How LigoLab's Pathology Lab Software Supports Lab Report Customization and Client Preferences

Note: LigoLab’s LIS & lab RCM informatics platform is laboratory information system (LIS) software that supports all medical laboratory report templates, including anatomic pathology, molecular diagnostics, clinical laboratory, and specialty. In this article, we focus on LIS pathology report templates.

For molecular laboratories, clinical laboratories, and anatomic pathology groups having a modern and flexible laboratory information system (LIS in healthcare) that can adapt as a lab’s business grows and changes is essential. Traditional, on-premise laboratory information systems (also known as pathology lab reporting software) are often far too rigid for today’s agile-minded lab directors and managers, and that’s why, every day, more labs are trading in their legacy medical LIS systems for cloud-based all-in-one LIS software solutions like the comprehensive and flexible LigoLab LIS & RCM Laboratory Informatics Platform.

With the LigoLab platform serving as the focal point for all technical, financial, and administrative laboratory workflow management operations within the laboratory, lab directors and managers can replace their inefficient legacy LIS system software with pathology lab reporting software that is all-inclusive and infinitely configurable, and one that features many other desirable laboratory information system functions. 

The list of laboratory information system functions includes a supporting module for specimen barcoding and tracking (pathology specimen tracking system), a robust and searchable audit trail, compliance verification at every stage, a built-in proprietary interface engine that maximizes interoperability with instruments, electronic health records (EHRs) and all third-party service, and flexible engines for rules and automation that simplify laboratory workflow management, limit the need for manual steps, and reduce the potential for human error. 

Going further, LigoLab’s extensive bundle of features and functionality includes unlimited lab report customization capabilities. In this article, we’ll demonstrate how the pathology software platform’s report-building template engine helps create market differentiation while also enabling labs to satisfy the unique needs of their customers and patients. 

(CLICK HERE for a close-up look at LigoLab’s pathology lab software, check out these surgical lab report samples configured within the platform). 

The Importance of Flexible Pathology Lab Software

Pathology lab software is critical for meeting operational and regulatory standards. It also plays a significant role when it comes to client expectations. Pathology lab software has improved significantly over the years, putting us at a point where the best LIS software vendors provide lab directors and managers with professional-looking lab reports that they can manage without external help, and that can be easily distributed to their customers through multiple delivery channels within the LIS medical solution.

“At LigoLab, we have prioritized lab reports from day one,” said LigoLab CEO Suren Avunjian. “We’ve equipped the LigoLab platform with a super powerful report-building template engine that gives the laboratory control, enabling our customers to produce fully customizable lab reports built and managed themselves.”  

LigoLab users enjoy lab reports with uniform presentation and rule-based formatting that’s template-driven. The report-building template engine supports pixel-level accuracy, full color, rich text, images, diagrams, annotations, macros, and voice dictation (speech-to-text with pathology dictation software). All of these elements are licensed and pre-loaded into pathology report software that supports the building out of conditional rules to satisfy specific client preferences. 

Every part of the lab report can be customized with LigoLab’s laboratory report software (including the patient info header, logos, diagnosis, comments, history, microscopic findings, and gross description) and then generated into multiple formats for distribution through multiple delivery channels (including provider portal, outreach software, EMR/EHR, fax, secure email, in-house printing, PDF drops, APIs, IVR, SMS, and remote print server).

We rarely find ourselves having to make enhancements to the report-building engine to accommodate the needs of a laboratory client,” said Tony Oganesian, LigoLab’s Chief Technology Officer. “With the robust report-building template engine, the lab can customize how reports look, flow, and are formatted. They can choose the types of attachments or embedded information that are used, and how the reports are presented to their client.”

Pathology Lab Software that Harnesses the Power of Dual Reporting Engines

So how does the LigoLab platform support 100 percent configurable lab reports? 

According to Oganesian, this level of customization is made possible by two sub-engines working in tandem. 

