Expectations and Experiences Among Clinical Staff Regarding Implementation of Digital Pathology: A Qualitative Study at Two Departments of Pathology

The aim of this study was to assess and evaluate the individual expectations and experiences regarding the implementation of digital pathology (DIPA) among clinical staff in two of the pathology departments in the Region of Southern Denmark before and during the implementation in their department. Seventeen semi-structured interviews based upon McKinsey 7-S framework were held both prior to and during implementation with both managers and employees at the two pathology departments. The interviewees were pathologists, medical doctors in internship in pathology (interns), biomedical laboratory scientists (BLS), secretaries, and a project lead. Using deductive and inductive coding resulted in five overall themes and appertaining sub-themes. The findings pointed to an overall positive attitude towards DIPA from the beginning. The clinical staff perceived being rewarded already during implementation with benefits such as improved collaboration both inter- and intra-departmentally promoting better acceptance of DIPA. The clinical staff also experienced some challenges, e.g., increase in turnaround times, which affected and concerned staff on a personal level. Especially BLS expressed experiencing a demanding and stressful transition due to unexpected increase in workload as well as some barriers for a potentially better implementation process. The key findings of this study were a need for better preparation of staff through transparent communication of the upcoming challenges of the transition to DIPA, more system-specific training beforehand, more allocation of time and resources in the implementation process, and more focus on BLS' work tasks in the requirement specifications.