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.
Military Labs Creating Global Lab Test Data Pool With LOINC
CEO SUMMARY: It’s a laboratory regionalization project without precedent because of its worldwide scale. Within the Armed Forces, laboratorians are working to seamlessly integrate laboratory test data generated by laboratories within the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Veterans Administratio…
AACC’s E-Lab Confab Emphasizes Lab Data
CEO SUMMARY: In just six years, experts at the AACC’s E-Lab gathering predict that 50% of all diagnostic testing will be done as point-of-care, homecare, or kit testing. If true, this will be a swift transformation in how labs organize themselves to manage the diagnostic testing needs o…
New Lab Company Ready To Open In Orlando, FL
CEO SUMMARY: Within the next 60 days, a brand-new clinical laboratory company will begin operations in Orlando, Florida. In the short term, it plans to offer routine testing to physicians’ offices. However, the real goal is to create a laboratory organization with integrated information…
ProxyMed & Medscape Select Atlas LabWorks™
CEO SUMMARY: ProxyMed and MedScape just announced contracts with Atlas Development Corporation. Both companies will integrate Atlas LabWorks™ for electronic test ordering and results reporting into software products they sell to labs and physicians’ offices. Such collaborations again …
Pricing Models and RFP Terms For Web Orders and Results
CEO SUMMARY: Browser-based systems for lab test ordering and results reporting are now offered by a growing number of vendors. Early adopter labs are successfully acquiring these systems and offering them to their physician-clients. In this third installment of our special series, Cory Fi…
Wireless Lab Reporting Now Active in Wash., DC
CEO SUMMARY: While companies like iScribe and Allscripts have attracted lots of attention with their efforts to convince doctors to use wireless PDAs to order prescriptions, InstantDx has quietly launched its “OnCallData” service in Washington, DC. It offers both prescription-ordering a…
Lab Test Ordering On Web Presents Tough Challenges
CEO SUMMARY: During 1999, many factors pointed to the speedy introduction of Web-based lab test ordering between physicians’ offices and their laboratory providers. Several credible players, like Healtheon/ WebMD (now WebMD) and Advanced Health Technologies, held numerous contracts to i…
8 “Must Have” Features For Web Lab Test Reports
CEO SUMMARY: A growing number of laboratories have implemented Web-accessed lab test reporting for their office-based physician clients. Having participated in the design, sale and installation of many of these systems, Cory Fishkin gained valuable insights into the “do’s & don’…
Lab Competitors Form Common Test Data Repository for Doctors
CEO SUMMARY: Integrated hospital systems, government health plans and private insurers can frequently threaten the status quo for commercial laboratories in both the United States and Canada. Motivated by the desire to offer greater value, two commercial lab companies in British Columbia …
LIS Sales Decline in 2000 As Labs Shift Emphasis
CEO SUMMARY: THE DARK REPORT’S annual ranking of the Top Ten LIS Vendors reveals that sales of new LIS products declined for the second consecutive year. This is evidence that the influence of multi-hospital health systems is changing the way LIS is purchased and implemented. It is also…
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.
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