Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011 Jan 7:2:1.
doi: 10.4103/2153-3539.74940.

Barriers and facilitators to adoption of soft copy interpretation from the user perspective: Lessons learned from filmless radiology for slideless pathology

Emily S Patterson  1 , Mike Rayo, Carolina Gill, Metin N Gurcan
Affiliations

Barriers and facilitators to adoption of soft copy interpretation from the user perspective: Lessons learned from filmless radiology for slideless pathology

Emily S Patterson et al. J Pathol Inform. .

Abstract

Background: Adoption of digital images for pathological specimens has been slower than adoption of digital images in radiology, despite a number of anticipated advantages for digital images in pathology. In this paper, we explore the factors that might explain this slower rate of adoption.

Materials and method: Semi-structured interviews on barriers and facilitators to the adoption of digital images were conducted with two radiologists, three pathologists, and one pathologist's assistant.

Results: Barriers and facilitators to adoption of digital images were reported in the areas of performance, workflow-efficiency, infrastructure, integration with other software, and exposure to digital images. The primary difference between the settings was that performance with the use of digital images as compared to the traditional method was perceived to be higher in radiology and lower in pathology. Additionally, exposure to digital images was higher in radiology than pathology, with some radiologists exclusively having been trained and/or practicing with digital images. The integration of digital images both improved and reduced efficiency in routine and non-routine workflow patterns in both settings, and was variable across the different organizations. A comparison of these findings with prior research on adoption of other health information technologies suggests that the barriers to adoption of digital images in pathology are relatively tractable.

Conclusions: Improving performance using digital images in pathology would likely accelerate adoption of innovative technologies that are facilitated by the use of digital images, such as electronic imaging databases, electronic health records, double reading for challenging cases, and computer-aided diagnostic systems.

Keywords: Computer-aided diagnostic; electronic health records; informatics; pathology; soft copy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Theoretical framework of factors impacting the usefulness and usability of new technologies
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Siegel EL. Current state of the art and future trends. In: Siegel EL, Kolodner RM, editors. Filmless Radiology. New York: NY:Springer-Verlag; 1999. pp. 3–20.
    1. Barbareschi M, Demichelis F, Forti S, Dalla Palma P. Digital Pathology: Science Fiction? Int J Surg Pathol. 2000;8:261–3. - PubMed
    1. Spradley JP. The Ethnographic Interview. CA: Wadsworth Group/Thomson Learning. 1979 Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Group/Thomson Learning.
    1. Patterson ES, Nguyen AD, Bozzette SA, Gomes JO, Asch SM. Comparing findings from cognitive engineering evaluations.Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 47th annual meeting. 2003 Oct 13-17;:483–7. Denver, CO.
    1. Anders S, Patterson ES, Woods DD, Ebright P. Projecting Trajectories for a New Technology Based on Cognitive Task Analysis and Archetypal Patterns: The Electronic ICU. Proceedings of the 8th Annual NDM Conference. 2007 Asilomar, CA.