NAME: Krisa P. Rumbines
SUBJECT & SECTION: MT 14 (LEC)-DD
Learning through writing: Teaching Critical Thinking Skills through writing assignments

Medicine plays a vital role in the human capacity to survive. Without it, there would be only sure death awaiting at your door. Every human being will undergo, to some extent, medical practices. And one of the major contributors to making a diagnosis possible is through laboratory work. Laboratories serve a major role in helping with diagnostics and are involved in a huge percentage of medical procedures. From blood banking to clinical microscopy, laboratories will always be useful for everyone. Laboratory clinics, along with other medical offices will always need to keep patient information. However, what strikes them differently is specimen tracking. Unlike regular clinics or doctors’ offices, which also utilise information systems, laboratory information systems, or LIS, have specimen tracking. Patient tracking is tracking the progress of patients regarding their well-being, managing patients, and being able to input and access patient information. Specimen tracking is keeping track of results from laboratory process, tracking the process and status of specimens accessing them at any time. LIS’s purposes are to have management over data and have ease in adding, removing, and archiving both patients and specimens. The major components of an LIS are hardware, software, people, and procedures. With hardware being all the physical components of the computer and software being all the components used by the computer. People who are the users of the patients and procedures, which are the steps to follow when using the LIS. All of these are components, and if one is missing, then it won’t be a complete system anymore. Without hardware, how would one be able to input or output? If there is no software, how can they run programmes that can actually start up the information systems? Without people or users, there is no purpose for having LIS in the first place. Without procedures, there will be no cooperation between departments, which will cause turmoil in the system workflow. The LIS works by staff inputting information into the system and then filling up what lab work the patient will need. Communicate it with medical technologists and undergo said laboratory work when information results are available. Staff input , but the system is readily available for any use physicians deem to be relevant. It can be archived for reference or for the loss of a physical copy. With that in mind, it is important to keep in mind that technology is ever-evolving. And instead of looking at it as a threat, we must learn how to deal with it and use it to our expense to make work easier and more convenient. LIS is a huge leap towards archiving information and data. It has proved useful in so many ways, and it is up to us how to utilise it in the best way that it can. Let us not go against the tide of time; instead, let us ride the waves and work with them. Technology is not the enemy, LIS is an ally towards medical professionals and helping it become important, relevant, and convenient.