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Best LIS Software - Maximize Growth With Cutting Edge Pathology Lab Management Software
March 7, 2024
It can easily be assumed that every modern laboratory, be it focused on anatomical, clinical, or molecular testing, wants to become more efficient and more productive. Unfortunately, those goals are often hindered by outdated, non-integrated laboratory information systems (LIS abbreviation medical) that fail to meet the needs of rapidly evolving laboratory environments.
Far too often, lab technicians are forced to work with rigid and closed lab information systems (also often referred to as LIS systems or LIS system software) that were produced by legacy laboratory information system companies. Put bluntly, these lab information systems aren’t able to adapt to the changing times, leaving users frustrated with both performance and reliability.
LIS Meaning Medical - What is LIS in Healthcare?
A LIS laboratory information system (also known as pathology software, pathology lab software, or a medical LIS) has become a vital part of the clinical lab workflow and data infrastructure of advanced healthcare systems, busy laboratories, and hospitals and clinics.
Inside labs, laboratory information system software manages the data flow of information, including various lab processes, such as recording, updating, and storing patient-related data, along with sample management (sample tracking), and reports management.
As an example, LigoLab Information Systems offers enterprise-grade laboratory information system software. The fast-growing and agile LIS company is best known for its all-in-one LIS system & lab revenue cycle management (lab RCM) informatics platform. This powerful medical laboratory information system includes a comprehensive LIS pathology module designed to improve laboratory processes and data and sample management for anatomic pathology groups and clinical laboratories that specialize in molecular diagnostics, microbiology, hematology, serology, biochemistry, toxicology, and genomics.
How Does Modern Laboratory Information System Software Manage Laboratory Workflow?
LigoLab Informatics Platform expertly manages a laboratory’s data needs by connecting and integrating all departments and lab processes on a singular LIS software infrastructure and shared database. This removes information silos and ensures clinical data integrity for every department, enabling laboratories to operate more efficiently, differentiate themselves in the marketplace, scale their operations, and become more profitable.
LigoLab was founded on the principle of one source of truth for laboratory data, and that’s why the LIS company produced and developed a single, integrated suite of applications that supports patient engagement (learn more about direct-to-consumer lab testing with TestDirectly), laboratory billing management, sample tracking, case and test processing and reporting, rules and automation, outreach solutions, document scanning, digital pathology, CRM, and more. This laboratory informatics platform also solves laboratory interoperability issues as it comes standard with an interface engine that maximizes connectivity with instruments, EHRs, and third-party services.
All this enables LigoLab's lab partners to do more with less while driving transparency into their operations and gaining tighter control over their businesses, thus allowing them to scale faster and become more profitable.
Learn More: LigoLab Informatics Platform: Uniquely Designed to Deliver Maximum Value
What Sets a Modern Laboratory Information System Apart from Legacy LIS Systems?
Legacy laboratory information systems (LIS pathology) often lack the flexibility, automation, and interoperability needed to fully support technical operations, improve patient outcomes, expand lab testing services, and increase collections of individual laboratories. Common LIS system software problems that create pain points and prevent growth include the following.
- Issues with reliability and performance
- Insufficient functionality (lacking modules and features)
- Lack of scalability (current LIS system can’t keep up with demand)
- Difficult to configure (LIS system requires external vendor support)
- Legacy report formats and delivery options that don’t cater to customer needs
- Inefficient workflows and time-consuming manual processes
- Sample management and sample tracking workflows that lack a robust chain of custody, uniquely barcoded specimens, and verification and specimen security check-points
- Information on processes, bottlenecks, and compliance is difficult to access
- Need for intradepartmental and external (EMR/EHRs, APIs, laboratory instrumentation, state registries, billing services) interoperability
What’s the Difference Between LIS System Software and LIMS Lab Management Software?
A laboratory information management system (LIMS full form or lab LIMS) typically caters to non-clinical laboratory settings, such as a research environment. LIMS lab management software is designed to deal with big and complex data generated by large-sized industries geared toward the testing of chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and food and beverages. LIMS vendors create laboratory software systems typically used in maintenance, operations, and product development decision-making. In some cases, a lab LIMS can be more expensive and complex to configure than a LIS lab solution. Additionally, lab LIMS and LIS systems have different regulatory bodies to comply with (LIS vs LIMS).
The best LIS are custom-designed for clinical settings and patient care. With LigoLab’s LIS medical software solution, users enjoy a future-ready and scalable platform that’s infinitely configurable to meet the specific needs of the customer, no matter the size or type of lab. The platform can quickly adapt to add more physicians and/or laboratory personnel, interfaces, and services as laboratory operations expand. Users benefit from improved operational workflows, reduced labor costs, and increased revenue and profit as the advanced platform supports the following laboratory information system functions.
