Telepathology: A Transforming Practice for the Efficient, Safe, and Best Patient Care at the Regional Veteran Affairs Medical Center

Abstract

Abstract Introduction/Objective Telepathology is the practice of remote pathology using telecommunication links to enable transmission of digital pathology images for primary diagnosis, quality assurance, education, research, or second opinion diagnoses. Once properly validated and implemented, telepathology has great potential to transform the practice of pathology by increasing productivity, savings in costs, improving the quality of care, and participating in innovations to improve future care. These improvements would help ensure equity throughout all remote sites that may be served by the central regional Veteran Affairs Medical Center (VAMC), even with the long-term declining number of pathologists in the country. The validation and implementation of telepathology has been further refined by recent College of American Pathologist (CAP) and American Telemedicine Association (ATA) clinical guidelines and recommendations for the validation and implementation of telepathology, but otherwise the literature is sparse for recent telepathology validation and implementation after the promulgation of these guidelines and recommendations in the Veteran Affairs setting. Methods/Case Report An initial narrative literature review was conducted to ascertain the current clinical guidelines and practices of telepathology to ensure that practices during validation and implementation meet and exceed the standard of care. Furthermore, meetings including the appropriate stakeholders in information technology, privacy, facilities, and pathology were held. The telepathology platform from Leica Biosystems Aperio (Deer Park IL) was brought in house at the regional VAMC’s pathology department for validation and future implementation. Results (if a Case Study enter NA) Planning included following all appropriate guidelines from ATA and CAP regarding telepathology to ensure that the program met the standard of care. The arrival of the instrument was installed successfully within the pathology. Conclusion The installation of telepathology for use at a regional VAMC represents an important step to transform pathology to increase access, including even remote access, to pathology resources and subspecialty expertise throughout the Veteran Affairs Medical System.