Guidance for remote reporting of digital pathology slides during periods of exceptional service pressure: An emergency response from the UK royal college of pathologists

Guidance for remote reporting of digital pathology slides during periods of exceptional service pressure: An emergency response from the UK royal college of pathologists

Muhammad Aslam, David Brettle, Darren Treanor, Alexander Wright, Clare Verrill, David Snead, Simon Cross, Paul Barrett, Bethany Jill Williams, Emily Clarke, Gareth Bryson

Pathology departments must rise to new staffing challenges caused by the coronavirus disease-19 pandemic and may need to work more flexibly for the foreseeable future. In light of this, many pathologists and departments are considering the merits of remote or home reporting of digital cases. While some individuals have experience of this, little work has been done to determine optimum conditions for home reporting, including technical and training considerations. In this publication produced in response to the pandemic, we provide information regarding risk assessment of home reporting of digital slides, summarize available information on specifications for home reporting computing equipment, and share access to a novel point-of-use quality assurance tool for assessing the suitability of home reporting screens for digital slide diagnosis. We hope this study provides a useful starting point and some practical guidance in a difficult time. This study forms the basis of the guidance issued by the Royal College of Pathologists, available at:https://www.rcpath.org/uploads/assets/626ead77-d7dd-42e1-949988e43dc84c97/RCPath-guidance-for-remote-digital-pathology.pdf.

2020

patient safety, Digital pathology, technical specifications, home reporting, remote reporting

DOI: 10.4103/jpi.jpi_23_20

Journal of Pathology Informatics

Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications

Computer applications to medicine. Medical informatics, Pathology