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Johanna Palacios is a general surgical pathologist at the Burgos University Hospital in Spain. She specializes in hematopathology, bone and soft tissue pathology, autopsy, and digital pathology. She is one of six pathologists constituting a Castile and León task group for digitalization. |
Sacyl (Gerencia Regional de Salud de Castilla y León) is the public healthcare system of the Castile and León autonomous community in Spain. They are executing an ambitious project, started in 2022, to digitalize 14 hospitals in their public health department as a centralized effort. All digital components were divided into four categories to be acquired separately: 1) IMS and AI, 2) workstations, 3) infrastructure and storage, and 4) hardware, in this case, referring to scanners.
Aiforia’s clinical AI solutions and an IMS provider, Sectra, were selected via an open public procurement in the first category. Over 140 pathologists in Castile and León will be using Aiforia in their daily practice. We interviewed Dr. Johanna Palacios about their journey and experiences so far. Continue reading to learn more, or watch the video at the end of this article.
AI contributes to better patient care
The decision to start implementing artificial intelligence was an easy one. “There is no doubt that AI is transforming medicine in more ways than one. For us pathologists, it includes faster and more accurate diagnosis, especially prognosis from different types of cancers and health conditions. Obviously, this means improving treatments and personalized treatment plans for patients, better care delivery, and streamlining the patient experience.” Dr. Palacios describes.
She also explains that machine learning enables the analysis of large data sets, allowing researchers to have better patient study outcomes. “I think this can actually accelerate those traditional research modes that we used to do, and in the end, it's all better for the patients.”
“AI opens a world of possibilities for better, more precise diagnosis, and all this translates into better patient security.” – Dr. Johanna Palacios, Pathologist at the Burgos University Hospital, Sacyl
What to consider when choosing an AI partner?
Castile and León will start with Aiforia’s comprehensive breast cancer panel, lung cancer PD-L1, and H. pylori AI solutions. Then, they plan to expand into fluorescence, dermatopathology, and melanocytic lesions. As a hematopathologist, Dr. Palacios wishes to work alongside the Aiforia team and develop algorithms that she could use in her daily work.
“Aiforia was a personal favorite of mine, and I could say many reasons why. First of all, something to consider when you're starting a project is that Aiforia is a company that is completely and exclusively dedicated to AI in pathology, and all that they have already developed is very much aligned with Castile and León’s needs. I could add a few more technical points of view on CE-IVD markings and clinical validations of all the algorithms Aiforia already has, interoperability, and transparency. But as a practical point of view, for me as a user, Aiforia’s reporting tool takes into consideration every single detail that is important for us pathologists.” Dr. Palacios describes.
Another important aspect for the Castile and León team was that Aiforia was willing to grow and evolve with the customer. Dr. Palacios also sees people as a crucial factor in the consideration. “It is not only about the greatness of the product itself, but for me it's also about the trust and engagement that we have received from Aiforia’s team. We are starting with a few algorithms, but our idea is to grow and, basically, have it all. We can see Aiforia’s team's commitment to growing with us and developing what we need together.”
Currently in the deployment phase, Dr. Palacios doesn’t yet have practical day-to-day experience. However, she is very pleased with the collaboration so far. “Our experience with the team has been over the moon. It has been great with the people, with their engagement with us, and even giving us the chance to practice with the algorithms, to play a bit.”
Path forward
Dr. Palacios sees that life will change drastically once everyone adopts the digital computational environment and AI in their daily lives. She explains that for a pathologist, it is a drastic change moving from analog to digital in diagnostics. However, she sees it as a positive change that will improve how pathologists work, translating to benefits for health departments and patients.
“I don't see that technology or AI will replace me, as many others think. I see AI as a huge tool that will make my life easier, my diagnosis better, and everything more accurate. The day-by-day doubts that we may encounter in difficult cases, I see all of this being diminished by AI and improving, and not only for us pathologists as users, but for health departments and patients as well.” – Dr. Johanna Palacios, Pathologist at the Burgos University Hospital, Sacyl
Watch Dr. Palacios’ video interview: