Ask LigoLab: Answering Your Questions About LIMS, Laboratory Project Tracking, and Histopathology Software

Technology continues to evolve rapidly, and so do the questions laboratory leaders ask when evaluating new laboratory software systems, improving workflows, and planning for growth.

At LigoLab, we regularly receive questions at info@LigoLab.com from laboratory owners, administrators, pathologists, managers, and other industry professionals looking for guidance on information systems and data management, automation, workflow management, digital pathology, laboratory revenue cycle management (RCM), and other lab management challenges.

For this edition of Ask LigoLab, we’re answering three recent questions covering affordable laboratory software for smaller labs, tools for tracking laboratory projects and workflows, and histopathology software for pathology practices.

Question 1: Can You Recommend Affordable LIMS Solutions for Small Labs?

The answer starts with understanding what type of laboratory is researching the software.

The terms LIMS (laboratory information management system) and LIS (laboratory information system) are sometimes used interchangeably, but they traditionally serve different environments. 

A LIMS is generally associated with research, pharmaceutical, environmental, manufacturing, and other non-clinical laboratories, while an LIS is designed around patient-centric clinical and pathology workflows.

For a small clinical, molecular, reference, or pathology laboratory, an LIS is usually the more appropriate choice.

When evaluating affordable laboratory information system software, smaller labs should also look beyond the monthly subscription or initial purchase price. An inexpensive entry-level system can become costly if the laboratory quickly outgrows it or needs to pay separately for users, interfaces, support, reporting capabilities, or additional functionality.

The better question may be: Which laboratory information system provides the best long-term value for our current needs and future growth?

Small laboratories should consider several factors when comparing options:

• Does the system support the laboratory's specific testing discipline and workflows?
• Can workflows be configured without extensive vendor development?
• Are implementation, training, and ongoing support included?
• How easily can the system interface with EHRs, analyzers, laboratory billing systems, digital pathology platforms, and other applications?
• Does the platform support automation and rules-based workflows?
• Can the system scale to support additional users, locations, and testing disciplines as the laboratory grows? 
• Will the lab eventually need to replace the system because it has reached its functional or technical limits?

These considerations are especially important for startup and growing laboratories. A low-cost system may meet immediate needs but create a costly technology migration several years later if the laboratory adds volume, clients, locations, testing disciplines, interfaces, or more sophisticated workflows.

An LIS Option Designed for Smaller Laboratories

LigoLab has addressed this challenge with a tiered approach to laboratory information system software.

The Essential Tier of the LigoLab Platform is designed specifically for small pathology, molecular, and reference laboratories. It provides core functionality for ordering, labeling, grossing, histology, cytology, molecular, microbiology, clinical workflows, result entry, audit trails, reporting, and support.

More importantly, laboratories aren't locked into a starter system that they eventually have to replace. LigoLab's Essential, Professional, Advanced, and Enterprise tiers operate on the same underlying platform, enabling laboratories to expand their capabilities as their needs become more sophisticated.

Scalability plays an important role in long-term affordability. Laboratories should consider not only the cost of a system today, but also whether it can accommodate future growth without requiring expensive upgrades, replacements, or migrations. 

Discover More: What to Look Out for and Avoid When Shopping for a New LIS System

Question 2: What Tools Are Best for Tracking Progress in Laboratory Projects?

It depends on what you mean by a "laboratory project."

For traditional laboratory projects, such as an LIS software implementation, facility expansion, instrument installation, accreditation initiative, or new test launch, general project management platforms can help teams assign responsibilities, set deadlines, manage dependencies, and track progress toward key milestones. 

However, when the "project" involves work occurring inside the laboratory, the best tracking tool may already be the laboratory information system.

Modern LIS medical platforms can provide real-time visibility into specimens, cases, tasks, exceptions, turnaround times, quality control processes, workloads, and other operational activities. Rather than relying on spreadsheets, email chains, paper notes, or separate task-management applications, laboratories can manage work where the underlying data already resides.

What Should Laboratory Workflow Tracking Include?

