LIS laboratory information systems are built for hospital departments and sold to everyone else, which is why a small clinical bench that asks for a demo gets a pathology department's answer: interfaces to analysers it does not own, workflows for shifts it does not run, and a price that assumes a hundred users. The bench that asked has two analysts, one instrument and a reviewer who is also the director, and its question was simpler: will this keep our record straight and our sign-out on time. This page sizes that question for a small bench, explains what the record has to hold under the clinical rules, and shows where the free sheets on this site work the figures a laboratory information system company should be asked about first.
Sizing the bench before anyone quotes
Results a week, minutes to review one, reviewers and their hours: the results review sheet returns the review hours the week needs, the capacity, the utilisation and what rework costs. Samples a week, tests per sample, minutes per test, analysts and bench hours: the intake sheet returns the turnaround. Those two numbers, turnaround and sign-out load, are what a small clinical bench is measured on by the clinicians it serves, and they are the numbers a system has to improve before it can cost anything. Work them first and take them to the demo.
What the record must hold on a clinical bench
The order and the patient, the specimen and its tests, the batch and its controls, the result and its reviewer, the instrument and its calibration, the reagent lot and its expiry, and the report that reached the clinician. CLIA, administered by CMS, sets the requirements for those records and for the personnel who sign them; the CDC and FDA pages linked below explain the certificate types and the test categories. A system that cannot show one specimen's whole chain on one screen has not met the bench's need, whatever the brochure says.
What to ask, and what this site can do
Ask what the result record holds and who signs it, what the system costs to run for two users and one instrument, and how the record exports at the end. The guide this page supports walks those questions. Limslane keeps samples, results, lots and instruments for a small laboratory and works the sheets on them; it carries no patient orders and is not a clinical LIS, and a bench that needs one should use the sheets to size the purchase and then ask the company the three questions.
Questions people ask about lis laboratory information systems
Are LIS laboratory information systems suitable for a small bench?
Some are, most are sized for departments. Size the bench first with the results review and intake sheets, then ask the company for the cost to run for your users and instruments rather than the licence alone.
What must a clinical lab's record hold?
The order, the patient, the specimen, the tests, the batch and its controls, the result and its reviewer, the instrument and its calibration, the reagent lot, and the report. CLIA sets the requirements; the primary sources are linked below.
Does Limslane carry patient orders?
No. Limslane is for small laboratories keeping samples, results, lots and instruments; it is not a clinical LIS. The free sheets work a clinical bench's arithmetic all the same, with no account.