Laboratory Information Systems
A laboratory information system, or LIS, is a software program that provides all the basic functionality needed for a clinical laboratory, whether that laboratory is hospital-based or a standalone commercial laboratory facility. Various components of the LIS will handle patient check-in, order entry, results entry, physician and patient demographics, specimen processing, and have some level of reporting ability.
Legacy laboratory information systems are typically homegrown, that is, they were developed within the organization 20 or 30 years ago, or were purchased ”off the shelf.” Homegrown systems and legacy systems often have problems with connectivity, scalability and flexibility, especially as technology changes within the laboratory and healthcare industry. Off-the-shelf products often force laboratories to modify their workflow to adapt to the LIS, rather than the other way around. Also, numerous LIS vendors have gone out of business or shifted their focus to other areas in the last two decades. Often legacy LISes utilize multiple databases, which create a great deal of difficulty with database interfaces and data synchronization.
Newer LISes are increasingly able to offer what laboratories need: modular-based systems with customizable functionality, scalability and a high level of adaptable connectivity for both institutional electronic medical records (EMRs) and physician access. Laboratories also require a LIS to to interface with the laboratory’s instrumentation, which allows patient results to be directly entered into the database and then into the EMR; Web-based order entry/result inquiry; and workload balancing. The LIS often has non-clinical functionality such as workflow monitoring and billing services.
In addition, these systems need to be customizable, be able to effectively and easily interface with both the institution’s electronic health record, the laboratory’s automated equipment, and provide Web-based access for physicians.
The environment for health information technology, specifically LISes, requires adherence to a number of national and international standards including CLIA, CCHIT, ANSI, HL7, HITSP, and LOINC.
Doctors Use Mobile Apps To View Lab Results
CEO SUMMARY: By sending lab test results and other data from the hospital’s electronic health record system to physicians’ smartphones, Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck, New Jersey, is empowering physicians to manage patient care more efficiently. Today, few hospitals send…
Michigan’s JVHL Partners With AMA to Use LOINC
CEO SUMMARY: Office-based physicians in Michigan can use a program offered by the American Medical Association (AMA) to get assistance in adapting their electronic medical record (EMR) systems to utilize LOINC for lab test ordering and lab test results reporting. This service is …
Controlling Test Utilization By Physician Use of CPOE
CEO SUMMARY: Systems for computerized physician order entry (CPOE) and clinical decision support can contribute to better utilization of laboratory tests while achieving improvements in patient outcomes. At Decatur Memorial Hospital, use of CPOE helped physicians slash the volume…
Sunquest’s LIS Product First To Earn Certification from CCHIT
IF THERE WAS A RACE TO BE FIRST TO OFFER a laboratory information system (LIS) product that is certified to be compliant as an (EHR) electronic health record module by CCHIT, then Sunquest Information Systems, Inc., has attained that achievement. On January 21, 2011, the Cer…
Surprises in KLAS Rating of Anatomic Path Systems
CEO SUMMARY: KLAS Research published its Top 20 Best in KLAS Awards in December and ranked Psyche WindoPath the top system in two categories. KLAS, which rates as many as 56 categories of healthcare software and professional services products in its annual report, does not provid…
GE Pulls Plug on Its LIS, No Support after July 2013
CEO SUMMARY: Not in recent memory has a laboratory information system (LIS) product been pulled from the market. That is why the announcement by GE Healthcare that it would no longer service or support its Centricity Ultra Laboratory product after July 23, 2013, has caused a stir…
Spate of Lab Informatics Deals Signals Greater Investor Interest
DURING OCTOBER, three laboratory informatics companies were acquired or obtained new capital funding. It is an indication of the growing importance that laboratory informatics will play as healthcare moves toward the goal of the universal patient health record (EHR). The first of the three transacti…
Epic Launches LIS Software To Fill Out Ancillary Offerings
MANY PATHOLOGISTS and laboratory administrators may be unaware that a company called Epic Systems Corporation is considered by some experts in healthcare informatics to be a disrupter of the status quo. Based in Verona, Wisconsin, Epic is best known for its acute an…
New “Meaningful Use” Rules Are Easier on Docs
CEO SUMMARY: The federal government will spend $20 billion over the next four years to encourage every physician to use an electronic medical record (EMR) system. For labs, this increase in connectivity represents a significant marketing opportunity. However, the new federal rule…
Lab Industry Would Be Smart To Issue EMR Report Card
Guest Opinion by: Pat Wolfram Editor’s Note: For almost 20 years, Pat Wolfram has worked to develop electronic medical record systems at companies like MedicaLogic and GE Healthcare. His firm specializes in developing effective electronic interfaces that allow a physi…
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Volume XXXII, No. 6 – April 21, 2025
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