Summary
The pathology community must embrace new technologies, such as digital pathology and AI, to avoid being left behind. Pathologists should identify opportunities to integrate these tools into their workflows, improving efficiency and patient care. The College of American Pathologists (CAP) offers resources and support for navigating these advancements.
Embrace the future
February 2026—In this column, I’d like to focus on the last of the three themes of my presidency (the first two were connect and inspire). I chose “embrace” as the final theme because it is clear to me that we in the pathology community need to take bold, calculated risks and embrace new technologies that may initially make us uncomfortable.
Some of us have felt resistant to these new tools, whether it’s digital pathology or AI or something else. It may be a knee-jerk reaction that there’s no reason to change what’s working. Or it could be a lack of interest in making the effort to try things that won’t change how we get paid. For many of us it’s the feeling that we’ll consider implementing new tools only once the path forward has been well established in other labs.
We cannot wait for the perfect plan. It doesn’t exist. If we don’t move forward, it won’t change the fact that everything around us will move forward—without us. I am more afraid of being left behind than I am of trying something new. We must adapt.
I would like to challenge each of you to find a way to embrace a new tool in your lab. I can’t tell you what tool that might be, since the right fit will be different from one lab to another. AI-powered tools are available now for tissue processing, for reading Pap tests, for managing lab inventory. Each of us has to choose what makes the most sense for our practices, our organizations, and our patient populations.
And I know it won’t be easy. There is a lot of craftsmanship involved in applying any new technology, particularly in an environment as tightly regulated as clinical labs. But this is where we have so much to offer. Pathologists are smart; our skills and knowledge base make us extremely valuable. We have a unique perspective to share through our assessments of new tools, our experience implementing them, and our expertise in knowing what could help our patients. If we join forces to share these lessons with each other, we can help shape how these tools will be deployed so they make the most sense for us and our patients. With everybody doing this together, we can change our entire profession for the better.
A lot of people worry that AI tools will steal jobs from humans. But in the pathology field, our challenge isn’t keeping jobs; it’s finding enough people to fill them. In an era of chronic staffing shortages, AI tools may be exactly what we need to fill the gaps. If AI can help increase our efficiency so we can accomplish more for our patients with the resources we’re lucky enough to have, that alone would be a win.
But with so many tools, where do we begin? I recommend looking at your entire workflow, from the point when you receive a specimen to the point of releasing the final report. Look at every step where new technology might improve your work. Are there opportunities to increase accuracy? Make the workflow more cost-efficient? Bring an open mind and you might be surprised at what you discover.
Also remember that you are not alone in this. The CAP has resources to help you navigate some of the new tools, including resource guides for digital pathology as well as podcasts and webinars about AI tools. In addition to what you can find on the CAP website, there’s the power of the entire CAP network. Consider joining a committee on AI or digital pathology to get more involved. Have a great idea or experience from trying a tool in your lab? Share it with other CAP members to help mobilize our community.
Ultimately, if we embrace these new technologies and show how they are benefiting patients, we’ll be in a stronger position to make the case for more reasonable and fair reimbursement rates from the government and private payers. But we’ll never have that opportunity unless we dive in.
Dr. Zhai welcomes communication from CAP members. Write to him at [email protected].