[Transitioning to digital pathology: Feedback from the eNovA-Path project of the 3 university hospitals of Nouvelle Aquitaine (Poitiers, Limoges and Bordeaux)].

Abstract

In 2025, the adoption of digital pathology is no longer a revolution in our specialty. However, beyond the technical aspects, implementing such a project across a large region like Nouvelle Aquitaine, encompassing three university hospitals, soon to include seven regional hospital centers, and a regional cancer center, has been highly instructive. We would like to share our experience. The success of this project is multifactorial and relies on: (1) Structuring the initiative from the outset around three essential competencies: medical, informatics technology (IT)/biomedical, and administrative. The collaboration among the three university hospitals within a health cooperation group (GCS NovA), balanced governance, and a strong commitment to cooperation (formalized through a collaboration agreement) were key elements; (2) securing funding, with the Regional Health Agency covering 52% of the investment, supplemented by contributions from the university hospitals and research funding from sponsors in Bordeaux; (3) engaging all stakeholders, including technical pathology teams, IT managers, biomedical staff, hospital directors, and pathologists. This is fundamentally a human-centered project, requiring the enthusiasm and expertise of each participant, particularly the technical pathology team, to anticipate challenges and optimize the pre-analytical phase before digitization. After 8 to 16months of a "big bang" transition to digital pathology, without denying the questions raised by digitalization, the overall outcome has been highly positive in terms of medical practice, ease of teaching residents, inter-site collaboration, and even turnaround times for results.