“One engine is responsible for the outer layer of the lab report and covers elements like headers, footers, pagination, and company logos,” said Oganesian, who also serves as Managing Partner for the LIS company. “We call these elements report templates. Additionally, this engine supports the breaking down of test results into multiple reports per the client’s preferences.” 

Oganesian also noted that the pathology lab software includes a second engine responsible for a separate set of templates called result templates. The result templates drive the content and are responsible for how lab findings are presented in the lab report. 

“With our pathology lab software system, a client presents findings by mixing and matching these report and result templates,” continued Oganesian.

Most doctors have unique preferences and the best labs equipped with the best LIS software can cater to this. By doing so, they can rise above the competitors in the service provided to their clients. These services include co-branding opportunities, unique layouts per customer, and report delivery methods as requested by the client. All of these features need to be set up only ONE time, and from then on, the pathology lab software within the laboratory information system automatically recognizes and supports the preferences. 

“Some doctors prefer to have every result in one report, and others prefer to split up pathology, clinical, and molecular reports into different documents and then have them finalized separately. Our LIS system allows you to manage these preferences in that way,” said Oganesian. 

For labs that want to combine flexibility with standardization, LigoLab also offers synoptic reporting support through an integration with the College of American Pathologists (CAP). With  CAP’s Cancer Reporting Templates, the pathologist no longer needs to type or dictate the raw text. Instead, he or she can make guided choices and answer required or optional questions that ultimately generate a standardized boilerplate text. All necessary elements are included within the boilerplate text, with the templates regularly updated by CAP. 

LigoLab’s self-service report-building engine and flexible report and result templates are attractive for labs that have grown tired of the long delays and hidden costs usually associated with any new configuration of an old legacy LIS system. With LigoLab, lab directors and managers are trained to do the configurations themselves, and if they need assistance, the LigoLab support team is there to lend a hand. 

Laboratory Information System Vendors that Make Customer Support a Top Priority

If a lab manager needs help configuring a lab report, that help is only one support ticket away thanks to LigoLab’s expert support team. 

“We view our lab customers as partners,” said Oganesian. “We're not just licensing them our pathology lab software and then forgetting about them. Instead, we ensure that our lab partners have the pathology lab software and the level of service they need to grow. That includes building custom lab reports and templates for them as needed.”

With this level of customization available, there is typically a learning curve. That’s why LigoLab has prioritized its support and training departments and staffed them accordingly.

“Usually what we recommend is for our new customers to work with our support department and utilize the wide array of pre-built templates that have been loaded into the pathology lab software platform,” said Oganesian. “From there the templates can be customized and branded to get the desired look and feel. Over time, as users become more familiar with our laboratory information system software platform, our support is no longer needed and customizations become completely self-service from within the lab.”

With LigoLab you get the best of both worlds, fully customizable lab reports, and responsive and helpful support from an experienced staff of engineers. 

“We don’t put this complexity on our lab partners to figure out during LIS system implementation,” said Oganesian, referring to the unlimited configuration possibilities within LigoLab’s LIS software. “Instead, we either present our lab partners with a wide variety of existing templates or define what reporting outcomes they desire for our implementation team to build. Then we use our tools to give them the most maintainable report going forward and the most intuitive set of templates to work with. We’ve built this flexibility into the pathology lab software so the support team can provide this service during validation and before going live, ensuring that the right template comes up for the right client every time.” 

After a LigoLab user gains confidence and comfort with the LIS software platform, configurations can be done without assistance and IT expertise. Compare that with other laboratory information system software where special IT skills are required and report template changes can cost tens of thousands of dollars and take weeks to months to complete. 

“Although this idea might seem overwhelming at first for a new user, in time it becomes an appreciated aspect of our pathology lab software,” added Avunjian. “Our clients simply love this flexibility and control. The report-building template engine is intuitive. It doesn’t require any special IT skills. Template changes are free and immediate.”