Integration improves accuracy, reduces hassles of lab

Paris Community Hospital laboratory manager David Galbreath used to spend most of his day tracking down information. HMS Laboratory, which combines lab data with order entry information, eliminated those integration hassles and gave him more time to focus on managing the lab.

David Galbreath
Laboratory Manager
Paris Community Hospital
Paris, Illinois
25-Bed Facility

"There was the potential for a lawsuit with the way we were doing things," Galbreath says. "If you were in a hurry, it was easy to write the information down wrong. I spent a lot of time following up on cases involving erroneous results."

Investing in a stand-alone laboratory information system solved the hospital's results reporting problem, but it still needed an integrated system to provide all clinicians with easy access to the lab.

HMS Laboratory, which combines lab data with order entry information, eliminated those integration hassles for Galbreath and gave him more time to focus on managing the lab.

The laboratory solution, which interfaces with lab analyzers, provides an easily accessible source for patient orders, lab results and quality control information. Orders are communicated directly to the lab, requisitions are printed on bar-coded labels, and results are immediately available.

"We don't get as many questions about where a lab result is or when a result is going to be done because nurses know where to find it," Galbreath says. "They can look on the computer themselves, and it is all there."

Information from the laboratory links to the rest of the hospital and can be accessed through other HMS solutions, such as Clinical View. The integration has cleared up patient billing errors and improved the communication between the lab and other departments, such as radiology.

Test results are also more accurate. A patient's information, including demographics and past lab results, is downloaded to reduce errors. Historical results are also available to compare to and graph with current results, making it easier for physicians to track everything from blood sugar to cancer cell growth.

"HMS ties everything together using the patient's history number," Galbreath says. "You can go back five years and find out the outcome of a particular test and what treatment helped."

This feature also helps Galbreath ensure quality control. He can easily put his hands on information that inspectors request and better keep up with regulations. Quickly churning out reports keeps doctors happy, especially emergency room physicians who float between hospitals and referring physicians from other towns.

"There are a lot of procedures like catheterizations and bypasses that our patients have to go to bigger hospitals to get," Galbreath says, "but we can do the follow-up testing for them and monitor their medication, so they don't have to drive 60 miles or more for a routine checkup."