Presently, more than 89 percent of providers use an EHR. And virtually all labs have one form of a lab information system or another. But how many are enjoying the game-changing benefits of moving from paper to electronic records? The truth is that without a robust LIS HL7 interface that links the EHR smoothly to their LIS or external lab’s network, delays, bottlenecks, and inefficiencies will persist. Fortunately, using a well-designed HL7 interface will end many operational challenges and offer the following benefits.
1. Eliminate Manual Entry
Typing patient’s names, demographic data, and other test ordering details is a tedious and time-consuming task. If clinicians and medical assistants have to spend so much time keying in lab test data, it reduces their time to take care of patients.
Handwritten lab orders and test sample labels can be hard to read, leading to double inefficiencies. How?
The physician or assistant takes time to create the requisition on paper and create paper labels for samples. This could take a minimum of 30 minutes.
At the lab, the lab technician must also manually type the requisition details into the LIS and match them to the sample sent to the lab. This process is error-prone.
However, with an HL7 interface that connects the physician’s EHR to the lab’s LIS, there’s no need for manual entry.
2. Reduce Ordering and Testing Errors
All manual processes have an error margin. Errors tend to increase with the volume of test orders. If a provider processes up to 30 or more orders daily, the manual requisition will be fraught with errors.
Instead of depending on the old manual workflow, it is more efficient to deploy an HL7 interface to link the patient chart in the EHR to the LlS. It will bring down the error margin drastically.
Apart from reducing errors due to tiredness and mental fatigue, the interface can also help track duplicate tests and tests that can lead to unpaid claims.
3. Receive Results in Patient’s Chart
After a lab has completed testing, manual processing requires scanning and faxing results to the clinic. This is another time-consuming and repetitive process.
With a bi-directional HL7 interface, physicians don’t have to wait for the lab technician to fax results. The interface transmits the results from the LIS to the EHR, and the doctor can view them in the patient’s chart.
Patients can also enjoy the immediate benefits of the HL7 interface as they view the electronic results in a patient’s chart on a mobile app.
4. Deliver Quick Results
With the old paper-based requisition method, clinicians may have to wait for days and sometimes over a week before they see the results of the patient’s test. Several phone calls and messages will be sent during the waiting period.
Thankfully, the interoperability provided by the HL7 interface will reduce waiting times. It will give clinicians access to lab results in half the time it takes with paper processing.
5. Increase Turnover
In a healthcare organization that runs its lab, an LIS HL7 interface will improve efficiency and boost revenue.
Faster requisition will increase the number of tests completed per month and result in a higher turnover monthly.
Deploying an HL7 for EHR to LIS connectivity is a wise decision that offers many benefits. It can cut off manual effort, speed up requisitions, and boost income for the organization.
Deploy a Well-designed LIS HL7 Interface in Your Organization
Call Lifepoint Informatics at 877.522.8378 to see a free demo of a functional LIS HL7 interface. Visit our contact page now to discuss your interoperability and interface development needs.