Effective laboratory workflow and progress tracking should answer several fundamental questions:

What needs attention?

Users should be able to quickly identify outstanding work, exceptions, delayed specimens, incomplete cases, quality issues, and other items requiring action.

Who is responsible?

Tasks and exceptions should have clearly defined ownership so staff members understand what requires their attention.

Where is the work in the process?

Laboratory leaders should be able to determine the current status of cases and specimens without manually searching across multiple applications.

Is the laboratory meeting its targets?

Dashboards and analytics should provide visibility into turnaround times, workloads, productivity, bottlenecks, and other key performance indicators.

What happens next?

Ideally, the system shouldn't simply display information. Rules, alerts, queues, and automated actions should help move work forward.

This is an important distinction between a traditional system of record and a more advanced system of action.

On-Demand Webinar: From Systems of Record to Systems of Action

How the LigoLab Platform Helps Track Laboratory Work

The LigoLab Platform combines laboratory workflow management with real-time dashboards, analytics, rules, queues, tags, and workflow actions.

For example, dashboards can provide laboratory leaders with real-time visibility into turnaround times, pathologist trends, grossing productivity, workloads, and potential workflow bottlenecks. Rather than waiting for monthly reports to identify a problem, managers can recognize developing issues and intervene while work is still in progress.

Tags and workflow actions provide another layer of control. Instead of relying on paper notes, cheat sheets, spreadsheets, or staff memory to track special circumstances, laboratories can attach relevant information directly to items within the LIS workflow and create structured follow-up actions.

Rules and automation can take this concept further by identifying predefined conditions and automatically initiating the appropriate next step.

The result is active laboratory workflow management, where real-time information helps guide next steps and keeps work moving efficiently through the laboratory. 

Discover More: How Best Practices and Advanced Laboratory Information System Technology Help Ensure Lab Workflow Management

Question 3: What Are the Best Histopathology Software Options for Pathology Labs?

For histopathology laboratories, the best software is typically a purpose-built anatomic pathology software that supports the entire case and specimen lifecycle.

Histopathology is highly specialized, so general-purpose laboratory software may not provide the depth required to manage workflows from accessioning and gross examination through histology, diagnosis, reporting, and final sign-out.

When comparing pathology software, laboratories should look for comprehensive support across the entire operation.

Specimen and Case Tracking

A strong LIS pathology platform should maintain clear relationships between patients, cases, specimens, blocks, slides, tests, and results while enabling barcode-driven tracking throughout the entire workflow. 

This provides the traceability necessary to follow material as it moves through accessioning, grossing, histology, pathologist review, and final reporting.

Histology Workflow Management

Histology software should support the lab’s daily realities, including grossing, cassettes, blocks, slides, special stains, recuts, additional orders, worklists, quality control, and case progression.

The goal should be to reduce manual handoffs while making the status of every case and specimen readily visible.

Pathologist Reporting and Sign-Out

Efficient result entry and reporting are equally important. Features such as macros, templates, synoptic reporting, image capture, prior-result access, electronic sign-out, and configurable reports can help pathologists work efficiently while maintaining consistency and documentation.

Digital Pathology Integration

As pathology laboratories transition toward digital workflows, interoperability has become an increasingly important consideration. A modern anatomic pathology LIS should connect with whole-slide scanners, image management systems, digital pathology viewers, and AI applications rather than forcing pathologists to navigate disconnected systems.

Contextual launching and single sign-on can provide direct access from an LIS case to the corresponding digital slides, and bidirectional integrations can automate the exchange of case, slide, image, and diagnostic information.

Interoperability

Pathology rarely operates in isolation.

The LIS may need to exchange information with hospital systems, EHRs, physician practices, reference laboratories, lab billing platforms, digital pathology applications, instruments, and other third-party systems.

For that reason, interface capabilities and an open, interoperable architecture should be major considerations when comparing histopathology software.

Scalability and Configuration

No two pathology laboratories operate exactly alike.

