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.
LIS As Productivity Tool Throughout the Laboratory
CEO SUMMARY: Is the classic laboratory information system (LIS) morphing into a different information technology product? That’s the observation of one laboratory IT expert, who says that “best of breed” LIS products are becoming productivity tools that support improved clinical per…
Pathologist Says Labs Need Read-Write RFID
CEO SUMMARY: The current state of the art for radio frequency identification (RFID) tags employs read-only chips. Labs can use these RFID chips today to track specimens at intake. But pathologist William Neeley, M.D., is most enthusiastic about the potential of read-write RFID chips, whic…
Middleware Is Hot Topic At Labinfo Tech Meeting
CEO SUMMARY: Middleware is a growing component in the market for laboratory information services. Labs are asking vendors to provide targeted software solutions to address a growing list of needs and functions. To fill this demand, specialty software companies and IVD firms are introducin…
Spectrum’s IT Strategy Now Includes EMRs
CEO SUMMARY: By offering client-physicians an electronic medical records (EMR) system, Spectrum Lab Network expects to gain competitive advantage. The EMR solution supports Spectrum’s strategy of p…
Middleware Provides Opportunity For Labs to Gain New Functions
“Even as more laboratories begin to use middleware, the number of functions and uses for middleware continues to increase —Gregory R Vail, CEO, Data Innovations, Inc. CEO SUMMARY: Middleware is attracting attention throughout the laboratory ind…
Lab Integration At Geisinger Contributes to Better Outcomes
CEO SUMMARY: There have been two benefits from the use of sophisticated laboratory informatics at the laboratory division of Geisinger Health System in Danville, Pennsylvania. Benefit one is a standardized, fully-integrated lab information system that collects all lab test results, includ…
GE Healthcare Will Acquire IDX Systems for $1.2 Billion
BIG CORPORATIONS continue racing to create the universal EMR (Electronic Medical Record) and a fully-integrated healthcare informatics platform. Last Thursday, September 29, General Electric Co. announced that it would pay $1.2 billion to acquire IDX Systems Corporation …
LIS Market Evolving To Serve New Needs
CEO SUMMARY: Ongoing reimbursement declines, coupled with other key factors, are pushing labs to seek new capabilities for their laboratory information systems (LIS). Another influence is the growth of molecular diagnostic programs in hospital labs. Molecular testing places unique demands…
Less Complex IT Technologies Will Propel Use of The Internet
EXPERTS in information technologies (IT) predict that the next paradigm shift in IT will come from reducing the complexity of software and hardware. Analyst Steven Milunovic of Merrill Lynchstates that, as complex IT systems are simplified for users, every single employee will be ex…
Bar Codes vs. RFID Tags: Labs Will Need Both
CEO SUMMARY: Take everything you liked about bar code tracking. Eliminate the problems of reading bar codes. What results is the promise of radio frequency identification devices, or RFIDs. In the United States, it is already finding uses in blood transfusion, patient identification, and …
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Volume XXXII, No. 6 – April 21, 2025
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