IT is its own beast, especially in the healthcare ecosystem. Most clinic IT leaders manage a tangled web of isolated systems: one for orders, one for results, another for sample management. And holding it all together…? Spreadsheets. Oh my. And the lab information system (LIS)? In most cases, it’s treated as an afterthought – a software that you dump the information into, just in case.
No wonder then that over 50% of lab professionals report interoperability as their main bottleneck.
However, repeated fragmentation isn’t caused by bad planning, nor is it the IT department’s fault. It actually accumulates through years of isolated purchasing, quick fixes, endless system patching, and standalone analyzers. It is one of the most common human traits, and almost everyone who’s ever worked in a clinical lab knows these issues up close and personal.
Which is exactly why we’ve assembled this guide – this is your practical roadmap to unify your clinical lab software without tearing down your existing infrastructure.
What Causes Delays When Physicians Use Separate Systems for Lab Workflows?
Separate laboratory systems create delays because information has to move manually between physicians, laboratory staff, and different software platforms. What happens in such situations is that orders may need to be re-entered, and specimen status may not be visible to physicians. Additionally, results may require additional steps before reaching the clinical team. Staff may also spend valuable time switching between applications or confirming information by phone or email.
These manual handoffs add redundant and frustrating friction at every stage of the testing process. They also increase the risk of missed updates, duplicate data entry, and delayed follow-up. However, a unified workflow reduces these delays by connecting orders, specimen tracking, results, and communication through the same data flow, giving physicians and laboratory teams access to the information they need without unnecessary steps.
Now, let’s dive deeper, shall we?
Why Do Clinics Struggle With Fragmented Lab Management Software?
Despite the fact that everyone knows about the fragmentation challenges, three main forces continue to drive data flow issues in clinical environments:
- Vendor Lock-In: Legacy LIS platforms rely on expensive, complex interfaces that require custom mappings for each new partner or analyzer. Customizing said interfaces and systems is very expensive, and many labs simply decide to “live with it” rather than take action to improve their daily operations.
- Isolated Procurement: Labs across every discipline select tools independently, without a central integration standard. In certain disciplines, such as pathology, this becomes a bigger issue, as the volume of tests increases. Thus, a successful lab will most likely find out that success comes with the burden of complications.
- Cost-Driven Decision-Making: High upfront costs for EHR and LIS integrations “force” labs to postpone projects, even when manual workarounds cost more over time.
In reality, none of these issues are the labs’ fault. When they first started, the options (from the assortment of legacy LIS systems) were limited. The problem arises now as technology advances and innovations emerge daily. This fast pace of an evolving technological ecosystem may cause a “Fight or Flight” reaction. This is natural, but unsustainable.
As clinics grow and adopt new technologies, that legacy infrastructure becomes increasingly fragmented. Clinics may introduce different systems at different stages of growth. For example, one platform may manage physician orders while another handles laboratory processing. But the third one…? That third tool may support specimen collection, reporting, or patient communication.
Over time, connecting these systems becomes increasingly difficult, particularly when older LIS platforms have limited APIs or rely on proprietary interfaces.
The result is disconnected data, inconsistent workflows, more manual work, and less visibility across the testing process. Unified lab software addresses this fragmentation by connecting these workflows around a shared patient and order record, allowing information to move more seamlessly across the entire laboratory workflow.
What Does a Unified Lab Software Environment Look Like?
Unifying your entire clinical technology ecosystem doesn’t mean you have to replace every tool with a single application. No, what it actually means is establishing a seamless data flow in which authorized users access real-time information across systems. It requires planning, budgeting, prioritizing, and most importantly – patience. None of the following steps happen overnight.
- A Single Patient Record: Results from clinical pathology, microbiology, and genetics are consolidated into a single profile using multi-department agile architectures designed specifically for this purpose. It is also highly recommended to choose a platform built by people who actually come from the clinical lab floor.
- Bi-Directional EHR Integration: Orders flow in, results flow out without re-entry, and clinicians track status in real time. As mentioned above, interoperability has consistently been cited as the main source of frustration among lab staff and stakeholders.
