Preview the InterSystems laboratory business management system

Software company InterSystems has developed what it claims is the world’s first laboratory business management system (LBMS), due for release in early 2016. The company will be previewing the system at the Australasian Association of Clinical Biochemists (AACB) 53rd Annual Scientific Conference, to be held at Sydney Olympic Park from 15–17 September.

Martin Wilkinson, head of InterSystems’ solutions for the laboratory market, noted that labs will “inevitably need to move from a support service to a business that helps drive better healthcare outcomes”. He claims that today’s laboratory information management systems (LIMS) “fall short of what labs need”; with this in mind, the company has introduced its LBMS to “help customers transform from a reactive testing and results service to a proactive healthcare partner”.

Not only will the LBMS enable laboratories to communicate results electronically, but they will also identify their derivation, including workflows, equipment and personnel involved, regardless of where they are located. Connected care models and shared electronic health records will also see laboratory professionals become more directly involved in patient care, extending their services into hospital wards and other settings.

The company claims its LBMS will provide the following capabilities:

• Distributed sample processing: Samples may be collected in one location, processed at another, analysed at a third and digitally referred to yet another location for a second opinion.
• Accountability and process improvement: Complete visibility and control over the testing process — including which tests are running at a profit and which ones at a loss — will enable greater accountability and allow laboratories to continually improve processes and optimise distributed workflows and resources.
• Efficiency through automation: Standard operating procedures with full auditability will not only support distribution of workflows across multiple sites, but also drive further automation by decreasing the percentage of tests requiring manual intervention.
• Patient-centric care: Support for connected care models will put patients at the centre of the testing process with a contiguous pathology patient record, integrated within the electronic health record, including all test data — including point-of-care test results.
• Quality assurance: Lab professionals will extend quality assurance outside of the laboratory using asset management functionality for equipment data, with maintenance events viewed and analysed alongside patient test results.

To preview the InterSystems LBMS, visit Booth 32 at the AACB 53rd Annual Scientific Conference.