Laboratory information system training is sold two ways: by the vendor, as part of the implementation, and by training companies, as courses with certificates. Both are about a particular product, and both are useless before the product is chosen and expensive after it, because a small lab pays for them in analyst hours off the bench as well as in fees. This page says what the training actually covers, which people in a small lab need which parts of it, when it is worth paying for and when a system that needs a course to book in a sample is the wrong system. It also says plainly that the free sheets on this site need none: every one computes on the page from labelled inputs with no account.
What the training covers
Booking in a sample and assigning tests; building a batch and recording its controls; entering, reviewing and releasing a result; managing reagent lots and instrument calibrations; storage and retention; reports and exports; and, on the administrator's side, configuring tests, methods, users and the audit trail. The bench staff need the first six; one person needs the seventh. A vendor's training plan that puts every analyst through the administrator's course is training the lab does not need and hours the bench cannot spare, and the results review sheet on this site shows what those hours cost in sign-out.
Who needs it, and how the clinical rules bear on it
For a clinical bench, CLIA sets requirements for personnel competence and for the laboratory's records; the CDC's and CMS's CLIA pages are the primary sources and the training is the lab's way of meeting the part about competence in the system it uses. For an analytical bench, ISO/IEC 17025 asks the laboratory to show its staff are competent for the work they do, and system training is evidence of that. Neither says a course must be bought; both say the competence must be shown. Keep the training record against the person, as the paid plan on this site keeps a calibration against an instrument.
When a system should need no training
Booking in a sample, working the week's capacity, costing a test and counting the freezers should not need a course. The seven sheets on this site are the test: each has labelled inputs and a worked example, and a manager who can fill in a form can work all seven in an afternoon with no account. The guide this page supports walks what to ask a laboratory information system company before the demo, and the cost to train is one of the questions. Limslane Pro adds the record to the sheets and needs no course either.
Questions people ask about laboratory information system training
What is laboratory information system training?
Vendor or third-party instruction in a particular product: booking in, batches and controls, results and review, lots and calibrations, storage, reports, and administration. It is specific to one system and is worth nothing before that system is chosen.
Who in a small lab needs LIS training?
Bench staff need the day-to-day parts; one person needs the administration part. A plan that trains every analyst as an administrator costs bench hours the results review sheet can show the price of.
Do the sheets on this site need training?
No. Every sheet has labelled inputs and a worked example and computes on the page with no account. Limslane Pro keeps the record and needs no course either.