Kalorama: Tomorrow's labs need powerful IT today
Tomorrow's laboratories will utilize advanced diagnostic and information management technologies such as digital pathology and molecular studies, and will require sophisticated, interoperable laboratory information systems/laboratory information management systems (LIS/LIMS) to handle more complex and high-volume data, according to a report from Kalorama Information.
The study, “Laboratory Information Systems (LIS/LIMS) Markets,” estimated that the market for LIS in the clinical laboratory will grow in the 6 percent range annually in the next few years from $800 million in 2010.
Because labor accounts for more than 60 percent of the cost of producing test results, automation and better information management systems can reduce the number of hands-on procedures in a lab and optimize the efficiency of labor, the report stated.
Many operations still use manual processes for collecting, analyzing and reporting data, the New York City-based healthcare market research publisher reported. “It is estimated that more than two-thirds of laboratories operate with less than half of their instruments interfacing with an LIS. But with growing pressures to cut costs, increase efficiencies and quality of care, and report test results in real time, labs must plan for more sophisticated LIS if they wish to remain competitive,” the study maintained.
An LIS will need to reach into multiple systems to gather data, according to Kalorama. For example, a clinic or a hospital may not have a complex laboratory, but it may have small POC analyzers throughout the facility. “The important challenge is to move the results from the analyzers to a patient’s EMR. As more disciplines come online, this will be achieved more easily.
“In addition, both pathology and molecular biology are becoming increasingly automated and digitized as products become more economically viable due to rising volumes, and they are helping to fuel the growth of LIS. Yet few LIS vendors currently offer products that are specifically designed to handle molecular diagnostics and pathology,” Kalorama concluded.
The study, “Laboratory Information Systems (LIS/LIMS) Markets,” estimated that the market for LIS in the clinical laboratory will grow in the 6 percent range annually in the next few years from $800 million in 2010.
Because labor accounts for more than 60 percent of the cost of producing test results, automation and better information management systems can reduce the number of hands-on procedures in a lab and optimize the efficiency of labor, the report stated.
Many operations still use manual processes for collecting, analyzing and reporting data, the New York City-based healthcare market research publisher reported. “It is estimated that more than two-thirds of laboratories operate with less than half of their instruments interfacing with an LIS. But with growing pressures to cut costs, increase efficiencies and quality of care, and report test results in real time, labs must plan for more sophisticated LIS if they wish to remain competitive,” the study maintained.
An LIS will need to reach into multiple systems to gather data, according to Kalorama. For example, a clinic or a hospital may not have a complex laboratory, but it may have small POC analyzers throughout the facility. “The important challenge is to move the results from the analyzers to a patient’s EMR. As more disciplines come online, this will be achieved more easily.
“In addition, both pathology and molecular biology are becoming increasingly automated and digitized as products become more economically viable due to rising volumes, and they are helping to fuel the growth of LIS. Yet few LIS vendors currently offer products that are specifically designed to handle molecular diagnostics and pathology,” Kalorama concluded.