Arabella Grace A. Sugano MT14 LEC – DD
BSMT – I October 1, 2023

Learning through writing: Teaching Critical Thinking Skills through writing assignments

The lifespan of a business depends on its ability to adapt to rapid technology changes and the target consumers’ needs. In the case of the medical industry, healthcare marketing carries the responsibility of providing accuracy and quality service of patients.

However, with constant advancements to medical equipment and an increased demand for health data, manual recording became time-consuming, highly prone to human errors and can lead to delays in information delivery– this in itself can cause problems to medical procedures that require urgent results.

Laboratory Information Systems (LIS) is a tool interlinked with different information and technological systems as a strategy to improve laboratory processes, reduce operation costs, and provide accurate feedback to the patient and physician.

Innovations through the LIS have greatly impacted data management by centralizing information from inpatient and outpatient medical testing. This involves the tracking of a patient’s clinical details, including patient ID, laboratory laboratory results, disease profiling, and treatment, and storing them onto a database for future references (Del Vecchio, 2015; Healthcare Information System in India, 2020) The inclusion of a database provides easy access of one’s information while at the same time safeguarding them from misuse.

Additionally, the LIS ensures proficiency of sample analysis through quality assurance despite changes in test methods and volume, guaranteeing that the given factors will still yield to a definite diagnosis (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019).

Another function of an LIS is by reducing the labor required to monitor laboratory resources and significantly keep up with the demand and quantities of specimen to be analyzed. For instance, LIS has lessened laboratories’ need for storage and allotted costs for maintaining paperwork including manual operations by automating the data being gathered and processed.

According to Third Wave Analytics (2023), an LIS functions on three main components and also explains how the LIS works : Sample Tracking, Protocol Execution, and Storage Production.

Sample tracking refers to the capturing of all data associated with the acquired sample, such as the patient’s ID, specimen type and batch, collection date, and quantity information through time-based facets needed for labelling.

Before and after gathering the needed data, protocol execution is done through digitizing procedures using LIS software. The LIS makes sure that workers adhere to the appropriate set of protocols when handling samples. Test results are then processed and reported to necessary team members with the right approval and queue.

LIS greatly benefits workers in terms of storage organization. As previously mentioned, a patient’s health information is stored in a database as future reference. An LIS allows data to be accessed outside of the workplace, in which LIS Web tools can be installed into one’s personal device for more productivity (Del Vecchio, 2015). LIS also covers the tracking of a sample’s location for its testing duration– this refers to the ‘storage heirarchy’ (Sample > Position > Box > Drawer > Rack > Shelf > Freezer > Room) that is being used to monitor samples in busy laboratories.

To conclude, LIS has strengthened the capabilities of the medical technologists by continuously finding solutions and ways to improve the service the profession has to offer.

References:

Analytics, T. W. (2023, May 9). What is LIMS? What is a LIMS System Used for? Third Wave Analytics. https://thirdwaveanalytics.com/blog/what-does-a-lims-do/#:~:text=What%20are%20the%20Core%20Components

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019, November 18). Laboratory Quality Assurance and Standardization Programs. http://Www.cdc.gov. https://www.cdc.gov/labstandards/overview.html

Del Vecchio , A. (2015, June). What is Laboratory Information System? TechTarget.com. https://www.techtarget.com/searchhealthit/definition/laboratory-information-system#:~:text=Basic%20laboratory%20information%20systems%20commonly

Healthcare Information System in India . (2020, March 30). http://Www.kamedainfologics.net. https://kamedainfologics.net/blog/benefits-of-laboratory-information-system-lis/