Name: Nicole Jazmyn C. Caminero
Section: MT 14 – BB

“Laboratory Information System: Function, Components, and Process”

The procedures in the laboratory are complex and overloaded with sample and patient information. One way to enhance the processing of this work is through the use of Laboratory Information System (LIS). This system is responsible for smooth processes in the facility.

LIS is a network of computer components that encompasses the information from the laboratory in various aspects such as patient parameters, work procedures, finance, storage, record of tests, and other laboratory-related data that those laboratory workers will access.

The function of the LIS is to provide a linked platform for the hospital community to get a hold of monitoring laboratory information records and any hospital work areas to achieve successful laboratory results and findings given to the rightful patients in the laboratory.

The number of patients entertained at the hospital on a daily basis is huge and managing the data and information by-hand could delay the processing of the laboratory information records which could affect the patients, especially those urgent laboratory results.

This allows the clinical laboratory workers to input data, organize them to a system with the corresponding details, and save them to storage where they have all the history of the patients encoded and safeguard them to avoid manipulation and editing for unreasonable purposes.

To execute the mentioned functions, the LIS has components that facilitate the processes behind this function. The listed components could be plenty but I will group these components into divisions based on their interconnected details, dwelling more on their purpose.

The major components of LIS include standardized protocols, tracking the samples, and optimal storage performance which highlights organization and capacity. The circulation of these components is not limited to the laboratory only, the hospital could access them as well.

These components have LIS information that falls into each one of them. Standardized protocols comprise the laboratory work procedures such as the processes of collecting the sample. For instance, the measures taken before, during, and after collection of the samples from the tests.

For tracking the samples, this includes the patient details, record of the tests, results of the tests, and any other relevant areas in this field. As for the storage performance, it consists of the masterlist of the laboratory test records, the management of supplies, and the like.

To delve into how the LIS works, the laboratory heads must undergo an in-depth analysis and observation of the status of the laboratory especially when it comes to gathering the supplies needed and the processing of results to arrive at a proper utilization of the specific system.
The laboratory information management system has software and hardware that already lists the must-included informational needs during the laboratory procedure based on a variety of tests done for different potential diseases. These arrived from assessing the laboratory status.

This software and hardware is the process that drives the function of the LIS as the software expresses the appropriate system specification and its corresponding hardware requirements that allow the laboratory workers to navigate and access the said information.

To conclude, the LIS serves as a foundation for efficient processes in the laboratory facility. The scope of its function is beyond the laboratory facility because authorized healthcare facilities and professionals to extract the information from such tests and employ them could access it. 

References:

Core components of Laboratory Information Management System. (2021, August 9). VB Monster.https://vbmonster.com/core-components-of-laboratory-information-management-system/
Varnadoe, Lionel A., Medical Laboratory Management and Supervision: Operations, Review and Study Guide, Philadelphia: Elsevier Inc., 1996.