Digital pathology in clinical use: where are we now and what is holding us back?

Whole slide imaging is being used increasingly in research applications and in frozen section, consultation and external quality assurance practice. Digital pathology, when integrated with other digital tools such as barcoding, specimen tracking and digital dictation, can be integrated into the histopathology workflow, from specimen accession to report sign-out. These elements can bring about improvements in the safety, quality and efficiency of a histopathology department. The present paper reviews the evidence for these benefits. We then discuss the challenges of implementing a fully digital pathology workflow, including the regulatory environment, validation of whole slide imaging and the evidence for the design of a digital pathology workstation

The impact of COVID-19 on the practice of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology in the United States and Canada

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly disrupted the delivery of healthcare, including oral healthcare services. The restrictions imposed for mitigating spread of the virus forced dental practitioners to adopt significant changes in their workflow pattern. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the pandemic on the practice of oral and maxillofacial pathology in two countries in regard to educational activities, and clinical and diagnostic pathology services

PERCEIVED EFFECT OF TELEMEDICINE ON MEDICAL SERVICE DELIVERY BY FEDERAL MEDICAL CENTERS IN NORTH CENTRAL ZONE OF NIGERIA

The study investigated the perceived effect of telemedicine on medical service delivery by the Federal Medical Centers in North Central Nigeria. Six objectives guided the study. The study answered six research questions and tested two null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted survey research design. The research was conducted in the North Central Zone of Nigeria. The population of the study was one thousand four hundred and seven (1407) medical staff (Doctors, Nurses, Laboratory Technologists and Pharmacists). The sample size was three hundred and eleven (311) respondents comprising 97 doctors, 178 nurses, 19 laboratory technologists and 17 pharmacists; this was determined using Taro Yamane formula. The instrument used for data collection was a structured questionnaire titled: Perceived Effect of Telemedicine Questionnaire (PETQ) developed by the researcher from literature reviewed. Three experts validated the instrument while split-half method was used to determine the internal consistency of the items and a reliability co-efficient of 0.76 was obtained, indicating that the instrument is reliable for the study. The instrument was administered by the researcher and four research assistants. Descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while inferential statistics of Chi-square was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that nine (9) Telemedicine services are available to a high extent in the Federal Medical Centers in North Central Nigeria. The findings also revealed that Telemedicine exerts twelve (12) effects on medical service delivery, fourteen (14) challenges were discovered to be associated with the use of telemedicine, while eight (8) strategies were identified to mitigate the challenges of the use of telemedicine. It was also found that availability of telemedicine significantly affects medical service delivery in Federal Medical Centers in North Central Nigeria. Further analysis of data revealed that the degree of application of telemedicine exert significant effect on medical service delivery in Federal Medical Centers in North Central Nigeria. It was recommended that Federal Medical Centers should embark on drastic development of telemedicine in line with global trend in order to promote effective utilization of telemedicine services, stake holders should establish a basic understanding of what this medical technology can lead to as it will help policy makers enlighten the telemedicine debate by turning unique insights into more adequate approaches that will enrich and humanize mediated channels of health communication, thereby offering remedies and clarifications for effective health care exchange and delivery

2011 Strategic roadmap for Australian research infrastructure

The 2011 Roadmap articulates the priority research infrastructure areas of a national scale (capability areas) to further develop Australia’s research capacity and improve innovation and research outcomes over the next five to ten years. The capability areas have been identified through considered analysis of input provided by stakeholders, in conjunction with specialist advice from Expert Working Groups   It is intended the Strategic Framework will provide a high-level policy framework, which will include principles to guide the development of policy advice and the design of programs related to the funding of research infrastructure by the Australian Government. Roadmapping has been identified in the Strategic Framework Discussion Paper as the most appropriate prioritisation mechanism for national, collaborative research infrastructure. The strategic identification of Capability areas through a consultative roadmapping process was also validated in the report of the 2010 NCRIS Evaluation. The 2011 Roadmap is primarily concerned with medium to large-scale research infrastructure. However, any landmark infrastructure (typically involving an investment in excess of $100 million over five years from the Australian Government) requirements identified in this process will be noted. NRIC has also developed a ‘Process to identify and prioritise Australian Government landmark research infrastructure investments’ which is currently under consideration by the government as part of broader deliberations relating to research infrastructure. NRIC will have strategic oversight of the development of the 2011 Roadmap as part of its overall policy view of research infrastructure