This article is part of the Behind the Design series published in the 2022 Clinic Innovation Guide. This article explores the design process for Companion Animal Health’s Cellfie, from the perspective from a key leader in the process.
The Problem
Clinical pathology is a standard of care that is necessary in all veterinary clinics and hospitals, but many veterinarians find the process frustrating and inefficient. In a typical situation, a pet presents with a concerning mass growth, the veterinarian collects a fine needle aspirate, prepares the sample on a slide and sends the specimen to an external laboratory. Then, results, which usually take at least two to three days, may come back as inconclusive. This outcome is extremely frustrating because the client has already been charged for the service and is expecting an answer about their pet’s condition. This means the pet has to return to the clinic for another fine needle aspiration, causing the owner and pet added stress. Also, treatment is delayed when results are inconclusive, and cases that involve malignancies are time sensitive.
The Solution
To improve patient care, veterinarians need an easier, more reliable method to obtain clinical pathology results. Factors that would contribute to an optimal clinical pathology experience include:
- Efficiency — Access to an efficient service enables veterinarians to discuss clinical cases with their clients while the pet is still in the hospital, so timely decisions can be made.
- Actionable — Actionable results improve clinical outcomes and ensure veterinarians perform any additional tests promptly.
- Convenient — Having results while the pet is still in the clinic helps gain owner compliance and expedite treatment.
- Partnership — Direct communication with board-certified veterinary clinical pathology experts and access to staff training resources consolidates the partnership between the clinician and the clinical pathologist and ensures the best outcome for every pet.
The Innovation
Founded in 2007, Companion Animal Health’s goal is to provide veterinarians with the most innovative, evidence-based technologies available. Companion Animal Health is the most trusted provider of therapeutic lasers and the leader in regenerative therapy education and research. Cellfie, its newest cutting-edge product, facilitates the clinical pathology process to deliver actionable results during the patient’s visit.
The Cellfie technology enables board-certified pathologists to remote into the clinic and fine focus the microscope and analyze sample slides on all focal planes, allowing them to provide results while the pet is still in the clinic.
The Cellfie Technology
Veterinarians who choose the Cellfie service will be provided with a pathology-grade microscope installed in their clinic that is enabled with software that allows a board-certified pathologist to remotely view the patient sample. The system provides a full-depth view of the sample slide, which allows the pathologist to fine focus the microscope remotely and analyze the sample on all focal planes. The Cellfie technology uses five pathology-grade magnification objectives to ensure the clinical pathologist can adequately evaluate the sample and also make adjustments to illumination. This differs from traditional scanning technologies that generate a slide image by capturing adjacent fields and pasting them together, which limits the clinical pathologist’s ability to analyze the sample.
The Cellfie Experience
Once you collect the sample, the slide is submitted for a case review through the Cellfie system. A medical concierge is notified and the remote communication with the clinic starts. Your board-certified clinical pathologist is then notified and accesses your Cellfie system to view your slide as a high-quality, high-resolution image. All Cellfie clinical pathologists are board certified and available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. Because this occurs via a live chat or phone call, no appointment is needed.
The first step in the process is a quality assurance check by a medical concierge who performs a preliminary evaluation to determine if the sample is diagnostically valuable. This eliminates inconclusive results, improving your ability to make an accurate and speedy diagnosis. Once the sample is deemed viable, a clinical pathologist makes their assessment and typically provides feedback within 30 minutes. Cellfie’s extensive menu provides test options for various sample types including masses and organ cytology, lymph nodes, fluid analysis, bone marrow analysis, as well as otic, blood smears, fecals and urinalysis.
The Cellfie Advantage
Cellfie’s technology allows veterinarians to conveniently perform more in-house cytology and eliminates the frustration of inconclusive results. Cellfie advantages include:
- Expeditious, actionable results — When a client is worried their pet has cancer, you want accurate results as soon as possible.
- Medical concierge service — The medical concierge’s expert advice minimizes non-diagnostic samples to ensure the specimen is of diagnostic quality.
- Board-certified clinical pathologists — A board-certified clinical pathologist will not only analyze your sample in real-time, but will also be available for consult upon request. Owners will be encouraged to comply with your treatment plan.
- Improved client compliance — Determining next steps before your client leaves the clinic will allow you to formulate a treatment plan. A client who is presented with actionable steps while they are still in your clinic will be more willing to comply.
Companion Animal Health’s Cellfie technology is an efficient, innovative clinical pathology service that allows veterinarians to accurately and easily diagnose their patients in-house and provide a better standard of care.