Core Features Every Modern LIS System Should Have
A pathology lab is a complex environment. The LIS System it depends on must include intricate workflows, people, equipment, sensitive data, and real-time analytics to keep the lab running.
“The Digital Pathology Association cites an average of 16 different steps in the anatomic pathology workflow, starting at test order to collection and transport, to histology, case selection, and eventually ending delivering results to the patient. “
Talk about complex!
As more and more anatomic pathology laboratories are consolidating or expanding their specialties, we’re seeing several LIS systems lack the functionality today’s diverse laboratories desperately need.
A laboratory information system helps the lab record, track, and distribute diagnostic results in its simplest form.
Every LIS system on the market will “say” they have the latest and greatest capabilities and feature sets. Here at NovoPath, we’re putting our money where our mouth is and putting our capabilities front and center to highlight the core elements of what a modern LIS should do.
Key LIS System Workflow Capabilities
- Ability to assign an accession number manually or automatically
- Audit trails for Q/A and billing
- Ability to correlate diagnoses for related patient specimens
- Duplicate order alerts
- Provide real-time status updates for orders of re-cuts, special stains, IHC, etc. are complete
- Track specimens from order to pathologist worklist to storage
- Allow multiple pathologists to review a single case
- Patient and customer self-servicing portals
- Authorized user access from anywhere
- Real-time view with filtering for pending work lists
- Whole slide imaging
- Voice Recognition
- Lean management for benchmarking and monitoring case progress
- Automatic reflex testing notification
- Tracking slide send-outs
- Modify reports within the LIS prior to sign-out
- Search previous patient history from history upload of legacy systems
Just to name a few…
Seamless LIS System Interoperability
Interoperability enables seamless and effective data exchange between information systems. Since laboratories need to connect to various systems and equipment, interoperability is as important as the LIS. Without interoperability, a lab is not able to efficiently diagnose cases and perform billing functions.
Here at NovoPath, we recognized the importance of interoperability and have built our own platform that allows labs to seamlessly connects to any instrument and over 150+ EMRs and more:
- Supports HL7, PDF, CSV, FHIR, XML, JSON, and TXT
- Able to integrate into any POC, HIS, lab, financial systems, and equipment
- Real-time reporting and displays on what’s sent and received
- Compliant with FHIR
- Allows manual transmission of data when needed
Compliance and Security Standards
Security is a number one concern across every industry, especially within diagnostics. In 2021, nearly 50M people in the U.S. had their sensitive health data breached. It goes without saying that no lab wants to be involved in a data breach. To help enable a secure laboratory your LIS system should be/have:
- HIPAA compliant
- SOC2 compliant
- Dual-factor authentication
- Role-based security and access levels
- Complete audit trails
- Real-time alerts
- Single-sign on support
In addition, make sure that the data centers are fully secured. With security personnel, cameras, locked facilities, and maintained grounds.
Remember, a cloud-based system means the servers running your application are not on your property but located in a physical data center. Having a secure data center is just as important as ensuring cyber security.
Comprehensive Reporting
Like the pathology lab, reporting in itself has unique complexities. For surgical specimens, stained glass slides are evaluated manually by a pathologist. Then, to produce the diagnostic report, the pathologist must often write or dictate an analytical report which includes items like:
- Gross appearance of the specimen
- Microscopic descriptions
- Tables
- Disclaimers
- Slide images
- Final diagnosis
With NovoPath 360, we’re making this process easier by providing comprehensive reporting capabilities:
- 3rd party integrations for images and dot plots directly into reports
- Compare frozen sections correlating different stages of the samples
- 100% customizable report templates, text insertion, and macros
- Word processing capabilities include bolding, underlining, tabs, copy and paste, spell check, etc.
- Easily add slide images
- Provide general laboratory data
- Integrate molecular pathology reports and images primary report
NovoPath’s reporting capabilities can do all this and more. Download some of our report examples to see what’s possible.
LIS System Support
Unfortunately, labs don’t take breaks meaning neither should the support your LIS system partner provides.
If your LIS vendor does not provide 24/7 support, it may be okay, however, we strongly suggest that you look at your lab’s previous support needs and gauge the level of support you’re comfortable with.
Here at NovoPath, we ensure to keep our clients running with 24/7 direct support.
If you’re not getting the support you need. You don’t have to stand for it. Contact us, we’ll show you what a good support system looks like.
Next Steps
There are a lot more must-have capabilities like data mining, inventory, labels, barcodes, instruments, etc. Download and use the NovoPath LIS vendor checklist to help you validate which LIS is the right for your organization.
