It’s the ultimate pathology partnership – pathologists and IT engineers collaborating with trusted technology vendors to modernize and streamline the lab workflow. When Sant’Andrea University Hospital Pathology decided to go digital, its “dream team” set out to create an ecosystem to enhance patient care, hospital-wide collaboration, and technological future-proofing.
We spoke with clinical lead, Andrea Vecchione, and technology and strategy lead, Carla Ciciarelli, to find out how the digitalization initiative will work in practice.
Andrea Vecchione is Professor of Anatomic Pathology, Director of Morphologic and Molecular Pathology, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, and Chair of Pathology, Sant’Andrea University Hospital, Italy.
Ing. Carla Ciciarelli
Direttore U.O.C. Sviluppo delle Tecnologie Biomediche e dell’Ecosistema Digitale
Responsabile per la transizione al digitale
What drove the hospital’s decision to invest in digital pathology?
Traditional pathology workflows, reliant on physical slides, limit scalability, collaboration, and turnaround times. The decision to digitize the workflow was primarily driven by the need to improve diagnostic efficiency, address increasing case volumes, and mitigate workforce shortages. Additionally, the hospital aimed to modernize its infrastructure to support remote work – a critical need highlighted during COVID-era disruptions.
The need to strengthen clinical data security and ensure compliance with healthcare data protection regulations was another key driver. And, looking ahead, it’s important to acknowledge that digitalization lays the foundation for AI-assisted diagnostics.
Another consideration was strategic alignment with broader digital transformation goals across imaging departments. The hospital’s vision is an integrated digital ecosystem, in which pathology data become part of a shared and interoperable information asset.
What clinical benefits do you expect from the transition to a digital pathology workflow?
The first is time to diagnosis. Having instant access to histology slides, regardless of location, and more streamlined workflows, will lead to faster diagnoses for patients. Another important benefit is the improved diagnostic accuracy and consistency that have been proven with AI tools and image analysis.
These are complemented by significant benefits in terms of clinical safety, through the reduction of risks related to loss or deterioration of physical samples. Digitized records allow full traceability of activities and structured audit trails.
Furthermore, the integration of pathology data within a digital ecosystem enables a more comprehensive patient view, improving the quality of clinical decision-making.
What advantages do you anticipate for the laboratory workforce?
An important benefit for the pathologists will be the opportunity for remote collaboration, enabling specialists to review cases regardless of location. The new ecosystem will also promote better multidisciplinary integration, allowing pathologists to easily share findings with radiologists and clinicians.
We also expect that having instant access to an archive of annotated digital cases will significantly enhance our educational and research activities.
What were the key considerations for data handling?
Data security is part of our duty of care, and a priority for the new system. As well as enhanced protection of sensitive data, the IT infrastructure will ensure structured and secure access management.
It was also important for us to select a centralized data management system that is scalable, to future-proof our data-handling needs. Continuity of care was another consideration, and the new IT infrastructure will provide enhanced disaster recovery capabilities.
What IT benefits do you anticipate from the switch?
The new infrastructure will integrate with the existing lab systems – namely the laboratory information system, picture archiving and communication, and electronic health records. This is consistent with the hospital-wide evolution towards an interoperable architecture.
That level of interoperability is important. It will help not only with the standardization of workflows across departments, but also with the adoption of a data-driven approach to processes and decision-making.
How will that integration work in practice?
We will have solutions for radiology, cardiology, and digital pathology all sitting within a vendor neutral archive (VNA). That consolidation will result in significant long-term cost savings compared with siloed data storage. It will also lead to greater flexibility to add or replace systems without disrupting the ecosystem.
What’s more, data security will be consolidated within a single governed platform. With enhanced monitoring, auditing, and infrastructure resilience capabilities, it will enable a fully integrated healthcare digital ecosystem.
How will that connectivity help to align different specialties across the hospital?
Digital pathology acts as a bridge between traditionally siloed disciplines. Converting pathology into a data-rich, image-based format – similar to radiology – enables true multidisciplinary collaboration. This is especially important in oncology, where alignment with pathology forms the basis of precision medicine.
In enabling data exchange in this way, we also support integrated diagnostics, where patient data from pathology, radiology, and genomics can be united for a more complete diagnostic picture.
How will digitalization help to future-proof the hospital as a whole?
Digitalization creates a unified data ecosystem that can evolve with future technologies. Importantly, having a well embedded digital infrastructure prepares the hospital for the implementation of AI-driven decision support systems – a highly advantageous inevitability in healthcare.
It also ensures secure and governed management of clinical data, which is a key element for sustainability and evolution of the healthcare digital ecosystem.
How important is a strong vendor partnership in achieving the hospital’s goals for its data ecosystem?
A strong vendor partnership ensures access to proven, scalable technology that is tailored to the hospital’s clinical needs. Alignment for future capabilities, such as AI tools and interoperability enhancements, should be built into the proposal.
We looked for a vendor who could bring implementation expertise and best practices from similar deployments. We also needed a partner with exceptionally high standards of cybersecurity and data protection, to support us in building an interoperable digital ecosystem that is compliant with regulations.
Our partner offers ongoing technical support and system optimization after implementation, which gives us great peace of mind, and capacity to focus on patient care.
The right partner acts not just as a supplier, but as a strategic collaborator in transformation.
“We are extremely proud to partner with Sant’Andrea University Hospital on this landmark initiative, which demonstrates the power of an Enterprise Imaging approach to unify pathology, radiology, and clinical data into a secure, interoperable ecosystem that supports integrated diagnostics and future innovation.
This success reflects a true partnership way of working – built on shared vision, trust, and close collaboration with clinical and IT leaders – to deliver meaningful, sustainable impact beyond technology alone. We see this achievement not as an endpoint, but as the starting point to continue fostering similar successful Enterprise Imaging projects across the Region and beyond.” — Belén Soto, VP Digital Sales INTERNATIONAL - Solutions for Enterprise Imaging, GE HealthCare
What advice would you offer for technology investment?
Large-scale technology investments can seem daunting. Here are some key considerations that aided our decision-making:
Start with pilot projects before scaling.
Choose partners carefully and prioritize interoperability.
Integrate cybersecurity, data protection, and regulatory compliance from the outset, treating them as structural components of the digital ecosystem rather than secondary aspects.
What advice would you offer to other hospitals on how to manage change during a digital transformation?
Our advice is:
Invest in training and change management, not just technology.
Engage stakeholders early, especially clinicians and pathologists.
Ensure strong governance and leadership alignment.
Focus on workflow redesign, not just digitization of existing processes.
Communicate clearly and consistently to reduce resistance
Remember that digital transformation is as much about people and processes as it is about technology.
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