A medical lab management system or laboratory information management system (LIMS) is a kind of software used to manage operations at medical testing laboratories. It is one of the many types of software developed to optimize health care management activities.
Pathologists at laboratories can use it to record, store, and manage all the data relevant to inventory, samples, and testing. It is an excellent platform for doctors to coordinate a wide array of medical testing for patients. The tests could be for blood chemistry, immunology, haematology, toxicology, etc.
the medical industry continues to ride the wave of digitisation and technology, custom healthcare software solutions have improved. Digital platforms for healthcare workflows have proven their worth many times over when it comes to optimising clinical activities and accelerating the speed of operations. But using a physical pen and paper system instead of medical laboratory management solutions slows down the entire process and increases errors.
Table of Contents
What are the Components of A Medical Laboratory Management System?
Medical testing labs have to deal with a wide array of tests on an equally large number of blood samples. The samples are bound to be handled by multiple pathologists and technicians throughout their lifecycle, and keeping track of each stage is paramount.
those components in detail –
Sample Tracking
As the name indicates, this module of lab inventory management software enables administrators to track a sample throughout its entire lifecycle of existence at the lab. From the moment the sample is collected from a patient to the time its results are generated, the sample tracking functionality offers a bird’s eye view of the sample’s progression.
The tracking includes storing all the data relevant to the sample, such as its identifier, patient’s name, date, and other biochemical information. As it moves forward along the stages of testing, additional data is generated.
Process Implementation
This is a major component of any medical lab management software. This ensures that every person handling samples follows all the operating procedures, protocols, and rules.
This is extremely important since the results of every test have to be foolproof, as an error might end up in a doctor prescribing the wrong treatment to a patient. All the processes at a lab are established industry standards that a lab management software needs to be able to implement.
This module is extremely helpful for clinical research and helps the researchers streamline the processes. Research needs to follow strict guidelines and protocols to obtain definitive results, and deviation from established norms could throw the readings off and affect everything that comes next.
Storage Management
This is also one of the most important aspects of a medical laboratory management solution. As the name suggests, it designates places to store each sample throughout its testing lifecycle. Additionally, it also keeps track of where every sample is stored, in other words – which freezer or cold storage, what shelf or slot, and so on.
Needless to elaborate, this enables smooth operations at laboratories, better management of samples, and faster storage and retrieval of every sample.
What are the Advantages of A Medical Laboratory Management System?
Customizable Functionality
The very laboratory would have varying activity and process flows. Despite the chemical and biological processes of testing being the same, the day-to-day administration of labs is bound to be different. In light of this, a digital solution to manage a laboratory adaptable to existing workflows helps the staff acclimatize faster.
But it depends on the specific solution developed by certain companies. Not every such solution is customizable. Pre-built ones can’t usually be tailored to meet the requirements of specific labs, but they are relatively cheaper.
Scalable
This is another advantage of using a software platform to manage laboratory operations. As the name indicates, software needs to be able to scale to adapt to evolving requirements. A lab might begin by offering a few services initially but later grow to add more tests to its portfolio of services.
This growth is accompanied by additional workflows, staff, documentation, and overall functionality. A laboratory solution needs to be able to keep up with the changing demands.
Fewer Errors
A digital solution takes out the manual pen and paper from the usual activities at any organization. This has the immediate effect of reducing the human element from those activities, and the result is a significantly lowered chance of human error.
The same applies to operations at medical laboratories. As labs at large hospitals tend to work with several dozen samples each week, carrying out the relevant documentation, resource allocation, accounting, audits, etc., by pen and paper is bound to result in mistakes.
Streamlined Operations
Using a pen and paper manually to carry out operations is inherently inefficient as it involves managing the physical paperwork. Moreover, activities like auditing, task assignment, resource allocation, and staff management would all be time-consuming and prone to errors if done manually.
Additionally, keeping stock of all the chemicals, reagents, and raw materials for testing and ordering new ones after the old ones have reached expiration can be easily done using a digital laboratory platform. So, a software solution goes a long way in optimizing operations, increasing work speed, and boosting overall productivity.
Medical laboratory is a service sector where highly systematic procedures are mandatory. If not cared appropriately, a single point of mismanagement would cause irrevocable after effects.
IT-enabled medical laboratory management is not a new thing, there is a number of dedicated software in the market for medical laboratory management. The module ‘Medical Lab Management’ in Odoo is a powerful tool to manage all the operations of a medical laboratory. The module will help the user to
– Issue Patient Card
– Manage Patients
– Manage Referrals of Patients
– Manage Appointments
– Mail notification for appointments
– Manage Lab requests
Best Medical Lab Software
1.Halemind is an ingenious, leading edge and connected Electronic Health Record and Hospital Management System that provides insightful, actionable and focussed data to automate your day-to-day operations.
2. MasterControl is a highly efficient DMA that renders goal-specific services. The inter-linked solutions of this document management software help to do needed document editing at any time. You can also share the documents across the teams.
3. Prolis is a fully featured Medical Practice Management Software designed to serve Agencies, Enterprises. Prolis provides end-to-end solutions designed for Windows. This online Medical Practice Management system offers Reporting & Statistics, Lab Instrument Interface, Lab Instrument Interface, EMR Interface, Multi-Location Printing at one place.
4. Apex LIS is a fully featured Medical Practice Management Software designed to serve Startups, Enterprises. Apex LIS provides end-to-end solutions designed for Windows. This online Medical Practice Management system offers Data Security, Multi-Location Printing, Data Analysis Auditing, Sample Tracking, Physician Test Panels at one place.
5. eLab is comprehensive lab software. It makes your Laboratory report generation and accounts management job much simpler and quicker. eLab maintains patient records with accurate reports and facilitate to access patient reports very fast. eLab pre-configured with more than 350+ tests from different departments like pathology, x-ray, ultrasound, etc.
6. PathoGOLD is a fully featured Medical Practice Management Software designed to serve Enterprises, Agencies. PathoGOLD provides end-to-end solutions designed for Web App. This online Medical Practice Management system offers Fax Management, Lab Instrument Interface, Physician Test Panels, Procedure-Based Billing, Data Security at one place.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is medical lab software?
What is medical lab software? Medical lab software assists medical clinics and labs in managing their lab operations and generating test results. This software coordinates the lab testing equipment, samples, and lab data to ensure quality, accuracy, and integrity of the laboratory instruments and test results.
What is laboratory management?
Laboratory Management is responsible for providing advice and information to scientists on health and safety, particularly on how to carry out risk assessments and on appropriate control measures.
What are the four 4 basic functions of effective laboratory management?
The key to returning to the work you love, science, is to manage your lab well through planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.
