Drs. Hillel Kahane, Jared Szymanski, Matthew O. Leavitt, and Todd Randolph are four pathologists who have 93 years of experience combined. They are some of the most renowned and well-respected people in their field. Together, they have signed out millions of cases and served more than 10,000 urologists and radiation oncologists. These pathologists made the switch to digital pathology several years ago with Lumea’s technology, and they never want to go back.
Traditional Pathology is Time-intensive, Inflexible, and Limiting
A typical pathologist desk has a microscope, a computer running his lab information system (LIS), slides arriving in trays for the pathologist to interpret, cases they are currently diagnosing with requisition forms, and cases waiting on additional stains or second opinions. They are tied to and rely on each one of these tools to do their job.
On an average day, a courier service or lab secretary delivers glass slides to the pathologists’ desk. The pathologist compares each slide with the forms to verify patient information, reviews the gross, and views each slide under the microscope. They dot the glass slide and measure the tissue. Then they dictate the diagnosis into their LIS or send a dictation off for transcription. The pathologist makes any necessary edits and signs out the case. This process takes these four pathologists an average of 16 minutes per 12-site prostate case. This does not include the time it takes to get additional stains or second opinions.
“A lot of people choose pathology thinking it would give them more time with their family and more flexibility. When they get into it they find it’s not true because they’re stuck in the hospital,” said Dr. Matthew O. Leavitt, Pathologist and Founder and CEO of PathNet.
Lumea’s Digital Pathology is Flexible
Lumea’s technology removes the need for a microscope and desk. Lumea’s proprietary diagnostic platform, BxLink™, digitizes all paperwork, glass slides, and includes all integrations needed to practice digital pathology. This technology enables the pathologist to be more flexible and efficient than ever before.
“I’ve been an avid user of the BxLink platform for three or four years now and I’m really impressed with it,” said Dr. Todd Randolph, Cytopathologist and Founder and Co-owner of StarPath.
Because of this revolutionary technology, in place of a full desk everything the pathologist needs is on one handheld tablet or computer. This allows them to practice pathology on the go so long as they are doing it in a validated location. Just imagine being able to work in a favorite chair at home instead of bending over a microscope all day.
“I love the convenience of being able to sign out or consult on cases from anywhere,” said Dr. Jared Szymanski, Cytopathologist and Founding Partner of ConnectPathology.
Lumea Digital Pathology is Efficient
In addition to enjoying greater flexibility, by switching to BxLink these pathologists were able to diagnose a 12-site prostate case in half the time. How?
Our efficiencies for a pathologist start at the procedure with revolutionary tissue transport technology that preserves more tissue for diagnosis. Once it reaches the lab, lab technicians process the tissue in our BxChip® which holds up to 6 cores in one cassette. This reduces cassette and slide count from 12 to 2. In place of relying on a courier to deliver slides, the lab uploads them to BxLink and a pathologist has immediate, remote access to them for review.
The blend of these consumables with our proprietary technology platform improves a pathologist’s workflow. Lumea incorporates artificial intelligence as an optimization tool that auto-grosses tissue in seconds, is an optional quality control check, auto-calculates percentage of involvement, and auto-fills a report as the pathologist works through the diagnosis.
“Hands down, the most efficient digital pathology workflow,” said Dr. Leavitt.
In the end, Lumea’s revolutionary technology enabled the four interviewed pathologists to do more than twice as much urology work in one day, and they can do it all from the location of their choice. They also reduced the time it took for them to review the gross by 85%.
“It’s the best way to practice pathology by far,” said Dr. Hillel Kahane, Uropathologist and Founder and Co-owner of StarPath.
When asked about his favorite benefits of Lumea’s BxLink, Dr. Randolph said “It’s a laboratory information system developed from the ground up with a digital perspective. I get tremendous efficiency and accuracy with patient tracking from specimen procurement to image production and report generation.”
Lumea Digital Pathology Can Benefit all Specialties
The stats in this article are based on prostate cases, but Lumea technology provides time savings, better flexibility, and greater efficiency for all pathology specialties. Additional benefits of Lumea’s digital pathology include better ergonomics, elimination of transcription errors, affordable entry to digital pathology, faster consults and second opinions, digital archive, easier workload distribution, unlimited scale with advanced cloud-based architecture, and beautiful, full-color reports. Visit our website and request a free demo to learn more about what Lumea can do for you.
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