title: Enhancing laboratory report contents to improve outpatient management of test results.
abstract: In today's environment, providers are extremely time-constrained. Assembling relevant contextual data to make decisions on laboratory results can take a significant amount of time from the day. The Regenstrief Institute has created a system which leverages data within Indiana Health Information Exchange's (IHIE's) repository, the Indiana Network for Patient Care (INPC), to provide well-organized and contextual information on returning laboratory results to outpatient providers. The system described here uses data extracted from INPC to add historical test results, medication-dispensing events, visit information, and clinical reminders to traditional laboratory result reports. These "Enhanced Laboratory Reports" (ELRs) are seamlessly delivered to outpatient practices connected through IHIE via the DOCS4DOCS clinical messaging service. All practices, including those without electronic medical record systems, can receive ELRs. In this paper, the design and implementation issues in creating this system are discussed, and generally favorable preliminary results of attitudes by providers towards ELRs are reported.
authors.affiliation: Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana 46202-3012, USA.
authors.forename: Kevin C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: J Marc
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Overhage
authors.forename: Siu L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Hui
authors.forename: Martin C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Were
mesh_terms: D002984:Clinical Laboratory Information Systems; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D057286:Electronic Health Records; D006801:Humans; D007196:Indiana; D033181:Information Dissemination; D051188:Knowledge Bases; D008501:Medical Records, Problem-Oriented; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D011320:Primary Health Care; D012985:Software Design