Name: Jonier M. Badayos
Subject: MT 14(2018)-AA (LEC) Health Information System for Med Lab Science
ACTIVITY: Learning Through Writing: Teaching Critical Thinking Skills Through Writing Assignments

Laboratory Information Systems: A Brief Overview

A Laboratory Information System (LIS), also known as the Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS), is a system or platform that laboratories use in their operations today.
Allied health professionals (e.g., laboratory technicians, clinicians, pathologists, etc.) use LIS to store, manage, and process data not only of their patients but also of other laboratory processes, which include specimen tracking and laboratory inventories.
According to Sepulveda and Young (2013), since the 1970s, LIS has been essential in generating and storing information and it furthermore helps in the financial management of the laboratory.
With this, the usage of LIS not only helps in laboratory processes but also lessens the cost of those processes, as the need for printed papers lessens because the information is now accessible online.
The LIS has three major components: (1) sample tracking, (2) protocol execution, and (3) storage organization (Third Wave Analytics, 2023). The abovementioned components work together to help lab managers as well as researchers.
With LIS software, it is now easier to track samples by the time they enter the laboratory. This tracking includes the sample’s ID, where and whom it came from, the date of its collection, and the quantification details such as its volume, concentration, and so on.
To add to this, the LIS also ensures the tracking of the individuals who interact with the sample. Through this, one can also check the sample’s progress pathway.
The second major component of LIS is protocol execution. This intends to drive the standardization of laboratory workflows, as well as protocols, steps, processes, and procedures.
LIS allows the laboratory technicians to follow the step-by-step processes in the standard operating procedures (SOP) when working with a sample, regardless of who is handling or working with that sample, to end up with an accurate result.
The final major component of LIS is the storage organization. LIS keeps track of where the sample is in the duration of its process inside the laboratory.
LIS records keep track, and maintain the location of every sample, documenting its placement within a specific box, noting the tube, bottle, or vial that currently houses the sample.
It also specifies the drawer containing that specific box, identifying the rack where the drawer is in, the shelf where the rack is in, and tracking the room in which the freezer currently resides.
Third Wave Analytics (2013) describe the storage hierarchy in order: (1) sample, (2) position, (3) box, (4) drawer, (5) rack, (6) shelf, (7) freezer, (8) room.
CloudLIMS (2023) highlights that LIS functions when a sample enters the laboratory. The system will then add the information of the introduced sample and assign it a specific identification number.
As the sample moves inside the laboratory, LIS then records and updates the information of that sample from the time it is being moved, processed, and analyzed.
Through LIS, there becomes an audit trail of the sample that tracks all the sample’s activity. LIS also keeps track of the maintenance and calibration of laboratory devices. It is also helpful for logging any laboratory instrument-related accidents when they happen.

References:
Analytics, T. W. (2023). What is a LIMS and What are They Used for? Third Wave Analytics. https://thirdwaveanalytics.com/blog/what-does-a-lims-do/
Sepulveda, J. L., & Young, D. S. (2013). The ideal laboratory information system. Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, 137(8), 1129–1140. https://doi.org/10.5858/arpa.2012-0362-ra
Shrestha, A., & Shrestha, A. (2022). Laboratory Information System (LIS). Microbe Online. https://microbeonline.com/laboratory-information-system-lis/#Components_of_LIS