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In today’s fast-paced healthcare environment, getting the diagnosis right—quickly and accurately—is more critical than ever. That’s why Mikroscan is redefining how pathology fits into the surgical and diagnostic workflow, helping hospitals improve turnaround time, reduce repeat procedures and deliver better patient care.
Shining a Spotlight on Diagnosis
In most care journeys, the surgeon or specialist takes center stage when it comes to treatment, but the diagnosis that guides their decisions comes from a highly skilled doctor patients may never meet—the pathologist.
Behind the scenes, pathologists play a foundational role by analyzing tissue samples, identifying disease and determining its type and stage. In cancer care specifically, over 95% of diagnoses are made through pathology following a tissue biopsy, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Without that first microscopic read, there’s no confirmed diagnosis—and no treatment plan.
Great patient care begins with getting the diagnosis right, and that means giving pathology departments the tools and support they need to keep up with demand. As cancer cases continue to rise and pathology workforce declines, Mikroscan provides technology-enabled products and solutions to increase a pathologist’s reach to improve outcomes and efficiencies.
The Hidden Cost of Waiting
During traditional surgical biopsies, a tissue sample is taken, then sent off to a lab for processing and review. That means it often takes days, or even weeks, for diagnostic results to come back. This delay can be especially challenging for patients in rural communities, where access to on-site pathology expertise is limited.
For the patient, that waiting period is filled with stress and uncertainty—especially if they’re waiting to hear if they are cancer-free. With Mikroscan’s live telepathology technology, pathologists don’t need to be in the same room, or the same state, to review a biopsy. While the patient is still on the table, a temporary sample can be scanned and instantly shared with a remote pathologist, who can assess margin status and provide immediate feedback to the surgical team.
“That real-time assessment means the patient can go home knowing there’s no likelihood of a recall,” said Martin Stuart, PhD, CEO of Mikroscan.
That’s added peace of mind for patients when they need it most. And it’s good news for hospitals, too.
Telepathology doesn’t just improve patient experience, it can increase operational efficiency. By enabling pathologists to provide expert reads remotely, Mikroscan helps health systems extend subspecialty coverage to more sites, without the overhead of on-site staffing. It reduces turnaround times, helps avoid unnecessary repeat surgeries and supports better surgical outcomes by providing immediate answers. With fewer barriers between diagnosis and treatment, it’s a smarter way to deliver care while adding to a hospital’s bottom line.
A Catalyst for Change
Workforce challenges have become an issue across healthcare, and pathology is no exception.
“Over the last couple of decades, the workload for a pathologist has gone up significantly, about 43%. Yet the workforce has declined by 17%,” said Martin Stuart. “So we're trying to make them more efficient.”
While digital pathology has been around for decades, adoption has been slow in the US. Dr. Stuart, who has been in the digital pathology market for nearly 21 years, says adoption accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic when remote reads became necessary for many pathologists balancing clinical duties and family responsibilities.
“This became a really significant step forward, demonstrating that they could in fact use telepathology to solve workforce issues,” said Dr. Stuart.
The future of pathology isn’t just digital, it’s distributed, connected and patient-centered. As health systems look to do more with fewer resources, technologies like Mikroscan are helping unlock new possibilities: faster diagnoses, broader access to expertise and more seamless collaboration across sites.
Whether they’re serving a rural community hospital or a large academic medical center, empowering pathology teams with the right tools means better care for every patient, everywhere.
To learn more about how Mikroscan’s innovative technologies and solutions can improve patient outcomes and support pathology teams, visit www.mikroscan.com.
