Lab Rules Firing at the Time of Test Order; Possible on the LIS?

I recently posted a note in which I asserted that the rules engine being developed by Mayo was not particularly novel in that pathology professionals have been deploying similar rules on their LISs for decades (see:Rule-Based Decision Support Tools Available on LISs for Decades). Dr. Curtis Hanson, chief medical officer of the Mayo Medial Laboratories and also a good friend and colleague, responded with the following relevant and probing comment: Appreciate your points below but I think you are missing some key points....We and others have obviously used rule capability within the LIS systems for years but they are"after the fact" rules - meaning that the clinician had already placed the order and if we had identified a problem order, then we had to call and get them to change the order etc. For example, AFP [as a] pregnancy marker (instead of as a tumor marker) ordered in a 65 year old lady - wrong test. We have to pick up the phone/or email/or EMR messaging and call to get the new test ordered or permission to change the test.This new tool is done at the point of order and allows the lab to get their rules in place at the time the clinician orders. You are absolutely correct that these rules could be written directly into Cerner or EPIC at the point of order but reality is when we are out there in the real world marketplace, nobody has the time, money, resources, or expertise to do it.Most places have done nothing and some have gone through a lot of ef...
Source: Lab Soft News - Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Tags: Clinical Lab Industry News Clinical Lab Testing Electronic Health Record (EHR) Healthcare Information Technology Lab Industry Trends Lab Information Lab Processes and Procedures LIS Definitions and Strategy Pathology Informatics Quality Source Type: blogs