On September 5th, 2025, Chris Nichols, Senior Director at Instem, and Chris Hunter, Product Manager, Pathology Study Management at Instem, led a webinar to discuss the role of advanced tools in simplifying pathology workflows for non-GLP environments. The session explored how purpose-built digital solutions like Provantis help pathologists accelerate data collection, visualization, and reporting while maintaining accuracy and efficiency. The webinar highlights how understanding pathologists’ needs and addressing their key workflow challenges results in greater efficiency and less frustration in daily operations.
What is the Difference Between GLP and non-GLP Pathology?
GLP, or Good Laboratory Practice, is a framework of regulatory standards that governs non-clinical research to ensure compliance, data integrity, and traceability. These standards apply to studies submitted to agencies such as the FDA and EMA, requiring strict adherence to defined procedures to maintain reliability and reproducibility. In contrast, non-GLP work is less rigid and is typically used in early drug discovery where studies are more exploratory, allowing for flexible hypothesis testing and faster iterative “try-fail-learn” cycles.
While non-GLP work operates under less stringent study management requirements, assuming that it doesn’t benefit from structured data collection and reporting is a misconception that can significantly hinder project efficiency.
Challenges of non-GLP Work
Non-GLP work presents several challenges that can frustrate researchers when a structured approach isn’t in place, including:
- Speed issues – Although faster progress is a key advantage of non-GLP work, bottlenecks in data collection, transfer, and recording can cause delays.
- High error risk – The urgency of early development increases the likelihood of mistakes, especially with manual data entry processes.
- Fragmentation – Pathologists often work with information scattered across paper forms, spreadsheets, or outdated LIMS, reducing efficiency and increasing error rates.
Provantis for GLP and non-GLP Workflows
We developed Provantis to tackle the fragmentation of core pathology processes, including in vivo work, data capture, review, and planning that affects both GLP and non-GLP laboratories. Ultimately, these processes must arrive at a final unified report to guide decision-making, but how they get there significantly impacts both efficiency and data accuracy.
Provantis supports every stage of the study process, from protocol assembly and data capture to data exchange, review, and final reporting. By creating an integrated workflow, it eliminates fragmentation and enables teams to work more efficiently, accurately, and confidently.
- Climb – Instem now offers enhanced support for preclinical in vivo workflows with Climb, a dedicated cloud-native platform that delivers comprehensive capabilities for study management, scheduling and resource planning, colony management, and secure, centralized data handling. Learn More.
What We’ve Learned From Listening to Pathologists
We collaborate closely with pathologists to understand their daily challenges and develop purpose-built tools that help them work towards the next breakthroughs in medical science. Over the past two years, this user-focused approach has involved six online surveys (140 responses), six bi-monthly Special Interest Group meetings, 24 one-on-one interviews with key users, four customer site visits, and three beta testing partnerships.
Combined with our 20+ years of expertise, this collaboration uniquely positions us to develop tools that make a real impact for our clients. Below are some of the key challenges pathologists face across both GLP and non-GLP environments today:
- Workflow bottlenecks – Time constraints slow task completion and project progress, ultimately increasing costs.
- Inflexible systems – Pathologists often need to copy data into Excel as an intermediary before transferring it to a LIMS, resulting in a 50% increase in data recording time.
- Outdated interfaces – Missing features disrupt workflows and force users to create unnecessary workarounds for simple tasks like recording data for paired organs.
- Unclear icons – Ambiguous interface elements make it difficult to identify data trends, stifling discovery.
- Limited note-taking capabilities – Many researchers still rely on handwritten notes to support peer review, reducing efficiency and traceability.
Updating Pathology Tools to Support Researchers
We listened to pathologists’ feedback and reworked our systems to better match their daily workflows. This invaluable feedback shaped three core pillars for improving histopathology workflows:
Accessible & Integrated – Provantis Web Histopathology is fully web-enabled with single sign-on across products, displaying all data on one screen for easy access. It’s built to support future integrations via APIs, ensuring seamless connectivity and scalability.
Configurable & Controlled Data – A controlled ontology glossary and configurable codes enable standardized yet flexible data entry. Built-in validation and visual warnings help maintain data accuracy and integrity.
Improve Efficiency – Study progress is always visible, with minimized clicks and keyboard presses for faster workflows. Coded data entry, Power flows, and action history recording streamline decision-making and reporting.
See the Results for Yourself
In this webinar, Chris Hunter demonstrates how the Provantis Web Histopathology module enables flexible, efficient data collection and simplifies daily tasks, with features and benefits including:
Secure One-Click Access – Access pathology matrices instantly with secure single-click entry.
Streamlined Study Search – Find studies fast using minimal-character search and pinnable results.
Integrated Data Population – Auto-populate study matrices via API-driven data flows for integration with third-party systems.
Enhanced Visualization – View subject status and study progress on a clean, unified UI.Faster, Flexible Data Entry – Speed data entry with keyboard or mouse input, quick glossary updates, and simplified requests while filtering out noise.
What Provantis Delivers Today
Expert pathologists have already delivered their verdict on these new capabilities, which significantly improve their day-to-day work:
“I’m very delighted by these all these advances. This is excellent.”
“New filters are amazing.”
“Really like the design very user friendly.”
By reengaging with end users, we discovered that these enhancements provide a significant benefit: a 20% reduction in time across pathology workflows, saving approximately three hours per study, or around 50 hours across 15 studies.
Conclusion
We’re actively expanding Provantis to include full GLP support, and our progress is guided by continuous collaboration with the pathology community, ensuring every enhancement reflects real user needs. With these tools, researchers across GLP and non-GLP environments can see the benefits of more efficient data entry and simplified day-to-day operations. We’re actively listening and welcome your input to shape the next generation of pathology tools. We’ve already come a long way. You can see the benefits for yourself by watching the full, free webinar today, or booking a free demo to learn more about Provantis firsthand!
