laboratory informatics ➤
and HIPAA, but also laboratory needs such as next-gen sequencing and plate-based planning. At the same time, none of this takes away from the workflow-based features inherent in the product. Te samples/aliquots features that are in the base system can also be used with the more LIS-based features such as patient management, physician test request forms and medical billing to give a fuller base of features. Plus, as mentioned previously, systems such as this are meant to interface with just about anything; and this is another set of features that transfers easily from the LIMS into the LIS model. One important piece of context is worth
noting. In general LIMS discussions, the issue of GLP versus non-GLP oſten arises: where we wonder whether services personnel who have experience in one area can easily switch to the other. Te answer is that they can do it, but they do need to know a few key issues about the other ‘side’. However, when talking about a product such as a LIS that would interface with medical devices, where making a mistake can actually kill a person and where there are complex rules to follow, soſtware vendors implementing these systems stress that the issue of using untrained personnel can be a true disaster. Some of these issues were also mentioned
by Ed Krasovec, director of clinical solutions at LabWare. LabWare’s approach is similar, in that
the LabWare LIMS product has native features to support clinical laboratory workflow, instrument interfacing, sampling, and aliquoting. LabWare’s product architecture allows for the addition of patient management features that enable the system to be patient-centric, while maintaining all sample management and tracking capabilities. LabWare has been able to address the LIS market’s needs using a configurable modular- based approach, to give a flexible, comprehensive, and regulatory compliant solution to the clinical laboratory market which for LabWare includes hospitals, reference labs, and public health labs. Another factor Krasovec brought up in discussion is that specimen storage management features commonly used in clinical research/biobanking are increasingly being utilised in diagnostic settings to facilitate translational research efforts. Nicoleta Economou, regional marketing
specialist, clinical informatics at PerkinElmer and Greg Moody, executive director life science analytics at PerkinElmer, illustrated a somewhat different approach. Tey maintain that PerkinElmer has a variety of products that could be and are used by their customers within the clinical laboratory situation. Some of them help manage workflow, others might interface with instruments – whatever the need, it would be addressed by a collection of products that best fits the customer’s needs. Tus, instead of focusing
on a specific products and adding features to those products to meet the customers’ needs, they look at the entire industry’s needs and focus their solutions on that. Tey look to the regulatory needs, and the features needed, and use their products as pieces of the puzzle to create the right solution.
Finally While we now have some idea that what we might have thought of as a LIMS or a LIS has converged, it is not necessarily a simple transition to purchase a product meant for one area and use it in another. Tis is not merely because of the difference in features, but also due to the difference in regulations from industry-to- industry and country-to-country. While soſtware vendors might have different approaches and provide more complete solutions than might have been available in the past, they nonetheless have to find ways to address these issues in ways that are supportable for their customers.l
Gloria Metrick is the owner of GeoMetrick Enterprises (
www.geometrick.com), specialising in the implementation of Thermo Scientific SampleManager and the LabWare LIMS/ELN products. GeoMetrick Enterprises is the home of Out on a LIMS: The Newsletter and Blog For People Who Risk Life and LIMS on a Daily Basis.
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