The best LIS should therefore accommodate differences in workflows, specialties, clients, reporting requirements, facilities, and business models without forcing every laboratory into the same rigid process.

It should also be expandable as the laboratory adds pathologists, clients, locations, testing disciplines, digital pathology, automation, and other capabilities.

Where the LigoLab Platform Fits

LigoLab's Anatomic Pathology laboratory suite serves as the central information and workflow environment for pathology cases, supporting order entry, barcode generation, specimen tracking, document scanning, touchscreen grossing, histology, result entry and sign-out, image acquisition, reporting, quality control, cytology, reflex testing, and other pathology workflows.

The platform also integrates with digital pathology technologies, including whole-slide scanners, image management systems, viewers, and AI-enabled applications. These connections position the LIS as a central workflow and data hub, seamlessly linking cases, specimens, slides, images, diagnoses, reports, and downstream systems. 

For pathology groups evaluating software, the goal should extend beyond digitizing individual processes. The objective should be a connected environment where information flows seamlessly with each case throughout its lifecycle.

Industry Insights: ECPC’s Strategic Leap into Digital Pathology - A Connected Vision for the Future

Choosing Laboratory Software Starts With the Right Questions

Whether you're searching for an affordable LIS for a small laboratory, a better way to track laboratory work, or a comprehensive histopathology software solution, the best choice is rarely determined by a single feature or price point. 

Start with your laboratory's workflows and long-term objectives.

What processes create the most manual work? Where are bottlenecks occurring? Which systems need to exchange information? What capabilities will the laboratory need in three to five years? Can the software adapt as those requirements change?

Answering those questions can help laboratory leaders move beyond short-term feature comparisons and select technology that supports operational efficiency, patient care, financial performance, and sustainable growth.

Have a Pathology or Clinical Laboratory Management Question? Ask LigoLab

Have a question about LIS software, laboratory workflow management, automation, interoperability, digital pathology, artificial intelligence, laboratory revenue cycle management, or another laboratory management challenge?

Send it to info@LigoLab.com.

The LigoLab team welcomes questions from across the laboratory community.

Frequently Asked Questions Related to This Blog

What is the difference between a LIMS and an LIS?

A laboratory information management system (LIMS) is traditionally associated with research, pharmaceutical, environmental, manufacturing, and other sample-centric laboratory environments. A laboratory information system (LIS) is generally designed for patient-centric clinical and pathology laboratories and supports workflows involving patient information, specimens, testing, results, and diagnostic reports.

What should a small laboratory look for in an affordable LIS?

Small laboratories should consider total value instead of subscription or acquisition price. Important factors include workflow functionality, scalability, interfaces, automation, reporting, support, implementation costs, user fees, and the ability to add capabilities without replacing the system as the laboratory grows.

Can an LIS be used to track laboratory workflow progress?

Yes. Modern LIS medical platforms can track cases, specimens, tasks, exceptions, turnaround times, workloads, and other workflow activity. Advanced platforms can also use dashboards, alerts, queues, rules, and automated actions to identify bottlenecks and help staff determine what requires attention.

What software is commonly used in histopathology laboratories?

Histopathology laboratories typically use anatomic pathology software designed to support specialized pathology workflows, including accessioning, grossing, histology, specimen and slide tracking, pathologist review, reporting, quality control, and final sign-out.

Can LIS pathology software integrate with digital pathology systems?

Yes. Modern, interoperable pathology LIS systems can integrate with whole-slide scanners, image management systems, digital pathology viewers, and AI applications. These integrations can enable contextual launching, single sign-on, and bidirectional exchange of case, slide, image, and diagnostic information.

Is the LigoLab Platform suitable for small laboratories?

Yes. LigoLab's Essential Tier is specifically designed for small pathology, molecular, and reference laboratories that need core LIS functionality while retaining the ability to expand as their operations grow.

How can I submit a laboratory management question to LigoLab?

Send your question to info@LigoLab.com. Questions can cover laboratory information systems, workflow automation, pathology, digital pathology, interoperability, laboratory billing and RCM, AI, analytics, or other laboratory management topics.

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