CAP TODAY Pathology/Laboratory Medicine/Laboratory Management
What Is An AP Laboratory Information System (APLIS) and What Does It Do?
Today’s AP lab requires a reliable system track and manage the entire testing process from specimen collection through report delivery. An effective APLIS plays a key role in the pathology workflow, watch to learn how. Learn more.
Company:
Contact:
Email:
City, State:
Phone:
Website:
Name of anatomic pathology system:
How AP system functionality is deployed:
Configuration of AP system:
Company’s AP system and clinical LIS use same operating system, database, and programming language:
Year company began selling AP systems:
Most recent go-live of this AP system at a client site*:
Last product release or update for featured AP system*:
Total No. of contracts for sites operating AP system:
• No. of sales and sites that went live on system between Dec. 2022–Nov. 2023:
No. of sites operating AP system (hospitals/independent labs/clinics or group practices/other U.S. sites/foreign sites):
Foreign locations where company actively markets AP system:
Human languages (other than English) supported by AP system:
Approximate No. of employees in entire company:
Company provides list of client sites to potential customers on request:
Clients restricted from sharing their experience with company or software:
Range in No. of surgical pathology cases per year in installed sites:
Range in No. of gynecologic cytology cases per year in installed sites:
Programming languages and development applications or environments:
Operating systems:
Databases:
Features/modules incorporated in product:
• Surgical pathology information system/Cytology information system:
• Autopsy information system/Autopsy measurements, organ weights:
• Deceased patient (i.e. morgue) management:
• Molecular pathology testing and reporting:
• Scan and store manual requisitions:
• Tracking of specimens before arrival in lab:
• Block and slide tracking in lab/Block and slide storage and retrieval:
• Electronic transmission of frozen section diagnoses into OR:
• Tracking of frozen section turnaround time:
• Assignment of specimens to subspecialty teams or services:
• Print two-dimensional barcodes/Word processing using pathology templates:
• Voice entry of gross description/Voice entry of final diagnosis:
• Voice-actuated commands to eliminate mouse clicks:
• Ability to integrate images into reports:
• Receipt and transmission of images via remote microscopy/via telepathology:
• Electronic signature:
• Web-based access for order entry/specimen or case status/patient reports:
• Natural language search capability/Sound-alike retrieval of patient history:
• Produce management reports:
• Reports sufficient to comply with CLIA ’88 regulations:
• Automatically collect and record PC and TC charges for billing:
• Comprehensive billing and accounts receivable:
• Interface to billing firm that produces bills and invoices, procures payment:
• Inbound result-reporting interface to receive discrete results from external labs and store them in patient record:
• EHR interface: admissions/discharge/transfer (ADT):
• Report sent to EHR as PDF for clinician:
• Partin tables for prostate cancer assessment/Gleason score calculations:
• Synoptic reporting for microscopic examination/for gross examination:
• CAP electronic cancer checklists automatically embedded:
• Client services module or CRM software:
• Consultation management and reporting:
LIS manager or lab employee can create ad hoc reports accessing all data elements in AP system:
• LIS manager or lab employee can determine schedule under which management and patient reports are automatically compiled and run:
• Business analytics/Management dashboard:
Approximate percentage of sites using result-reporting interfaces to external systems based on transmission of formatted (e.g. PDF or CDA) results:
Software provides indexed field in each test definition for LOINC code:
AP system supports use of SNOMED CT:
System can auto. send tumor diagnoses to regional or state tumor registry using NAACCR Pathology Lab Electronic Reporting, vol. V, version 4.0:
Ability to bidirectionally interface to select vendors’ pathology information systems:
Voice-recognition products that interface or integrate with AP system:
PACS that interface or integrate with AP system:
Digital pathology or WSI systems that interface with AP system to acquire images:
AI or other image-analysis systems that interface with AP system to analyze digital images:
Client gets copy of source code/User group that meets on a set schedule:
Qualified users or third parties can modify or augment AP system functionality or features:
Methods by which users can tailor AP system in their own setting:
Distinguishing product features (supplied by company):
*based on December 2023 survey deadline Note: a dash as an answer means company did not answer question or question is not applicable:
AP and CP reporting—the needs, the caveats
February 2024—Anatomic and clinical pathology reporting—what’s working, what’s missing. Three pathologists (all board certified in informatics) and representatives of three information system companies met online Dec. 19 with CAP TODAY publisher Bob McGonnagle to talk about reporting needs, the changes, what’s optimal. The first half of their discussion begins here; the second half will be published in the March issue.
Avunjian
Suren Avunjian, anatomic pathology and laboratory information systems are converging. It seems like the dialogue we have for the CAP TODAY LIS roundtable and the AP computer systems roundtable is almost one and the same. Can you comment on how AP and LIS are coming together?
Suren Avunjian, co-founder and chief executive officer, LigoLab Information Systems: In recent years we’ve seen a significant expansion of services offered by pathology laboratories, which have been extending their capabilities, with an emphasis on women’s health and molecular diagnostics. It reflects an evolution toward a more comprehensive clinical service model.
Pathologists and laboratory professionals have recognized the inefficiencies and potential for errors when patient samples are divided among specialized facilities, so they are increasingly offering full-service diagnostics to provide a continuum of care that is patient centered and cost-effective.
A primary driver of this integration is the demand from health care providers for a unified diagnostic report that encompasses all necessary tests, from histopathological exams to molecular analyses. By converging anatomic pathology and laboratory information systems, we can eliminate redundancies, facilitate faster decision-making, and support a more holistic approach to patient care.