Open laboratory information systems: a case study

The EU-AIM project ?OpenLabs? specified an open systems architecture for a clinical laboratory information system (LIS) environment and coined the term ?open LIS?. Since this conception has not yet been realized into systems and modules commercially available, two university hospitals in Norway had to specify an alternative model for openness when they, in a joint project, screened the market for a new LIS. To be open, a LIS must be (1) based on main-trend hardware and system software running under a standardized operating system, (2) designed for network-based distributed computing, (3) have sufficient documentation available to local staff, (4) be configurable through parameters, tables and scripts, and (5) have general and configurable access mechanisms both to real-time processes and to the database. The present study describes the selection process and examines the compliance of the selected LIS (NetLab) with this model of openness. It is shown that local staff have been able to adapt this LIS to various and changing requirements in the laboratory.