding.

However, as the pathology field integrates data science and computational pathology, forward-looking hospital and lab leaders can expect greater momentum toward advanced technologies, such as digital pathology tools.

Register here to participate in the upcoming webinar, “Digital Pathology Implementation Strategies.”

—Liz Carey

This content was developed through independent research and interviews by The Dark Intelligence Group, with support from Hamamatsu Photonics K.K., a provider of whole slide imaging systems and related technology such as optical sensors, light sources, and complex instrument systems that use them. Hamamatsu did not participate in the article’s development. Learn more about Hamamatsu at https://nanozoomer.hamamatsu.com/us/en.html.

Related Information

Dark Daily Webinar: Digital Pathology Implementation Strategies

Three Clinical Laboratory Trends Not to Misjudge

Shortage of Pathologists a Factor in Adoption of Digital Pathology

CLIA on Path to Recognize Lab Data as a Specimen

Use Histology Data to Illustrate Specimen “Life Cycle

New CPT Codes Debut for Digital Pathology Services

Free Webinar – Digital Pathology Implementation Strategies

By attending this webinar, attendees will be able to:
• Explain key workflow aspects of the components needed in a digital pathology service
• Identify common limitations of commercial digital pathology products.
• Structure a digital pathology implementation team.
• Plan a goal-based approach to develop your business case for digital pathology implementation

;