Comparing the LigoLab Informatics Platform with Legacy Laboratory Information System Software

Clinical and reference laboratories, including those performing molecular diagnostics, as well as anatomic pathology groups, continue to struggle under the weight of rigid, legacy laboratory information systems (medical LIS software) that lack the flexibility and advanced functionality required to meet today’s operational, regulatory, and financial demands.

This challenge is both unnecessary and avoidable. Fragmented laboratory software systems and the data silos they create can be replaced with modern, all-in-one laboratory information system software solutions such as LigoLab’s Medical LIS & Lab RCM Informatics Platform, which unifies technical and financial workflows on a single, integrated platform.

Experienced lab leaders recognize that the best LIS software enables organizations to operate more efficiently by automating core processes, eliminating manual handoffs, and delivering real-time visibility into operational and financial performance.

In this comparison, we examine the comprehensive and highly configurable LigoLab Informatics Platform, covering every aspect of LIS lab workflow, including laboratory billing (laboratory revenue cycle management), alongside traditional legacy LIS system alternatives. The objective is simple: to clarify the differences and help you select the LIS system best suited to support your laboratory’s growth, performance, and long-term success.

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Laboratory Information System Software: The Overall Platform

The LigoLab platform is an all-in-one clinical and pathology lab management system that includes modules for anatomic pathology, clinical laboratory, molecular diagnostics, lab revenue cycle management (lab RCM), and direct-to-consumer lab testing. 

All laboratory information system functions and modules share the same database and infrastructure, producing the most future-ready and dynamic diagnostic lab software that powers labs to modernize and efficiently scale. 

With legacy laboratory information system software, it’s a given that the modules for anatomic pathology and clinical laboratory won’t share the same LIS software infrastructure, and there is no lab revenue cycle management/lab billing module. Moreover, these outdated LIS systems create data silos and inconsistencies that inevitably come with dependence on multiple laboratory software systems. 

LigoLab users also enjoy maximum interoperability thanks to LigoLab’s proprietary interface engine and the configurability that comes with embedded and intuitive rule and automation engines. These engines empower clients to make configuration changes without assistance from the LIS company, helping them streamline their laboratory workflow management and satisfy client preferences.

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Laboratory Information System Software: The Upfront Cost

LigoLab deeply aligns with its lab partners in terms of cost, offering aligned pricing tiers and a heavily subsidized package for training and implementation. The tiered pricing accounts for the lab’s current finances and budget, making its all-encompassing lab information system solution attractive to startups and established enterprise organizations. 

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This LIS lab pricing alignment includes no limits on seats, modules, upgrades, or support - with support covering assistance with report template configuration and platform rules if needed (and well beyond go-live). This represents a big advantage for a lab planning to grow and scale its operations efficiently. 

Legacy clinical and pathology LIS systems that run on outdated diagnostic lab software are known for having considerably higher upfront costs (hundreds of thousands of dollars higher), and this doesn’t even include all the hidden fees the lab will encounter for adding seats and modules as it scales. 

Scaling can also be a problem in this scenario, as support from legacy LIS software vendors will likely be an additional hidden cost, and a timely response is not guaranteed.

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Laboratory Information System Software: Customer Service and Support

For customer service and tech support, comparing LigoLab’s modern LIS system offering against legacy laboratory information system companies can be summarized as proactive vs. rigid. 

LigoLab is interested in long-term and mutually profitable partnerships with its LIS lab customers. As experienced laboratory information system vendors, they reinforce this core value with constant improvements to the informatics platform. 

For example, three to five newly developed features and laboratory information system functions are added to the LigoLab platform every day, thus ensuring future laboratory success by delivering unprecedented market differentiation and efficiencies to eliminate growing pains.

This improvement level also demands an expert lab information system support team, and LigoLab delivers by offering unlimited 24/7 coverage and client enrollment in its Continuous Service Improvement (CSI) program. 

CSI is a forum where a specialized team regularly checks with LigoLab customers to reevaluate overall clinical and pathology lab management, remove bottlenecks, and suggest process improvements and best practices. The LigoLab team proactively monitors the health of servers, diagnostic lab software configurations, and usage to prevent downtime and offer valuable insights. 

Instead of implementing a legacy medical LIS software that won’t age well, LigoLab users get a future-ready laboratory information system platform backed by best-in-class development and support. 

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Laboratory Information System Software: LIS Vendors and Ownership

LigoLab is a privately held laboratory information system and lab billing software company that is accountable solely to its customers. The organization prioritizes referral-driven partnerships, inbound engagement, and open accessibility, an approachable, transparent philosophy that extends well beyond customer support and reaches directly into the executive leadership team.

Legacy laboratory information system companies are typically owned by private equity groups that answer to shareholders, and marketing for these LIS systems tends to be heavily outbound. 

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Laboratory Workflow Management: Accessioning

One of the key ways LigoLab sets itself apart from legacy medical laboratory information system software is through its modern, streamlined approach to specimen accessioning.

With the legacy clinical and pathology LIS systems, if an error is made during the accessioning of a case, it cannot be corrected after the requisition has been submitted. The only remedy is to amend the document, and the process is neither simple nor fast.

Configurable Tags and Workflow Actions for Smarter Case Management

With LigoLab, laboratories can leverage highly configurable tags and lab workflow actions to enhance communication, accountability, and quality control across the entire LIS system workflow. These LIS lab tools enable accessioners to flag issues and instantly share critical context with anyone who may interact with a case or specimen downstream.

