PathologyWatch Welcomes Joseph Willman, MD, to Digital Dermatopathology Practice

Nov 18, 2022 | Digital Dermatopathology, Meet The Team

A noted dermatopathologist, Dr. Willman joins the PathologyWatch team to continue delivering the highest-quality care to patients.

PathologyWatch, a full-service digital dermatopathology solution, welcomes Dr. Joseph Willman, MD, to its team of respected pathologists. Dr. Willman, a dermatopathologist with over two decades of experience, will utilize state-of-the-art digital pathology workflows to deliver optimal patient care to dermatology clinics.

A board-certified pathologist and dermatopathologist, Dr. Willman completed his residency at the University of Utah, his dermatopathology fellowship at the University of Colorado, and his molecular genetic pathology fellowship at the University of Michigan.

Dr. Willman’s connection to pathology began long before his career and training. His father was a pathologist, introducing him to the profession at a young age. Still, he expected to follow a different career path. As a student, he spent time working in emergency rooms and found surgery and internal medicine interesting. However, his third-year medical school pathology rotation cemented his interest in pathology, and he now sees digital pathology as the future of the field.

“I think the majority of anatomic pathology will be done digitally, as technology advances to digitize the slides, because it makes it so easy to collaborate, get opinions on cases and implement quality measures to get multiple people reviewing a single case,” Dr. Willman said. “It’s so much more convenient than shipping or using a courier to share glass slides, which is easily a 48-hour process by itself. PathologyWatch can secure expert opinions from people all over the country in a single afternoon, and that’s revolutionary.”

With 20 years of experience in dermatopathology, Dr. Willman brings extensive expertise to PathologyWatch. Most recently, he served as the director of a national reference laboratory and molecular diagnostics lab, where he worked extensively with quality systems and compliance and regulation. His experience and interest in lab operations will help as PathologyWatch builds a digital laboratory platform incorporating quality measures that aren’t possible in a physical laboratory.

“We are thrilled to have Dr. Willman joining our team, not just for the years of experience he has but also for his enthusiasm for the future and commitment to progress and innovation,” said Dan Lambert, CEO at PathologyWatch. “He will be of particular help in moving our molecular efforts forward.”

PathologyWatch Featured in MedTech Strategist 

Oct 25, 2022 | Digital Pathology, Uncategorized

The digital pathology industry is expected to grow from $736 million in 2021 to $1.37 billion by 2026. PathologyWatch is emerging as an industry leader, blazing a trail for patient care like no other.

In a MedTech Strategist feature, CEO Dan Lambert describes PathologyWatch’s unique position in the dermatopathology space, its success in building a workflow from start to finish, and its unprecedented opportunity to transform the future. Read a few highlights here, or visit this link for the full article.

What Makes PathologyWatch Unique

 

There are 25 million skin biopsies performed in the US each year and, while many are benign, it is estimated that there will be 99,780 new melanoma diagnoses in 2022. Melanoma is a serious form of cancer that, if left untreated, can metastasize and quickly become fatal. The world is in dire need of a reliable and efficient solution to diagnose skin cancer.

With its focus on dermatology and cutting-edge tools, PathologyWatch is in a unique position to address this critical issue. Unlike other digital pathology companies, PathologyWatch works mostly with outpatient clinics rather than hospitals. This means that PathologyWatch is involved throughout the entirety of the testing and diagnosis process.

Building a Digital Pathology Workflow from Start to Finish

 

PathologyWatch’s clients asked for more than just a “piecemeal” solution—they wanted involvement at every point in the process. According to Lambert, “They wanted us to manage the transportation of the tissue sample, the courier system, the insurance billing, enhanced bidirectional interfacing, and everything in between.” This was a challenge since they “had to integrate a lot of systems that didn’t talk to each other.”

Lambert adds, “The firm had to build the laboratories, develop a laboratory information system to specifically track skin specimens, buy scanners, create a digital platform usable anywhere (not just in the laboratory setting), forge agreements with payors and partners, and connect with all the major electronic medical record providers in dermatology.”

PathologyWatch was able to successfully build a workflow integrating all the pieces from start to finish. The system integrates with the electronic medical records of Modernizing Medicine, EZDERM, and eClinicalWorks, which cover app. 90 percent of dermatology practices, and the company receives samples from over 120 dermatology clinics, with near perfect client retention.

The Advantage of Control

 

This fully-integrated system has granted PathologyWatch the control necessary to get accurate, detailed results. “In our own environment, we can assure the quality and standardization of the techniques used to generate a digital image. This means better outcomes for AI. You can get amazing sensitivity and specificity when you take the right algorithmic approach while simultaneously operating in controlled laboratory conditions,” says Lambert. 

To read the full article, click here.

CEO Dan Lambert Advises Company Leaders on How to Prepare for a Recession

Aug 15, 2022 | Digital Pathology, Pathology Business

The looming uncertainty of an oncoming recession is nerve-wracking for business owners. But recessions, although distressing, are not a new phenomenon. History is replete with unforeseen downturns in the economy that have taught us how to best prepare for such events.

In a recent Forbes article, Dan Lambert, CEO of PathologyWatch, explained how companies can prepare for and survive a recession. Here are the strategies he recommends:

Have a Plan that Can Pivot Quickly

With so much unknown in the future, it might seem difficult to come up with a plan. But Lambert asserts, “Whether a pandemic, a recession or a shift in your industry is to blame, business leaders need to have a plan in mind before it’s needed.” Even if it’s just a “best guess,” an imperfect plan is better than no plan at all.

Harness Various Types of Funding

Another best practice is to diversify your sources of capital. “Secure access to private equity, venture debt, collateralized credit, SBA loans, EIDL and PPP because these are all strategic options at the right moment,” Lambert advises. And it is crucial to focus on funding that will keep your company secure in the long term. 