- Management of all departments and operations with one LIS system and no data silos
- Automation of complex processes that reduce manual touchpoints
- Market differentiation to expand services and acquire new business
- Maximized interoperability and efficiency
- Elimination of human errors and lost specimens
- Production of fully customizable reports
- Selection of multiple options for report delivery
- Monitored quality control to quickly identify, troubleshoot, and resolve problems
- Improved lab testing turnaround times
- Easily accessible business analytics (dashboards, stats, dynamic reports) from every department in real-time
Additionally, when paired with LigoLab's RCM module that powers all in-house laboratory billing workflows (billing software for labs), laboratories gain the ability to start the laboratory billing process (lab RCM) at order inception with the support of verification, eligibility, and scrubbing components that increase clean claim submissions, revenue, and accounts receivables, while also decreasing denials and compliance risk.
Are LIS Software Updates, Support, and Maintenance Standard for all Laboratory Information System Vendors?
The modern medical LIS (pathology reporting software) is continuously under development and leading LIS software vendors in this space rightfully give the lab full control in terms of when a given update takes place.
As an example, LigoLab’s approach to LIS system upgrades combines ongoing and speedy development (new LIS lab features are literally developed and released daily) with a deployment schedule based on the customer’s best interests. LigoLab accomplishes this by providing its customers stable and supported versions of the LIS software platform in a Production Environment, while also maintaining two additional environments.
New features are developed and automatically rolled out to all customers via a Test Environment. This gives users early access so they can familiarize themselves with the latest new LIS lab features. With additional access to the Train Environment, customers can train, test, and validate updates on their schedule before they are pushed to the Production Environment.
LigoLab releases four LIS lab feature versions annually while at the same time supporting all previous versions deployed to customer Production Environments, and every single update to the LIS software platform undergoes strict validation and regression testing before its release.
Learn More: Is Your Pathology Lab Reporting Software System Outdated and Lacking Functionality?
Enhance Critical Areas with LigoLab’s Laboratory Information System Software
From accessioning, to sample management and specimen tracking, to reporting and collections, the LigoLab LIS & RCM Laboratory Informatics Platform both supports and tech-enables all departmental processes at every stage.
Lab Revenue Cycle Management Software and Real-Time Order Validation
LigoLab makes it possible to access the accurate information needed for a smooth and productive lab billing workflow at order entry. That’s where data verification and scrubbing components are shared by both the medical LIS and lab RCM modules, and real-time patient and payer data verification, coverage lookup, and eligibility tools are seamlessly integrated into a live queue-facilitated workflow that provides a high level of transparency and prevents claim rejections and denials.
- Demographic check, address validation, insurance discovery, and eligibility verification at order inception
- Bidirectional synchronization with third-party services (mailing companies, clearinghouses, NPI Registry, payment processors)
- Automated ICD and CPT coding and TC/PC splitting
- Real-time data processing workflow queues for heightened visibility
- Detailed statistical reports to monitor trends and KPIs
Additionally, LigoLab supports the management of client contracts by providing extensive functionality, customization, and automation for client billing, including options like unlimited fee schedules, discounting, special pricing, capitation, incremental pricing, and automatic travel and transportation pricing.
Learn More: Leveraging LIS & RCM Integration to Improve the Laboratory Billing Process
LIS System Software Solutions for Sample Tracking and Patient Safety
Error-free sample tracking is vital for all medical laboratories and should be expected from the best LIS software. As an example, the LigoLab platform assigns each specimen a unique identifier, ensuring the chain of custody and security of the specimen and virtually eliminating lost or misplaced orders by supporting the following.
- Integration with all barcode printing and etching hardware
- Automatic generation of a unique identifier for every specimen and document
- Full traceability of specimens with an awareness of the next step in the lab workflow
- Users can track both beginning and end times for laboratory instrumentation processing
- Automatic detection of duplicate patient profiles at order entry
LIS System Software Solutions for Highly Customizable Pathology Reporting
LigoLab allows users to create fully customizable and intelligent lab reports with the platform’s high-performance reporting and distribution engines that feature rule-based formatting and uniform presentation. The report generation engine supports the full rich-text capability (format, size, colors, highlights, tables, bullet points, etc.), as well as images, diagrams, annotation, macros, conditional rules, dictation to text, and CAP cancer protocol templates, plus automated distribution that fulfills the customer’s preference. Delivery options include a provider portal, outreach software, EMR/EHR, fax, secure email, in-house printing, PDF drops, APIs, IVR, SMS, and remote print server.
