Article | 3/21/2025

Perspectives on Reducing Barriers to the Adoption of Digital and Computational Pathology Technology by Clinical Labs

Diagnostics Magazine

by Jeffrey L. Bessen, Melissa Alexander, Olivia Foroughi, Roderick Brathwaite, Emre Baser, Liam C. Lee, Omar Perez and Gary Gustavsen 

Digital and computational pathology (DP/CP) tools have the potential to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the anatomic pathology workflow; however, current adoption among US hospital and reference labs remains low. Methods: To better understand the current utilization of DP/CP technology and barriers to widespread adoption, we conducted a survey among 63 anatomic pathologists and lab directors within the US health system. Results: The survey results indicated that current use cases for DP/CP involve streamlining traditional manual pathology and that labs would have substantial difficulty providing AI-guided image analysis if it were required by physicians today. Among potential catalysts for the broader adoption of DP/CP, pathologists identified clinical guidelines as a key resource for anatomic pathology, whose endorsement of DP/CP would be highly impactful for reducing current barriers. Conclusions: Expanded access to DP/CP may ultimately benefit all major stakeholders—patients, physicians, clinical laboratory professionals, care settings, and payers—and will therefore require collaboration across these groups.

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