Philips Digital & Computational Pathology Honors AZ Sint-Jan Hospital With 100% Digital Award
Philips Digital & Computational Pathology’s 100% Digital Award celebrates the groundbreaking achievements of pathology labs that have made the transition to an entirely digital workflow. Philips is delighted to recognize AZ Sint-Jan Hospital in Bruges, Belgium as the March 2019 recipient of the 100% Digital Award.
In 2016, the Anatomical Pathology laboratory of AZ Sint-Jan earned the distinction of becoming the first laboratory in Belgium to introduce a fully digitized workflow for primary diagnostics. The team at AZ Sint-Jan, led by Dr. Ivo van Den Berghe, implemented the Philips IntelliSite Pathology Solution as their standard way for managing their histopathology cases. This digital pathology solution involves scanning surgical pathology slides and converting them to a high-resolution digital format. Pathologists can then inspect the images on a computer and use digital tools to analyze them with a higher degree of accuracy for more precise diagnostics. Using this process, the team’s four pathologists and two lab assistants analyze approximately 80,000 digitized samples each year. The laboratory received the Agoria e-Health Award in 2017 for best innovation project in patient care and was the first pathology lab in Belgium to become ISO certified.
More than 30 people attended the awards ceremony, including members of the Hospital Board of Directors and all members of the pathology team. The ceremony began with an introduction from Frank Dendas, Philips Country Manager for Belgium, and featured an overview of Digital Pathology at AZ Sint-Jan by Dr. Ivo van Den Berghe.
“We made a bold decision to go completely digital and to change our entire laboratory’s way of working,” Dr. van Den Berghe stated during his presentation. “The decision to go digital has paid off for our laboratory in terms of efficiency, staff satisfaction, and tracking patient and slide data in our hospital. This award celebrates this bold decision and the commitment from our team that made this a success for our hospital and patients.” “Digital pathology enhances clinical confidence in our findings by delivering the right result the first time. It has also become much easier to share information with clinicians from other disciplines.” Dr. van Den Berghe stated. “Remote consultancy creates opportunities for collaboration with other hospitals in Europe and the US. Together, we can get a better understanding of rare tumors and how to treat them. Ultimately, the biggest winner will be the patient.” The ceremony concluded with a review of the Philips portfolio and the handing over of the award by Stuart Shand, Commercial Director Europe at Philips Digital & Computational Pathology. Dr. van Den Berghe received the award on behalf of AZ Sint-Jan’s entire pathology team. The physical award, which depicts a traditional glass slide joined with a richly detailed whole slide digital image, represents the journey from the microscope to the digital screen.
The event was widely promoted by AZ Sint-Jan’s marketing department and generated considerable attention online and in the local press. The 100% Digital Award Campaign runs throughout the year and is awarded monthly to one of Philips’ clients for demonstrating a remarkable commitment to innovation and implementing cutting-edge digital technologies in their pathology labs. #100percentdigital
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Who/where AZ Sint-Jan Hospital in Bruges, Belgium Overview AZ Sint-Jan Hospital in Bruges receive 100% Digital Award for successfully adopting a fully digitized workflow for primary diagnostics with the Philips IntelliSite Pathology Solution.