- Standardized report structure based on industry trends
- Custom template format for client satisfaction and co-branding
- Integrated reports for time-saving efficiency
- Cumulative reports for patient safety and continuity
- Automated distribution based on customer preference
Learn More: Is Your Pathology Lab Reporting Software System Outdated and Lacking Functionality?
LIS System Software Solutions for Remote Access Orders and Results Retrieval
Medical practitioners and laboratory specialists can leverage the LigoLab Connect feature that enables remote LIS system interaction between the client and the laboratory. Users can receive and search for reports, pull cumulative charts, fax out of the LIS system, and gain access to all patient-related scanned documents.
- Free and easy to install with unlimited licensing for downloads
- A secure internet application that serves as an extension of the business
- No third-party outreach or middleware software is needed
- Can be laboratory branded with company logos
- Reduce incoming customer service calls with self-service tools for inventory management and access to scanned documents
LigoLab Web Connect is another new option for remote access. Like LigoLab Connect, it offers instant access to the LigoLab platform from anywhere. A software install is not required with this web-based feature application.
LIS System Software Solutions for Streamlined Patient Engagement
The TestDirectly direct-to-consumer lab testing portal (TestDirectly.com) is an extension of LigoLab’s LIS model that removes the manual order entry and follow-up bottlenecks. TestDirectly creates a streamlined electronic workflow for specimen collection, lab testing, and reporting that boosts testing capacity and improves turnaround times (TestDirectly results time).
- Integration with all LIS system and lab RCM/laboratory billing systems resulting in efficient pathology lab management and streamlined consumer lab reports
- Increased testing accessibility that opens new revenue streams
- The patient self-registers and schedules the collection appointment
- Support for live insurance eligibility checks
- Specimen barcoding and sample management support
- Consumer lab reports delivered via email, SMS, portal, or interface
- Automated result notification for patients via email and/or SMS
- Real-time results and analytics for the patient, provider, employer, and public health
- Support for all direct-to-consumer lab testing collection workflows, including drive-through, walk-up, concierge, business-organizational, school districts-universities, government agencies, travel, pooled-surveillance, provider test kit, and home test kit
Learn More: Consumerism and How Clinical Labs Can Take Advantage of a Growing Trend
LIS System Software Solutions for Maximum Interoperability
LigoLab’s laboratory information system software features an open architecture and a best-in-class interface engine that functions with maximum interoperability, enabling the LIS system to connect to a majority of analyzers (over 600 different instrument types), EMRs/EHRs (connected with every certified Electronic Medical Record and Electronic Health Record), and third-party services with ease. This includes internal networking (LIS/RCM) as well as connections with external networks of healthcare organizations, such as lab billing services, the Tumor Registry, and state reporting agencies.
LigoLab’s proprietary interface engine supports all standard interchange protocols, including API, FHIR, HL7, X12, XML, Flat File, ASTM, and more.
Learn More: LigoLab Delivers the Interoperability Needed to Transform Medical Laboratories into Thriving Businesses
LIS System Software Solutions that Automate Complex Processes
LigoLab designed its rule engine to give users the ability to substitute inefficient and manual laboratory processes with conditional rules and actions that can be built without custom scripts. These actions fire when certain logical conditions are met and can be strung together as decision-support trees by the automation engine that resides within the LigoLab suite of applications.
- An agile LIS software platform that automates laboratory processes so that LIS staffing can be reassigned to more productive roles
- High-visibility and real-time lab workflow queues for clinical data
- Flexible rule engine for optimal automation
- Multi-layered lab workflow management control
LIS System Software Solutions for Regulatory Compliance
To minimize compliance risk, LigoLab offers a variety of specialized LIS system and RCM tools that reduce both audit risk and revenue loss without being labor-intensive. Users can effectively operate within the guidelines of CAP, CLIA, HIPAA, and other regulatory bodies to mitigate compliance concerns and avoid penalties.
- Compliance-conscious workflows and reports
- Ad hoc data query capabilities
- Support for all established regulatory protocols
- Compliance verification at every stage
LIS System Software Solutions for a Safe and Secure Laboratory
LigoLab’s LIS model offers advanced security and privacy features that protect both the laboratory and patient data.
