Introduction/Background: The transition from glass slides to digital pathology is often framed as a technology upgrade. Despite distinct pathology workflows, several critical success factors align with those established during digital transformation in other imaging domains. One emerging requirement is a dedicated digital pathology system administrator. This role supports user administration, training, workflow management, data integrity, image lifecycle management, downtime planning, and cross-department coordination. These functions are central to moving from pilot implementations to sustained, enterprise-scale deployment.

Methods/Design: This panel session will be delivered by a multidisciplinary group with experience in enterprise imaging across radiology, pathology, and other domains. The panel will present practical insights and operational approaches derived from real-world implementations, with emphasis on system administration, governance, and workflow integration.

Results: Early experience indicates that operational principles from enterprise imaging are applicable to pathology image management system (IMS) administration. Organizations that establish a defined IMS administrator role early in adoption tend to achieve more stable implementations, more efficient issue resolution, and improved user adoption. Clear ownership of user onboarding, system integrations, quality control, and upgrade planning reduces redundancy and supports consistency. Structured communication with pathologists, information technology teams, and vendors enables continuous refinement of clinical workflows.

Conclusion/Discussion: Applying lessons learned from other enterprise imaging deployments to digital pathology supports the transition from proof of concept to durable clinical operations. A defined administrative structure, supported by governance and operational discipline, allows imaging informatics to function as a core component of pathology services.

Learning Objectives:

1. Define a variety of roles in digitization
2. List governance considerations in digitization
3. Define operational strategies in digitization