Management of laboratory data and information exchange in the electronic health record.
In the era of the electronic health record, the success of laboratories and pathologists will depend on effective presentation and management of laboratory information, including test orders and results, and effective exchange of data between the laboratory information system and the electronic health record. In this third paper of a series that explores empowerment of pathology in the era of the electronic health record, we review key elements of managing laboratory information within the electronic health record and examine functional issues pertinent to pathologists and laboratories in the exchange of laboratory information between electronic health records and both anatomic and clinical pathology laboratory information systems. Issues with electronic order-entry and results-reporting interfaces are described, and considerations for setting up these interfaces are detailed in tables. The role of the laboratory medical director as mandated by the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 and the impacts of discordance between laboratory results and their display in the electronic health record are also discussed.
From the Division of Laboratory Medicine, Geisinger Health System, Danville, Pennsylvania (Dr Wilkerson); the Center for Pathology Informatics, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio (Dr Henricks); the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Penn State Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania (Dr Castellani); Diagnostic Intelligence and Health Information Technology Committee, The College of American Pathologists, Northfield, Illinois (Dr Whitsitt); and the Informatics Program, Department of Pathology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut (Dr Sinard).
Myra L
ML
Wilkerson
Walter H
WH
Henricks
William J
WJ
Castellani
Mark S
MS
Whitsitt
John H
JH
Sinard
D002984:Clinical Laboratory Information Systems; D057286:Electronic Health Records; D006801:Humans; D010338:Pathology, Clinical / Q000379:methods*