9/27/2019
LIMS
Laboratory Information
Management System
Lorreine Denise W. Castañares
• enhance efficiency in lab operations through reducing
manual responsibilities
• the information that LIMS automatically captures, the
way it enters the system, and where and how it is saved
relies upon on which LIMS supplier is selected
The purpose of LIMS
Workflow management
• You should use an LIMS to automate workflows for the
same reason you should use it to automate records
keeping, but instead of saving work, this function saves
you time.
Reporting
• It's good to be able to quickly pull reports that can answer
questions such as which instruments get used the most,
how long your sample backlog is, and how long it takes
your lab, on average, to process a sample.
is a software designed to make labs more
efficient and effective, especially those that
process massive amounts of samples for
research and development (R&D),
manufacturing, and medical research.
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Sample Management
• Accurate, detailed records are essential to making sure
everything gets done and done right
When you create a sample, most LIMSs will record and store
information such as:
• Who or what the sample was taken from?
• Which researchers/providers are working with it?
• Where it's been, and where it needs to go next?
• How to store it?
• When it needs to move?
Functional Requirements
3 and Features of LIMS 4
EMR/HER
• Electronic health records (EHR) is its own type of software,
but some LIMSs have EHR functionality built-in, including
patient check-in and billing.
Mobile
• Mobile LIMS offerings are limited right now. But as
smartphones become more acceptable in the lab, consider
whether it will be useful in the future to have a mobile-friendly
LIMS.
ERP
• helps manage inventory and can be very helpful to have LIMS
that performs this function. Being able to view what you have
on hand at a glance, getting alerts when supplies are running
low, auto-calculation of storage and freezer capacity, and
location management can be extremely useful in a clinical lab.
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Registration, billing, contract

management, accounts
receivables

Core Components of LIMS 7 8

Patient Registration
Billing

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Contract Management Accounts Receivables

• Most Laboratory Information Management Systems • Because of the integration of the LIMS, the personnel in
allow the laboratory professional to manage the billing charge of managing Accounts receivables can easily
and payment aspects of their activities and create extract information which was already available from the
statistical and billing reports at par with the laboratory invoicing and contract management procedures.
and management needs.
• LIMS automate billing processing, hasten collections, and
offer marketing tools
• Allows billing and accounting personnel to focus on
improving collection of problematic accounts

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Barcode-generation, printing and reading
• LIMS modules are commonly linked to a barcoding label
generator, enabling a fast and easy method to identify
tubes, samples, documents, among many others.
• Simply print it on labels stickers to place on whatever
item needs identification.
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• A bi-directional interface application
saves the technologist the time to
program test orders into the analyzer,
and eliminates errors in manual entry.
• This can result in a considerable
enhancement in analyzer
productivity.
• Newer random access testing, bi-
directionally interfaced analyzers also
incorporate bar code specimen label
scanning which provides automatic
positive specimen ID capability.
• This can further eliminate manual
entry of specimen IDs and/or coding
of specimens by tray/cup position.
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Work list and Workflow
• LIMS assist laboratories in setting priorities of current
workloads, based on analyst and instrument availability. This
function allows user to track a sample, a batch of samples, or a
"lot" of batches through its lifecycle. Queueing can also be
done by sample or by workflow, a block of repetitive
procedures in a certain process.
Quality Control
• Diagnostic tests executed inside the clinical laboratory may
yield two kinds of results, a patient result or a quality control
(QC) result.
• The result can be quantitative , qualitative or semi-quantitative
(limited to a few different values).
• Quality control results are used to verify whether or not the
instrument is working within prescribed parameters,
confirming that patient test results are reliable. 14
• A bi-directional interface involves true two-way
communication between the analyzer (equipment) and
information system interface.
• The LIMS interface downloads specimen ID and test orders,
while the analyzer uploads specimen ID and test results.
Bi-Directional Interface 16
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