How to Get the Most from Your Pathology Software
Whether you are managing a startup or a well-established lab, it is important to have optimized pathology software. There are a number of elements that will impact your lab’s efficiency when it comes to pathology software. Taking the step to upgrade or completely switch over to digital pathology will allow you to update and access your data in real time, observe trends, reduce storage space, and more.
Technology advances at a rapid pace. Ensuring that modern-day technology is integrated into your pathology software system is a surefire way of ensuring your lab will work efficiently.
Here are some of the essential steps needed for optimal pathology software performance in your lab.
The Human Element
Even though this is an article about software, we are going to have to discuss one of the key components behind that software – the person who is operating it and the team that is supporting it. Optimizing your pathology software, regardless of the type of system or platform, will require working with lab managers, decision-makers, and pathologists who think outside the box. These employees must understand the benefits of digitization and be willing to work with a newer system. If you are using software that has customization capabilities, make sure to regularly ask for input from your team in order to evolve the software that best suits your lab’s needs.
Additionally, make sure to have a strong internal IT team. If you are outsourcing your IT services, try to find a company that is reliable when it comes to bug/problem tracking and resolutions. Effective IT services will allow your lab to continue operations when the eventual glitches or technical issues arise. A strong IT team will get you up and running sooner if your operations experience disruptions. Lastly, they will also be able to maintain a strong defense against cyberattacks by continuously updating the systems against newer versions of cyberthreats.
Integrate Automation
As automation became more prevalent in labs during the COVID pandemic, its capabilities and benefits became readily apparent as well. As it relates to the pandemic, automation proved beneficial in that it allowed less person-to-person contact and less foot traffic inside a lab space. Reduced traffic means reduced chances of transmission. As we eventually move beyond COVID, there will still be contagious threats to lab workers. Automation not only increases safety, but it can also increase efficiency.
Integrating automation into your pathology software will allow lab workers to do less manual work that can be automated. This will free up time for them to perform other tasks that are less suitable for robots.
AI in Pathology Software
Along with automation, artificial intelligence can also play a major role in boosting efficiency and optimizing performance. AI can provide improved image and tissue analysis, tumor detection, and diagnosis. The accuracy rate from AI is extremely high and can provide a secondary backstop to human pathologists.
You can allow the AI to also take the first look at a diagnosis or analysis. After doing that, a pathologist can review the results. This can save a significant amount of time by allowing the pathologists to perform other tasks. Increased work efficiency will ultimately save your business money in the long run.
AI can also provide predictive analysis. This will assist pathologists in identifying warning signs of diseases or health issues before they become readily apparent.
Integrating AI into your pathology software system can prove highly beneficial.
Scale for Future Growth or Change
As your lab grows and expands, so too will your pathology software requirements. There will be more data to store and analyze, more tasks to automate, and more employees who will interface with the software. Usually growth is considered a positive direction for any business. However, with increasing logistics and software loads, there is an increased chance of encountering bugs, technical glitches/failures, and less-than-optimal outcomes for outdated software.
When choosing your software and vendor, research how well the software performs under heavy load situations. It will be necessary to understand how the system performs under stress, and whether it is capable of withstanding the workload that will be created when you reach your business goals. Be sure to think forward into the future when inquiring about how many employees can interface with the system and the amount of data that can be stored. Lastly, make sure to consider how the new pathology software system will operate across platforms with other software systems you may be using in your lab.
Another important element to think about is any future physical changes in your laboratory space. If you want to ensure your pathology software is optimized to perform at peak efficiency, you will want to make sure that future changes to the physical space of your lab will not negatively affect the equipment that is linked to your software systems.
Cloud-Based Data Storage
Incorporating a cloud-based platform will create redundancy to ensure the security of your records. It will allow improved accessibility of the data as well. Employees will be able to access the data they need from smartphones and tablets; this benefit will increase work efficiency.
Cloud-based computing reduces costs when it comes to maintaining computer servers. If space is at a premium in your business. using cloud computing is the solution. According to a report from Dell, up to 53% of businesses that adapt cloud-based computing saw increased revenue growth. They also found that the software increased their business efficiency and allowed them to provide better products to customers.
As you shop for pathology software, be sure to consider a cloud-based computing system for your upgrade or replacement.
Contact Psychē to Upgrade Your Pathology Software
If you are looking for an experienced company to help you choose and customize new pathology software for your lab, contact Psychē Medical Laboratory Software for a consultation. Psychē can provide ongoing support for your software. We will also help you choose the best LIS for your lab based on your goals and capabilities.
