Best LIS Software - Maximize Growth With Cutting Edge Pathology Lab Management Software

It can easily be assumed that every modern laboratory focused on anatomical, clinical, or molecular testing, wants to become more efficient and productive. Unfortunately, such goals are hindered by outdated, non-integrated LIS laboratory information system software solutions that fail to meet the needs of rapidly evolving laboratory environments. 

Too often, lab technicians are constrained by outdated and inflexible laboratory information systems developed by legacy laboratory information system companies. These pathology LIS systems struggle to keep pace with evolving industry demands, resulting in performance and reliability issues that frustrate users.

Learn More: Comparing LigoLab Informatics Platform with Legacy Laboratory Information System Software

LIS Meaning Medical - What is LIS in Healthcare?

A lab information system is a pathology lab reporting software that supports clinical laboratory management and data infrastructure of advanced healthcare systems, busy laboratories, and hospitals and clinics. 

Inside labs, the best laboratory information system software expertly manages the data flow of information, including various lab processes, such as recording, updating, and storing patient-related data, sample management (sample tracking), reports management, and data analytics.

Learn More: How Specimen Tracking Software Improves Efficiency and Reduces the Chance for Diagnostic Errors

As an example, LigoLab offers enterprise-grade laboratory information system software. The fast-growing and agile LIS company is best known for its all-in-one medical LIS system & lab revenue cycle management (lab RCM) informatics platform. 

This powerful medical laboratory information system includes a comprehensive LIS system module that improves laboratory processes and data/sample management for healthcare laboratories specializing in anatomic pathology, molecular diagnostics, microbiology, hematology, serology, biochemistry, toxicology, and genomics.

Learn More: The Best Laboratory Information System Companies and the Advantages They Offer to Their Laboratory Clients

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Modern Laboratory Information System Software and Clinical  Lab Workflow

LigoLab Informatics Platform expertly manages a laboratory’s data needs by connecting and integrating all departments and lab processes within 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 with a straightforward plan in 2006, and that was to provide “one source of truth” for all of its laboratory customers. The LIS company continues to fulfill this promise with its single, integrated suite of applications that support all forms of clinical lab workflow, including patient engagement (learn more about direct-to-consumer lab testing with TestDirectly), laboratory billing management, sample tracking, case and test processing and reporting, rule and automation configurations, outreach solutions, document scanning, digital pathology, CRM, and more. 

Learn More: The Competitive Edge in Laboratory Outreach: Enhancing Value Beyond Price

This laboratory informatics platform also solves interoperability issues as it comes standard with an interface engine that maximizes connectivity with instruments, electronic health records, and third-party services. 

All this enables LigoLab's customers to do more with less while driving transparency into their operations and gaining tighter control over their business finances, thus allowing them to scale faster and become more profitable.‍

Learn More: LigoLab Informatics Platform: Uniquely Designed Pricing Tiers to Deliver Maximum Value

What Sets a Modern Medical LIS Apart from Legacy Pathology LIS Systems?

Legacy pathology LIS systems often lack the flexibility, automation, and interoperability to fully support technical operations, improve patient outcomes, expand lab testing services, and increase collections. Common LIS system software problems that create pain points and prevent growth include:

• Issues with reliability and performance
• Insufficient functionality (lacking modules and features)
• Lack of scalability (LIS system can’t keep up with demand)
• Difficult to configure (lab information system requires external vendor support)
• Legacy medical LIS report formats and delivery options that don’t cater to customer needs
• Inefficient lab workflow and time-consuming manual processes
• Sample management and sample tracking workflow lacking 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
• Intradepartmental and external (EMR/EHRs, APIs, laboratory instrumentation, state registries, lab billing services) interoperability is subpar

LIS System Software and LIMS Lab Management Software - What’s the Difference?

Unlike LIS system software designed for healthcare settings, laboratory information management system software (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. 

A lab LIMS can be more expensive and complex to configure than its LIS lab solution counterpart. Additionally, lab LIMS and LIS systems have different regulatory bodies to comply with (LIS vs LIMS).

The best LIS systems are custom-designed for clinical settings and patient care. With LigoLab’s LIS medical solution, users enjoy a future-ready and scalable platform that’s infinitely configurable and meets specific customer requirements, no matter the size or type of lab. 

The LigoLab platform can quickly adapt to add more physicians and/or laboratory personnel, interfaces, and services. Users benefit from improved operational lab workflow, reduced labor costs, and increased revenue and profit as the advanced informatics platform supports the following laboratory information system functions:

• Management of all departments and operations with one medical 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 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 lab RCM module that powers all in-house laboratory billing workflow (advanced billing software for labs), laboratories gain the ability to start the laboratory billing process 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.

Case Study: Documenting the Avero Diagnostic Move From a Legacy Lab RCM System to LigoLab’s All-in-One Lab Informatics Platform‍

‍Are LIS Software Updates, Support, and Maintenance Standard for all Laboratory Information System Vendors?

The modern pathology information system is continuously under development, and the best LIS software vendors in this space give the lab full control when a given pathology software update takes place. 

For example, LigoLab’s approach to LIS system software 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 lab software in a production environment while maintaining two additional environments. 

New features are developed and automatically rolled out to all LIS system customers via a test environment. This gives users early access to familiarize themselves with the latest LIS lab features. With additional access to the train environment, customers can train, test, and validate LIS system updates on their schedule before they are pushed to the production environment. 

