The ConcurMDLIS (laboratory information system) is designed to manage the details of running a lab and managing clinical lab information.

Collection and Management

Collection and management of specimens and information associated with "internal" lab tests. The Laboratory Information System (LIS) within the ConcurMD Suite is built to exchange information with the majority of the medical industry's "Lab Analyzers," and after obtaining information (results or element measurements) from these lab analyzers, the LIS stores the information in a manner that allows ALL users within the ConcurMD Suite to obtain the information. The LIS can be integrated with over 300 different lab analyzers.

In some cases, it is simply not cost effective to perform lab tests internally. The ConcurMDLIS is equipped to handle information whether lab work is routed to a reference lab or to local hospitals.

Discrete Data Exchange

The most common data standard used to exchange this type of medical information is Health Level Seven (HL7). The LIS is integrated into a common architecture with the ConcurMDEHR and the ConcurMDPM (Practice Management System). Therefore, the information used to generate a requisition is pulled from the same source that the PM uses to file patient insurance claims and generate patient statements.This helps to ensure the accuracy of the data used by the reference lab to perform the analysis and collect payment.

Once the reference lab identifies the specimen(s), test(s) to be performed (orders) from the request, and has completed its analysis, the resulting information is then placed in a format, in accordance with HL7 specifications, and made available to the originator of the request. The LIS retrieves this information and stores it as discrete elements. These discrete elements are then stored in a manner that allows ALL users within the ConcurMD Suite to access the information.

Non-discrete Data Exchange

Used in situations where interoperability or "bi-directional" data exchanges are not possible. The LIS allows you to manage that data by providing the capability of the "paper" or "non-discrete-data" results. Requests (or orders) can still be printed and sent along with the specimen. The results then come back from the reference lab as a "paper" report and scanned images may be stored in the system in relation to the original order.

Management of quality assurance (QA) issues within the lab

The ConcurMDLIS also provides reports to identify inefficiencies in the lab process (i.e., turn-around-time for internal and external lab test).

The LIS provides reports that help the user identify any incomplete, un-resulted, or un-reviewed lab work for both internal and external lab tests.

LIS provides reporting capabilities to analyze data trends. For instance, you may generate reports to show all the patients with critically high white blood count for the past two weeks.

LIS allows the user to set three types of flags or alert indicators for elements within a lab test.

• Boundary Flags: The boundaries at which an element is considered to be Critical Low, Low, Normal, High, Critically High, and Unknown
• Alert Variance or Delta-Check Flags: This type of flag identifies sudden shifts of lab element values relative to the last time that element was sampled for the patient
• Expected Value Flags: Expected values are generally used on element values of a non-numeric nature (positive and negative, or blue, yellow, green, orange). Expected values are the most common (or normal states) of non-numeric data (i.e., negative)

All flags are used in conjunction with colors to quickly draw the user's attention to abnormalities in lab test results. High and low values are highlighted in yellow, critical high and low are in red, etc.

Manage and track quality control (QC) measures in accordance with Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments [CLIA]. The LIS module provides the capabilities to manage controls and lot numbers, performs statistical analysis of the data resulting from those controls, and graphs this information in accordance with Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments.

MedSym provides the three most essential aspects of Medical Information Management (PMS, EMR and LIS), and makes it scalable to small, mid-size and large healthcare practices, all of it operating on a single database.