Shanghai's first cloud network of pathologists receives good results

Local hospitals are trying to solve a shortage of pathologists by setting up a cloud network offering long-distance and quick consultation and diagnoses for grassroots medical facilities, officials from Shanghai Health and Family Planning Commission said on Wednesday.

There are only 11,000 pathologists in China, far from enough to cover the 5 million patients needing treatment at any one time. The nation has a shortage of about 90,000 pathologists, each of whom requires over ten years of training to become qualified.

Pathologists usually gather at leading public hospitals and there are no such specialists at grassroots hospitals, which forces patients to go all the way to leading hospitals for pathological diagnoses.

To solve the problem, Pudong Hospital teamed up with Fudan University to set up the city’s first cloud network with a database of leading pathologists. Grassroots hospitals can send medical records and imaging information to the network for specialists’ consultation, instead of requiring patients to travel between hospitals.

In the past four years, the network received over 2,500 complicated cases, all receiving accurate diagnoses.

“Based on information technology, the network changed the traditional method of group consultations. Multiple doctors can participate in the discussion and information reading online, greatly enhancing efficiency and saving medical resources,” said Dr Yu Bo, president of Pudong Hospital. 

“In addition to medical diagnoses, we also achieve training and a classified health care service through the network, giving more convenience to patients and grassroots doctors.”