How Digital Pathology Facilitates Remote Pathologist-Patient Consultations

Introduction/Background: Patients often have questions about their pathology report and findings, and it is becoming increasingly evident that direct discussion with the pathologist can help the patient to understand their disease, plan their treatment, and advocate for themselves.Methods/Design: This retrospective review of a single pathologist's practice over 3 years aimed to identify cases in which the patient had requested a secondary consultation for review of findings and treatment planning. In all cases, the patients had requested that their slides be sent for second opinion. All slides were digitized for retention in the consulting institution; original slides were returned. In some cases, blocks were received for additional stains and those slides were also digitized. Patient interaction was usually by telephone, but in some cases, the digitized slides were reviewed with the patient in a zoom call following informed consent.Results: The study included 25 cases of which 8 had zoom calls with digital slide review. The cases were all from remote locations in the US and foreign countries in Europe, North and South America, and the Middle East. While telephone discussions were helpful, the availability of digital slides enhanced the discussion in all cases where this was undertaken. The patients were able to ask questions and have responses with accompanying review of the findings supporting those responses. Follow-up comments from patients were very positive and included the following remarks: 'The ability to see the slides is an incredible experience' and 'Your insights have been extremely helpful in helping me understand the situation'.Conclusion/Discussion: Digital pathology allows patients to see their pathology, understand the report and discuss its implications with a consultant pathologist even when the patient and pathologist are in different geographic parts of the world.

Learning Objectives: 

1. To understand the value of patient-pathologist interaction
2. To appreciate the added value of digital pathology in the patient-pathologist interaction
3. To conceptualize the virtual experience of the patient-pathologist interaction for remote consultations using digital pathology