PMLS

• The clinical laboratory is responsible for processing, analyzing, preserving, and disposing of specimens collected from individuals.
• The main task of the clinical laboratory is to provide accurate and reliable information to medical doctors for the diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, and management of diseases.
• Approximately 70% of medical decisions made by doctors are based on laboratory test results.
• The clinical laboratory is involved in research, community outreach programs, surveillance, infection control, information dissemination, and evaluation of diagnostic technologies.
• Factors that can affect the activities done in the lab include shifting demographics, emergence of new and re-emerging diseases, demand for more efficient workflow, and new government policies.
• There are two classifications of clinical laboratories: clinical pathology (diagnosis and treatment of diseases through lab testing of blood and body fluids) and anatomic pathology (diagnosis of diseases through microscopic examination of tissues and organs).
• Clinical laboratories can be institution-based (part of a hospital, school, medical clinic) or free-standing (not part of an established institution).
• Clinical laboratories can be government-owned (owned by national or local government units) or privately-owned.
• Automation in laboratories now includes processing and transport of specimens, loading of specimens into analyzers, assessment of test results, and storage of specimens.
• Rules-based expert system software assists with the review of laboratory results and identifies problematic results for attention.
• Much of the automation in laboratories today has its roots in early automation systems in Japan.
• Automation is recognized as a means of eliminating errors, improving quality, and reducing labor, costs, and turnaround time.
• Intelligent automation allows instruments to self-monitor and respond to changing conditions.
• After processing, specimens are transported to workstations in the laboratory for analysis with minimal or no human intervention.
• Preanalytical automation involves operations in the specimen processing area, such as specimen identification, labeling, scheduling for analysis, centrifugation, and sorting.
• Many laboratories worldwide have total laboratory automation (TLA) systems or automated systems for specific functions.
• The evolution of automation in clinical laboratories has progressed from fixed automation to programmable automation.
• LIS helps manage patient information, test orders, billing, and test results in a clinical laboratory.
• Privately-owned laboratories are owned, established, and operated by individuals, corporations, institutions, associations, or organizations.
• Laboratory Information System (LIS) is a computer system designed to manage all operations involved in laboratory activities, including inputting, processing, and storing information and data.
• Primary category service capabilities include tests such as urinalysis, fecalysis, and pregnancy kits.
• There are three categories of service capabilities: primary, secondary, and tertiary.
• Secondary category service capabilities include tests such as FBS/RBS, lipid profile, and CBC.
• Tertiary category service capabilities include specialized tests such as tumor markers, hormones, and allergy panels.
• Automation in the laboratory refers to the process whereby an analytical instrument performs tests with minimal involvement of an analyst or laboratory scientist.
• An LIS (Laboratory Information System) is important for a clinical laboratory to run smoothly.
• Masahide Sasaki pioneered automation in the clinical laboratory and created the world's first automated laboratory in 1981.
• The main advantages of an LIS are reduced clerical work, better evaluation of workload, faster communication, improvement of information given to the clinician, improved retrieval operations, and faster billing.
• The advantages of automation in the laboratory include minimum human intervention, using a minute amount of sample, more tests done in less time, reduced workload, decreased chances of human errors, and high accuracy and reproducibility.
• The history of automation in the clinical laboratory began in the late 1950s with the development of flame photometry, peripheral blood cell analysis, and the invention of the first autoanalyzer.
• The main difference between an LIS and a LIMS (Laboratory Information Management System) is that an LIS is patient-based, storing and managing patients' data and test results, while a LIMS is sample-centric, used for centralizing laboratory operational workflows.