Uralensis Innov8: Enhancing Pathology Case Management with PathHub

Uralensis Innov8, through its PathHub initiative, supports pathologists, hospitals, and laboratories by streamlining the distribution and analysis of pathology cases. Their mission is to optimise pathologists’ workloads, improve case distribution, and enhance turnaround times for pathology analyses. With a strong operational presence in the UK, they are also exploring opportunities to expand their support to North America, reflecting a commitment to tackling global healthcare challenges.

PathHub’s effectiveness lies in its comprehensive approach to addressing the intricacies of pathology case management and fostering collaboration among healthcare stakeholders. Led by Uralensis Innov8’s CEO, who brings both clinical expertise as a pathologist and extensive domain knowledge, the initiative is uniquely positioned to address the specific needs of hospitals and pathologists. Strategic partnerships with influential entities such as HCA/Backlogs have enriched Uralensis Innov8’s experience, and their team comprises diverse experts, enhancing their collective knowledge and capabilities.

PathHub is a cutting-edge web-based (SaaS) platform that connects hospitals, laboratories, pathologists, and patient records. Its features include case distribution, analysis monitoring, documentation management, and invoicing, ensuring complete oversight and compliance throughout the pathology analysis lifecycle.

The Challenges

Pathology case turnaround times typically span several days, but fostering collaboration between hospitals and pathologists is an ongoing process that can take months or years, involving numerous institutions and practitioners. Developing a platform to facilitate this collaboration requires meticulous data management and processing, given the sensitive nature of the data, ensuring full auditability and version control.

The system needed to be scalable, both in terms of hardware and software, to accommodate the extensive data generated over time. Additionally, an intuitive user interface was essential to meet the diverse needs of the system’s varied user base.

Managing the logistics of real packages containing pathology tests as they move between pathologists and hospitals was another key challenge. This required robust tools for tracking the locations and statuses of these packages, ensuring their traceability throughout the process.

Implementing a well-structured permission framework to regulate access to sensitive data was crucial, especially given the involvement of multiple stakeholders across different organisations. Ensuring secure yet flexible data-sharing capabilities was fundamental to the system’s design.

Our Role

In 2023, Uralensis Innov8 approached us to help redesign and build its base SaaS product, so it could be the foundation of a multi-tenant and single tenant solutionThis marked the beginning of our partnership as their IT collaborator. We started with requirement gathering and project assessment, identifying pain points within the existing system and contributing to shaping the necessary technical assumptions for its transformation.

Our collaboration began with a series of intensive workshops, facilitating multiple iterations to refine and elaborate on the project’s objectives. These sessions culminated in comprehensive documentation outlining the architectural framework for the platform and delineating its business functionalities.

After thorough validation to ensure alignment with the client’s objectives, we were tasked with actualising the platform. Leveraging the expertise of our seasoned development team, we embarked on bringing the envisioned solution to fruition, employing innovative technologies and best practices to meet and exceed the client’s expectations.

Our Solution

Upon gaining access to the legacy system and identifying the pain points provided by Uralensis Innov8, our initial task was to meticulously assess and validate these issues in collaboration with the client. Recognising the importance of optimising both time and cost efficiency, we devised a structured approach centred around immersive workshops. These sessions, conducted within a condensed timeframe, were instrumental in elucidating the technical and business challenges and laying the groundwork for the subsequent project phases.

Drawing upon insights from our collaborative workshops, we developed comprehensive technical and business documentation, laying a robust foundation for the envisioned solution. A key focus during this phase was formulating a scalable technical architecture tailored to the diverse business requirements identified with Uralensis Innov8.

Central to our approach was implementing a customised cloud platform, leveraging a multi-tenancy framework for optimal resource utilisation and scalability. Through meticulous planning and stakeholder engagement, we delineated the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for the platform, strategically prioritising features to establish a resilient foundation for future iterations.

Embracing the Agile SCRUM methodology, we fostered a collaborative and adaptive development environment, allowing for iterative enhancements and seamless integration of feedback. Significant emphasis was placed on selecting a technology stack that addressed immediate project needs and anticipated future advancements, ensuring the long-term viability and scalability of the solution.

Benefits

Modern Design: The cloud platform features a contemporary and visually appealing design, enhancing the user experience and reflecting the latest design principles, making it more engaging and user-friendly.

Intuitive: Designed with user-friendliness in mind, the platform offers an intuitive interface, ensuring users of all technical expertise levels can easily navigate the system, reducing the learning curve and enhancing overall usability.

Traceability for Packages: The platform provides comprehensive traceability, allowing stakeholders to track the entire package journey and enhancing transparency and accountability throughout the pathology case lifecycle.

Assurance: It offers a reliable and secure environment for managing infrastructure projects, ensuring data integrity, version control, and auditability, and instilling confidence in users regarding the accuracy and reliability of project-related information.

Compliance: The platform ensures that projects adhere to relevant standards, regulations, and contractual obligations, reducing the risk of regulatory issues and enhancing overall project governance. Built from the Ground Up for Infrastructure Projects: Unlike generic solutions, this cloud platform is purpose-built for infrastructure projects, offering specialised features tailored to the intricacies of infrastructure development, optimally aligned with industry-specific needs.

Our partnership

By providing a tailored, intuitive, and scalable platform, we have significantly enhanced the efficiency and effectiveness of pathology case management for Uralensis Innov8, addressing their immediate needs while laying a strong foundation for future growth and innovation.

‘Richard and his team have played a pivotal role in creating a Pathology LIMS, as a baseline product, perfect for public / private cloud hosting that Uralensis Innov8 can take to multiple clients and really enhance its SaaS offering. It has shifted the product into the enterprise arena which makes it scalable using the latest web technologies (React front end, C Sharp backend). Richard has ensured it is based on automated testing and meticulous oversaw the production and delivery of the solution.’

Zahoor Qurashi, CEO, Uralensis Innov8.

Project facts

• Team – 8 Backend Developers, 6 Frontend Developers, 4 QA Engineers, 1 Business Analyst, 1 Project Manager, 1 DevOps
• Project management – Agile SCRUM
• Technology – C#, MS SQL, ABP, Angular, hosted in Azure Cloud