- Live Operational Analytics: Pulling sample management data, turnaround times, and QC metrics from a single source to manage daily operations instead of running monthly reconciliations. A LIS platform that offers customizable dashboards and comprehensive interoperability is one you’ll want to investigate further.
How to Prioritize Integrations for a Unified Lab Software
Claiming that planning a comprehensive integration (or a full system upgrade) is a complex task that requires rigorous planning is easy. In reality. Many labs opt out of those necessary steps once they realize the investment it requires. For example, investing in time, man-hours, and budgets. But labs that fully understand what will happen if they continue operating with legacy capabilities will tackle integrations in phases, based on operational risk and manual workloads.
Here are the basic and critical steps a lab should take when planning ahead:
- Foundational Standards (Before You Connect Anything): Enforce modern integration infrastructure up front. That means requiring (no to say, demanding) HL7 FHIR for real-time data queries over slow HL7 v2 batch transfers. Once that is clear, prioritize an API-first architecture. That will enable your lab to add new analyzers or reference labs without custom code and to use centralized terminology that is automatically updated across systems.
- Automating Orders and Results: This high-volume core pillar is non-negotiable, especially for labs that continue to work with legacy systems that primarily rely on manual workflows. Eliminating manual entry removes the largest source of daily errors and delays.
- Analyzer Feeds & Autoverification: Connect instruments directly to populate results automatically and trigger reflex testing without human intervention. Layering in rule-based autoverification and delta checks allows normal results to be released instantly, flagging only exceptions for manual review.
- Specimen Tracking: Connected barcode scanning and cross-department tracking ensure full chain-of-custody visibility from sample collection to archiving. This is another must for labs today, especially as every technological discipline in healthcare is becoming increasingly digital. A comprehensive, clear chain of custody is not something a clinical lab can live without.
- Automated Quality Control (QC): When done carelessly, automated QC can pass a bad result as confidently as a good one. However, with human supervision that takes into account staffing, ROI, and efficiency (and done well), automation can catch what tired humans miss
Best Practices for a Smooth Unified Lab Software Transition
What would be the best course of action to unify your lab data into a single, comprehensive source of truth? After all, migration and upgrade failures happen when teams try to solve every data problem at once. The decision to unify your lab data fragments into one digital and comprehensive source of truth (which is the LIS) was made. Now, you should keep your rollout focused on concrete business and operational problems, such as identifying capacity bottlenecks, rather than on technical categories.
Labs should avoid hard cutovers. Run your cloud-native LIS in parallel with your legacy system to validate data flows safely before shutting down the old feeds. Once you are confident that the transition went smoothly, you’ll part ways with the old yeller that is the legacy LIS.
Additionally, don’t forget to assign the project manager. A responsible and service-oriented LIS vendor will provide this on their end, but you’ll need to have your own project manager. This person will own governance, metrics, and standards across departments to prevent data conflicts.
And finally, don’t be tempted by all the nice colors and shapes… Embed actionable analytics directly into staff routines where operational decisions actually happen. That means skipping the unnecessary dashboards you’ll never use. Start with what you must have for the first day of operating under your new LIS, and build from there. If you indeed chose to unify your lab data under one LIS roof with that service-oriented vendor we just mentioned, the vendor will be there with you at every step of the road. If and when you’ll need upgrades and customizations, the vendor will provide them for you.
Before You Start Unifying…
Unifying lab software is an operational discipline, not a one-time IT project. And we’ll once again take this opportunity to make it clear: living with a legacy system is not IT’s fault… Labs that start with an API-first platform and target high-friction workflows first will reduce manual work, speed up turnaround times, and scale efficiently. The labs that choose to stay behind with the “safe” (and familiar) systems? Those labs will find themselves left behind as times progress rapidly. Ensure your lab isn’t just keeping up with the industry – but moving beyond the constraints of physical hardware. It’s time to embrace the efficiency of the cloud, the future, and everything they bring with them.
➡️ DISCOVER HOW TO DO IT
