The digital pathology industry faces a complex challenge of combining new technology with well-established beliefs and practices. As a result, digital pathology faces significant psychological adoption barriers- it is the “elephant in the room.”
The famous futurologist Alvin Toffler conducted a detailed study of the acceleration of change and its psychological effects in 1970 for his book Future Shock (Random House, 1971). He suggested that it would lead to a set of severe physical and mental disturbances, which he called the “future shock” syndrome. Just like people exposed to war or disaster may develop a nervous breakdown (“shell-shock”), people exposed to the rapid changes of modern life may develop a state of helplessness and inadequacy.
Digital pathology will introduce new, modern methods to supplement and eventually replace routine diagnosis by microscope. But with the “gold standard” of diagnosis by microscope in use for over 150 years is it not fair to say that the change to digital pathology could put many pathologists into a state of future shock? Pathologists themselves joke of their archaic methods and dependency on antiquated technology but this dependency could result in feeling helpless or inadequate when faced with the new digital, modern methods of pathology.
Furthermore, the workplace has become a breeding ground for information overload. A worldwide survey (Reuters, 1996) found that two thirds of managers suffer from increased tension and one-third from ill health because of the huge amounts of information they must cope with. So will digital pathology cause pathologists to call in sick? I hope not, but to avoid additional job stress we must start to discuss how to overcome the psychological barriers of digital pathology.
I recently read an article titled, Managing Innovation Complexity, by Braden Kelly. Braden says,
The changes required by minor innovations are easier for customers and organizations to absorb. But the large changes generated by major innovations often disrupt not only the market, but the internal workings of the organization as well. This requires organizations to become increasingly flexible and adaptable.
Is your organization “flexible and adaptable?” I imagine many of you are shaking your heads no. Creating a healthcare organization that is flexible and adaptable is not an easy feat. But Braden continues to say “…with proper planning, organizational learning, and adaptation over time, any organization can improve its ability to cope with, and even anticipate, the change and complexity that come with implementing their next major innovation.”
As healthcare organizations face the major innovation of digital pathology and hopefully take the right steps to prepare and plan, do yourself a favor and create a personal plan to prepare yourself mentally for this transformation and avoid “future shock.” Do not ignore that tiny voice, your fears, or the elephant sitting on top of your microscope. Not sure where to begin? Give me a call! I would be happy to help you adjust and prepare for the inevitable compromise between the old way (microscopy) and the new way (digital pathology) of doing things.