Be Prepared to Scale Up and Down Quickly

Next, Lambert suggests that business owners should pre-identify essential and nonessential positions so that tough decisions can be made quickly if downsizing is necessary. Similarly, be prepared to create new roles when people need to be redeployed.

Gain Commitment, but Accept Disagreement

While some disagreement is a good thing for a healthy company dynamic, there can be a lot more disagreement during a recession, and having consensus is equally important. Make sure that, despite disagreements, you are able to get people to commit and move forward.

Dan Lambert points out that these strategies, in a way, involve reverting to a “startup mindset.” When the economy is unstable, this kind of agility is essential for a company to continue to prosper.

To read the full Forbes article, click here.

PathologyWatch Reinforces Roster of Dermatopathologists with Cacey Peters, MD

Jul 29, 2022 | Press Release

Cacey Peters, MD, joins the PathologyWatch team to strengthen the delivery of optimal patient outcomes.

SALT LAKE CITY—JULY 29, 2022—PathologyWatch, a leader in digital dermpath services, is pleased to welcome Dr. Cacey Peters, MD, to its clinical team. A skillful dermatopathologist, Dr. Peters’ enthusiasm and proficiency in digital pathology make him a natural fit with PathologyWatch’s objective to provide dermatologists with better patient care.

“Combining diagnostic and communication skills with a vast knowledge of whole-slide imaging, Dr. Peters represents a valuable addition to our team of expert dermatopathologists,” says Dan Lambert, cofounder and chief executive officer of PathologyWatch.

Dr. Peters completed his residency in anatomic and clinical pathology at Tulane. His fellowship was in dermatopathology at the Ackerman Academy of Dermatopathology, and he is US-board certified in dermatopathology, anatomic and clinical pathology.

“Streamlining the diagnosis, turnaround time and overall efficiency for dermatologists is crucial to me,” said Dr. Peters. “Joining PathologyWatch will help me to deliver on these goals while also contributing to the team of talented dermatopathologists on challenging cases to benefit the clinicians we serve.”

Dr. Peters comes to PathologyWatch with years of experience promoting digital pathology as a tool to unite and educate both dermatologists and pathologists around the world. “Switching over to primary diagnosis on a digital platform is a dream come true,” said Dr. Peters. “Within my lifetime, I’ve no doubt digital pathology will take over 100% of the industry.”

For more information, please email [email protected] or visit pathologywatch.com.

About PathologyWatch
PathologyWatch is the groundbreaking leader of digital dermatopathology services. Through these services, dermatology clinics, hospitals and laboratories can improve operational efficiency by speeding up workflow and enhancing patient outcomes by utilizing the PathologyWatch expert professional team and laboratory services. This can facilitate best-in-class reads and, in some cases, enable additional revenue to the practice by in-housing pathology. With an intuitive and easy-to-implement digital pathology solution that includes access to top-tier dermatopathologists and a streamlined clinical workflow that interfaces directly into the EMR, PathologyWatch brilliantly combines state-of-the-art technology and clinical decision-making to deliver unprecedented patient care.

Dan Lambert, PathologyWatch CEO, Joins the Digital Pathology Place to Share PathologyWatch’s Success Story

Apr 29, 2022 | Digital Pathology, Pathology Business

Although healthcare providers have become accustomed to digital solutions in recent years, these solutions have only recently been introduced to dermatologists. But how much can digital pathology really do for dermatologists?

Dan Lambert, PathologyWatch CEO, recently joined Aleksandra Żuraw, DVM, PhD, host of the podcast Digital Pathology Place, to share how PathologyWatch’s quick, convenient, and comprehensive digital pathology solution is transforming the dermatology industry.

Here are some highlights from Dan and Aleksandra’s interview:

How does digital pathology empower dermatologists?

Dan: For the first time, the dermatologist is not only getting just a fax report over. They’re actually getting to see the case and see the area that the pathologist has highlighted. And now, also for the first time, a lot of our dermatologists are showing the case to the patient, showing why there’s going to be a procedure. . . . There can potentially be financial upside here, in that if the dermatologist is reading the case, it may increase the complexity of the visit. . . .

The second compelling factor for dermatologists is that because our system is integrated with their EMR, they’re typically saving, on average, about 25 hours per month, per clinic, not having to deal with organizing patient cases. And they really value that time savings. 

And then number three is simply better patient care. You’re less likely to have errors if the dermatologist can see the image and they can make sure it’s the right patient and the right case.

How do you stay ahead of the competition?

Dan: We’re deep into research on the AI front of trying to figure out how do you detect different tumors and skin conditions, and how do you make it really accurate so that it can be a true assistive device, or an assistive tool, for both dermatologists and dermatopathologists?

We’ve introduced some new staining techniques that aren’t used generally in other laboratories. We’ve also switched to fully automated equipment, and we’re not doing a lot of processes by hand that introduce variability. And that tight control of the process means true consistency. And then also a number of QA/QC processes that exist in our lab that do not exist in other laboratories, to make sure that those inputs are the best that they possibly can.

Did you have a failure that set you up for success?

Dan: We needed to be able to detect the edges of the tissue so that we can eventually do things like measurements. And so we introduced this green stain that would highlight the edge of the tissue, and it took us a couple of months of trying a bunch of different colors to try to capture this special staining. And the ink would get on other parts of the tissue, other colors would get washed out. . . . Working through some of those actual laboratory changes [was] very important. . . . We finally got a staining technique that works consistently on probably about 98% of tissue.

You won’t want to miss this intriguing interview! Click here to access the full podcast and learn more about how dermatologists can save time, improve communication, and provide a better patient experience by going digital.