Breaking the custody chain: How AI is preventing surgical specimen mishandling

This article describes how Atlantic Health implemented an AI-powered digital specimen tracking system to replace manual, paper-based surgical specimen management processes.

• Over 73% of specimen mishandling incidents in surgery are preventable
• Atlantic Health replaced handwritten logs with mobile app using QR codes and OCR
• Amazon Textract extracts data from specimen labels with AI-driven accuracy
• System tracks location, handler, patient, and timestamps for full traceability
• Automated alerts notify staff if specimens aren't tracked within three hours
• Built on AWS using ECS, Aurora, S3, CloudFront, and WAF services
• Tracked 13,000+ specimens between January-September 2025
• Cost 80% less than RFID-based alternatives
• Improved accuracy, reduced errors, and enhanced regulatory compliance

Atlantic Health's solution demonstrates how cloud-based AI can modernize healthcare workflows, improving patient safety and operational efficiency while reducing costs.