Tags are used to apply trackable attributes or alerts for quality assurance and quality control purposes, for example, identifying a case accessioned without a patient’s date of birth. Workflow actions, by contrast, require explicit resolution or follow-up before they can be cleared from the workflow actions queue. A common example would be a laboratory billing or lab revenue cycle management issue, such as missing insurance information. These actions can be assigned to specific users or teams to ensure clear ownership and timely resolution.

Importantly, neither tags nor workflow actions interrupt specimen progression through technical lab workflows such as grossing, histology, or analysis. Instead, they operate in parallel to keep work moving.

For example, if a workflow action flags a missing patient demographic needed for the final report, the case will proceed through processing and pathologist sign-out. However, the report will be held in the workflow actions queue until the issue is resolved. Once corrected, the laboratory information system automatically regenerates the PDF report with the complete information before distribution, ensuring both efficiency and accuracy without unnecessary delays.

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Laboratory Workflow Management: Sample Tracking

With LigoLab as your laboratory information system software provider, full traceability of the specimen, awareness of specimen hierarchy, and transparency into the case life cycle are all possible. Each specimen receives a unique barcode ID designed for a “just-in-time” workflow with built-in specimen validation and security, making it virtually impossible to lose or mislabel a specimen. 

With legacy clinical and pathology lab reporting software, this level of specimen-centric logic is largely absent, making it difficult to reliably track samples or retrieve accurate data related to specimen identification and storage. As a result, locating a specific specimen and confidently validating its chain of custody can become a time-consuming and error-prone task.

In contrast, LigoLab enables users to build real-time reports and dashboards that continuously monitor laboratory productivity and expose workflow bottlenecks as they emerge. Lab directors and managers can easily analyze performance data at both an executive overview and a highly granular level, gaining clear and actionable insight into efficiency and throughput across every stage of the laboratory workflow.

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Laboratory Information System Software: Report Customization

LigoLab’s comprehensive bundle of medical LIS software features includes flexible lab report customization capabilities. The driving force behind this functionality is a report-building template engine that customers can use to fully customize lab reports based on client preferences, with no added cost. 

“The report customization options with LigoLab are simply much more robust.” 

That’s according to a lab technician familiar with the LigoLab platform and a leading legacy laboratory information system software. 

“With the legacy LIS system, the report templates were quite basic and didn’t vary from client to client,” she said. “They mostly consisted of free text and included a default location for a customer’s logo.”

The lab tech added that, unlike the LigoLab option, there wasn’t differentiation between the anatomical pathology software report templates and the clinical laboratory report templates stored within the legacy lab information system. 

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Laboratory Information System Software: Ease of Navigation

With LigoLab, there’s no need to exit the laboratory information system software to access separate pathology applications. As a true all-in-one LIS system solution, LigoLab supports anatomic pathology, clinical laboratory, and molecular diagnostics workflows within a single informatics platform, enabling users to move seamlessly between modules with just a click.

Legacy healthcare LIS systems rely on separate, siloed modules that can't run concurrently, limiting efficiency and workflow integration.

“To go from one module to the other, you have to close the program, go into the registry, change a key, and relaunch,” said the lab tech while referencing a personal experience. 

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The Anatomic Pathology Software Module: How it Supports Specific Roles

LigoLab’s anatomic pathology software module is purpose-built to support every role involved in pathology laboratory workflow management, using intuitive, queue-based logic to route tasks to the appropriate departments and users.

For instance, grossing technicians and pathologists each work from dedicated queues that reflect their specific responsibilities. Each queue corresponds to a distinct stage in the specimen lifecycle, from accessioning through processing and diagnostic review to final report release, providing clear structure and visibility throughout the workflow.

“These queues are dynamic and aligned with each role’s job function. No matter your position in the lab, you always know exactly what needs your attention when you log into LigoLab,” said one laboratory technician. “With the legacy LIS system I worked with previously, this level of role-based guidance and departmental support simply didn’t exist.”

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Laboratory Information System Software: Automation

Both laboratory information systems evaluated by the lab technician support rule-based automation designed to improve productivity. However, the legacy LIS system is far more complex, requiring significantly more steps and technical effort to configure.

In contrast, LigoLab’s lab information system makes automation straightforward and accessible, without the need for programming or software development expertise. Automation rules are created to support real-world laboratory scenarios and logical conditions, allowing users to configure workflows quickly and intuitively.

As the lab technician noted, LigoLab clearly differentiates itself from legacy LIS system platforms by simplifying automation and delivering the same, or better, outcomes with far fewer rules and far less complexity.

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Laboratory Information System Software: User Permissions

With LigoLab, only those users with administrative access can delete orders. That’s typically not the case with legacy laboratory information systems, where a simple mistake, such as the accidental deletion of a requisition, can leave the entire laboratory scrambling. 

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Laboratory Information System Software: Site Security 

Legacy laboratory information systems also typically lack site security, a must-have for multi-facility lab operations. 

“Without this, a lab manager would have no way of knowing what belongs to each facility unless it’s manually tracked,” added the lab tech.

This is another area where LigoLab excels, as its comprehensive LIS lab solution can be configured to support multi-facility operations, enabling each site to see only what it needs to see. 

In this scenario, access to both facilities is limited to those with global site access permission. 

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Laboratory Information System Software: Comparison Conclusion

After reviewing this comparison, the distinction between legacy laboratory information systems and modern LIS system platforms becomes unmistakable and extends far beyond basic LIS lab functionality.

Experienced laboratory leaders know that replacing a mission-critical lab information system is a rare and strategic decision. Success depends on selecting the right long-term partner, not simply another LIS software vendor. That means choosing an LIS company aligned with your objectives and equipped with integrated tools, automation, and support to drive growth, protect margins, and scale with confidence.

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