- Automatic log-off for user inactivity
- A robust and searchable audit trail that logs every activity
- User permission and visibility control
Laboratory Information System Software with a Proven ROI
“The end-to-end efficiency created by the LigoLab Informatics Platform is a major reason why lab managers choose a LIS system like ours,” said LigoLab CEO Suren Avunjian. “Many of our partners migrated from homegrown or legacy LIS systems that lacked functionality, reliability, and couldn’t scale.”
Avunjian said that it’s common for lab managers to resist making a switch to a new LIS system, even though they know it’s needed to remain relevant, because of fear.
“These lab managers are being held hostage by their current LIS software vendors because they haven’t seen a return on their initial investment. This leaves lab management feeling stuck and forced to make the best out of a bad situation that will only get worse,” said Avunjian.
So how can lab managers be assured of a healthy return on their investment with LigoLab's LIS system software solution?
“Our LIS system platform drives workflows supported by automation and rules that help the laboratory become super-efficient and virtually mistake-free,” continued Avunjian. "The platform removes the bottlenecks and barriers that prevent scalability. When we survey our clients, we regularly hear how they’ve increased lab productivity, as measured by samples processed per FTE staff, by two-and-a-half times simply by deploying our LIS software.”
Avunjian noted that ROI can be difficult to measure, but the fact that the platform enables labs to scale LIS system processes without adding FTEs is a good place to start.
“As soon as our LIS system is deployed, labs can take on more business with the same amount of personnel because they are no longer limited by an old and antiquated laboratory information system. With LigoLab, they can break that artificial ceiling that’s holding them back as an organization,” he said.
For Avunjian and his team, it’s no surprise that the fastest-growing labs in the country are using LigoLab's game-changing LIS software platform.
“They’ve abandoned their old restrictive LIS systems and the legacy laboratory information system companies they were working with and replaced them with a comprehensive and infinitely configurable platform that's supported by the LIS company with unlimited and unmatched customer service,” concluded Avunjian.
LIS System Software Implementation in Four Phases
In terms of LIS system software implementations, LigoLab has a 100 percent success rate. That's because the LIS company leaves no stone unturned while painstakingly laying out a phased installation plan. This plan is backed by nearly two decades of expertise resulting in hundreds of successful go-lives.
Here are the four phases of implementation.
Discovery - A complete domain analysis takes place, and this includes an examination of all workflows, tools, and instruments. Our team maps out a lab’s entire operation and identifies key areas where improvements can be made.
Configuration - The implementation team starts with the baseline configuration of master files, enhancement requests, historical data imports, and interface builds.
Testing and Validation - At this stage, the laboratory begins to process live cases in parallel and any workflow gaps are discovered and addressed.
Go-Live - With testing and validation completed, the new LIS system is ready for go-live. As the lab starts using the new LIS system in a live environment, the implementation team handholds lab personnel, working directly with them to iron out any last-minute issues and make minor tweaks as needed.
The LigoLab Commitment - We Help Labs Grow and Thrive
From Latin, “Ligo” means to unite or connect, and that’s precisely what LigoLab Informatics Platform does for its medical LIS partner labs, turning them into information-driven, connected, and thriving businesses with its enterprise LIS software solutions.
LigoLab empowers laboratories nationwide to run their data management operations transparently and efficiently, providing turnkey and agile laboratory information system solutions designed to meet the diverse needs of all diagnostic disciplines.
LigoLab supports and streamlines the complete life cycle of all cases, enabling laboratories to differentiate themselves in the marketplace and transform their operations and finances. The platform is intuitive and easy to learn, accessible from anywhere, and constantly evolving with new laboratory information system functions added daily.
This comprehensive LigoLab platform is powered by laboratory information system software that’s internet-enabled, can be hosted on a local server or in the cloud, and runs on any operating system anywhere around the world without VPN connections.
Security is built-in throughout the LigoLab platform, which has been designed to support high-volume and complex testing labs ranging from one to dozens of facilities, in multiple states, and in multiple time zones.
With LigoLab, there is no longer a need to interface with standalone systems that create data silos. Instead of the finger-pointing and headaches when interfacing with multiple laboratory software systems, users enjoy end-to-end clinical data integrity that no longer requires synchronization or middleware.
Through domain expertise, best practices, and constant customer feedback and analysis, business-savvy lab operators benefit from a lab information system that automates workflows, increases productivity, and positions them to scale quickly.
LigoLab is a privately owned LIS company that’s headquartered in Los Angeles. Since 2006, its mission has been to develop dynamic and diverse end-to-end medical LIS software solutions for laboratories, helping them expand services and add revenue sources as they grow and thrive.
To learn more about LigoLab and its all-in-one laboratory information system software, contact a LIS system product expert to schedule a demo or an introductory call.
