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.
Lab “Home Brews” Web Solution for Test Results
CEO SUMMARY: Internet-enabled lab test ordering and results reporting may help independent commercial labs and hospital laboratory outreach programs become more competitive against the two blood brothers. In eastern Pennsylvania, Clinical Laboratories, Inc. introduced Web-based lab test r…
Web-Based Lab Transactions Part of McKesson HBOC’s Plan
CLINICAL LABORATORY DATA will play a big role at iMcKesson, the new Internet healthcare business unit of McKesson HBOC, Inc., based in San Francisco. McKesson HBOC is putting existing business assets representing annual sales of $300 million into this new division. They include …
LIS Vendors Moving to Internet
SALES OF LIS SYSTEMS SLOWED DURING 1999 due to concerns about Y2K problems. But the real story in the LIS arena was the impending arrival of technology that takes advantage of the Internet and the Web. Sales champs in THE DARK REPORT’s annual ranking of the Top Ten LIS Vendors for 1999 ar…
NH Rural Hospital Labs Connecting Via Internet
CEO SUMMARY: Expect the Internet to be a tool for leveling the competitive playing field. Ten rural hospital labs in New Hampshire are now connecting their labs and their outreach physician office clients with a Web-based lab test ordering and results reporting system. The goal is to incr…
Abaton’s Web Solution In Use at Allina, Centrex
CEO SUMMARY: Abaton.com was among the first companies to actually have Web-based information products linking hospital labs and physician offices. As early as 1997, the Allina Health System was working with Abaton.com to implement a laboratory test requisition/test results system using We…
Specialty Labs Moving To Web-Based Services
CEO SUMMARY: Competition for hospital reference and esoteric testing remains intense. Three years ago, Specialty Laboratories made an early bet on Internet technology. It believed that being first to offer faster and less complicated access to laboratory informatics resources would give i…
Internet-Based Lab Info Racing Into Marketplace
CEO SUMMARY: It’s another roller coaster ride for clinical laboratories and pathology practices. Within 24 months, virtually all physician offices will be using web-based technology to order lab tests and receive test results. Web-based ordering/reporting of laboratory testing will driv…
Physicians Demand Web Solutions From Clinical Labs
CEO SUMMARY: As physicians gain personal familiarity with the Internet and its potential to enhance their medical practice, they logically begin to want their clinical laboratory to offer web-based solutions. Physicians are driving this impending marketplace shift away from proprietary PC…
New Internet Companies Target Clinical Lab Services
CEO SUMMARY: During the coming transition from proprietary PC-based to web-based lab test ordering/reporting systems, it will be Internet start-up companies that have the competitive jump over traditional LIS vendors. There are many reasons why this is true. Here is a first look at the ma…
Advanced Health Targets Integrated Health Networks
“The question that every clinical laboratory must now ask is this: will my lab be a technology differentiator or a technology enabler?” Rob Alger, Advanced Health Technology CEO SUMMARY: Many hospital-based laboratories have a different missio…
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXII, No. 6 – April 21, 2025
Now that a federal judge has vacated the FDA’s LDT rule, The Dark Report analyzes the judgement and notes the various steps the FDA could take in response. Also, lab testing at pharmacies is proving to be less successful than was once anticipated.
See the full table of contentsHow Much Laboratory Business Intelligence Have You Missed?
Lab leaders rely on THE DARK REPORT for actionable intelligence on important developments in the business of laboratory testing. Maximize the money you make-and the money you keep! Best of all, it is released every three weeks!
Sign up for TDR Insider
Join the Dark Intelligence Group FREE and get TDR Insider FREE!
Never miss a single update on the issues that matter to you and your business.