LigoLab releases four LIS software updates annually and supports all previous versions deployed to customer production environments, and every single update to the informatics 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 supports and tech-enables all departmental processes at every stage.

Now let’s look at critical areas and LigoLab’s LIS pathology solutions.

Learn More: How LIS Software Helps Pathologists Sign Out Anatomic Pathology Cases Faster

Laboratory Revenue Cycle Management Software and Real-Time Order Validation

LigoLab’s lab partners can access the accurate information needed for a smooth and productive laboratory billing workflow at order entry. That’s where data verification and scrubbing components are shared by the LIS system 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 - one 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 lab 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. For example, the LigoLab platform assigns each specimen a unique identifier, ensuring specimen chain of custody and security while 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
• Tracking the 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 enables users to create fully customizable and intelligent lab reports. LigoLab’s LIS system solution features high-performance reporting and distribution engines that support rule-based formatting and uniform presentations. 

The report generation engine supports 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, 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: Streamline Laboratory Workflow Management With Customized Lab Reports & Unmatched Client Support

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LIS System Software Solutions for Remote Access Orders and Results Retrieval

Medical practitioners and laboratory specialists can leverage the LigoLab Connect feature for remote lab information system interaction between the client and the laboratory. Users can receive and search for reports, pull cumulative charts, fax out of the medical LIS, 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, and a software install is not required.

Learn More: LigoLab’s Provider Portal Facilitates Faster Order Processing and Improved Turnaround Times

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 lab solution that removes the manual order entry and follow-up bottlenecks for direct-to-consumer labs. 

TestDirectly creates a streamlined electronic workflow for specimen collection, lab testing, and results reporting, which boosts testing capacity and improves turnaround times (TestDirectly results time).

• Integration with all LIS systems and 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 provider test kit and home test kit

Learn More: Consumerism and How Clinical Labs Can Take Advantage of a Growing Trend

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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 medical LIS to connect to a majority of analyzers (over 600 different instrument types), EHRs (successfully connected with every certified EHR), and third-party services with ease. This includes internal networking (LIS system/lab 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 substitute inefficient and manual laboratory processes with conditional rules and actions that can be configured 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 (which resides within the LigoLab suite of applications).

• An agile medical LIS software platform that automates laboratory processes so that 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 

On-Demand Webinar: Leverage LIS System Rules, Automation, and Data Analytics to Increase Efficiency and Cut Costs

LIS System Software Solutions for Regulatory Compliance 

To minimize compliance risk, LigoLab offers a variety of specialized medical LIS and lab RCM tools that reduce 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 clinical lab workflow and reports
• Ad hoc data query capabilities
• Support for all established regulatory protocols
• Compliance verification at every stage 

Learn More: A Detailed Look at How Modern Laboratory Information Systems Fully Support Quality Control

LIS System Software Solutions for a Safe and Secure Laboratory 

LigoLab’s LIS lab solution offers advanced security and privacy features to protect 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

Learn More: LigoLab’s Enhanced Cybersecurity Solutions Give Customers Added Protection and Peace-of-Mind

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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 directors and managers choose LIS systems 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 it’s common for lab decision-makers to resist switching to a new LIS system software - even though they know it’s needed to remain relevant - because of fear.

“These lab directors and managers are being held hostage by their laboratory information system 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 get worse,” said Avunjian.

So how can lab leaders be assured of a healthy return on their investment with LigoLab's all-in-one LIS system and lab billing 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, measured by samples processed per full time equivalent (FTE), by two-and-a-half times simply by deploying our LIS lab solution into their ecosystem.”

Avunjian noted 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.

“Labs can take on more business with the same amount of personnel the moment our LIS system is deployed because they aren’t limited by an old (and antiquated) laboratory information system. With LigoLab, they can break that artificial ceiling 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 medical LIS and lab RCM 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 - one supported by a LIS company with unlimited and unmatched customer service,” concluded Avunjian.

Learn More: A Closer Look at LigoLab’s Commitment to Innovation

LIS System Software Implementation in Four Phases

LigoLab has a 100 percent success rate for LIS system software implementations. That's because the LIS pathology company leaves no stone unturned while painstakingly laying out a phased installation plan. This plan is backed by nearly two decades of expertise, and hundreds of successful go-lives. 

Here are the four phases of LigoLab’s LIS system implementation plan. 

Discovery - A complete domain analysis takes place and includes an examination of all lab workflow, tools, and instruments. The LigoLab team maps out a lab’s entire operation and identifies key areas where improvements can be made.

Configuration - The LigoLab 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 starts processing live cases in parallel and all lab workflow gaps are discovered and addressed.

Go-Live - Once testing and validation have been completed, the new LIS system is ready for live cases. 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).

Learn More: What You Need to Know Before Contracting with a Laboratory Information System (LIS) Company

The LigoLab Commitment - We Help Labs Modernize and Grow, Faster! 

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 medical 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 all-in-one 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 internet-enabled lab information system/LIS software, can be hosted on a local server or in the cloud, and runs on any operating system anywhere 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 time zones.

With LigoLab, there is no longer a need to interface with standalone laboratory software 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 and lab billing software, contact a product expert to schedule a demo or an introductory call. 

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