Medical laboratory software: from the request to the verified result sheet
Medical laboratory software has one job above the rest: making sure the value on the sheet belongs to the right patient, is read against the right range and was checked by a named person before it left. This guide covers what a result must carry, follows one sample through OPALEVI and ends with ten questions to ask any program.
Key takeaways
- The patient's sex and age choose the reference range, and the range decides the flag.
- Entered is not verified. Nothing should leave the laboratory until a named person has released the sheet.
- An analyzer link should save typing, not judgement: device values arrive marked and wait for a person's check.
- Measure turnaround from your own data before deciding where the day is lost.
Signs your laboratory has outgrown paper and spreadsheets
A request book, the analyzer's printouts and a billing spreadsheet work while three people do everything. They stop working when the bench gets busier or other practices start sending patients. The signs:
- Values copied by hand. Every retyped number is a chance to swap two rows or two patients.
- One range for everyone. An adult man's haemoglobin range printed for a woman or a child.
- “Are my results ready?” Calls, because nobody outside the bench can see what is done.
- Corrections without a trace. A value changed after printing, with no note of who, from what or why.
- Tests never charged. An analysis added at the bench that never reached the bill.
A laboratory result is a number plus its context. Lose the context and the number becomes a risk.
What every laboratory result has to carry
Whatever system you choose, a laboratory information system (LIS) worth the name keeps these together:
| Field | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Patient, sex and date of birth | They choose the reference range. |
| Who requested it | Where the sheet goes back to. |
| Analysis and code | One name for the catalogue, the bill and the analyzer. |
| Specimen and sample number | Ties the tube on the bench to the request. |
| Collection time and collector | Somebody will ask. |
| Value, unit and range | The range matched to this patient when requested, and kept. |
| Out-of-range flag | Set from the number, not by eye. |
| Entered by, verified by | Two acts, each with a name and a time. |
| Corrections | What changed after release, and by whom. |
The trail, not the accreditation
Software keeps requests, values, signatures and corrections in one place. It does not accredit a laboratory or replace your quality procedures; it makes the evidence quick to find.
One sample, step by step, in OPALEVI
One patient's morning in OPALEVI for medical laboratories. Words in bold are the names on the screen.
Open the request
New lab request opens a visit for the patient; the analyses are chosen inside it. Check sex and date of birth now, because the ranges depend on them.
Choose the analyses
On the Analyses card, search by name or code; each option shows its sample and price, with a running total. Request the analyses saves them with a copy of the range that fits this patient today, and puts the priced ones on the visit's bill.
Label the tubes
Tube labels prints a 50 × 25 mm label per category, with the visit's six-digit tube number as a barcode.
Record the draw
Sample taken stamps the time and the person for that category, and the sheet prints both.
Enter the results
Type each value and press Enter for the next row. A number outside its range shows Outside at once. Untick On the report for a value that should not print, then press Save the results.
Verify
When every value is in, Verify and complete the visit signs the results with your name and the time and freezes them. Reopen for correction is the only way back, and it is recorded.
Hand over the sheet
Analysis results shows the sheet with your letterhead, the referrer, each specimen and who verified it. Download the sheet (PDF) works only after verification.
An unverified sheet carries a red “PRELIMINARY — not verified. Not valid for clinical use.” line, on screen and on paper.
Three plain notes. Analyses are picked one by one, because profiles cannot be ordered in one click. Microbiology and pathology results are a text result with a comment, with no antibiogram grid. And OPALEVI does not email the sheet itself: you send the verified PDF the way you do today.
Reference ranges and out-of-range flags
Under Settings → Laboratory, in Reference ranges, each analysis can hold several ranges: for men, women or both; for all ages or a band in years, months or days; as from–to, below a value, above a value or text only.
On request, OPALEVI takes the most specific match for the patient's sex and age on the visit date, or the analysis's own reference when none fits. An age band never matches a patient without a date of birth, so ask for it at the desk every time.
A numeric value beyond a limit is marked Outside on screen and with an asterisk on the sheet. A text result such as “Positive” carries no flag, because there is nothing to compare.
OPALEVI compares the value with the range and marks it. What an abnormal value means stays the clinician's decision.
The bench: one board and the analyzers
The Laboratory board lists the day's work, one row per patient and category, in four piles: Not started, In progress, Ready for verification and Completed today. Requests that other departments send with Refer to a department wait under Open laboratory requests. Technicians can be limited to their own categories.
Connecting analyzers
OPALEVI takes results from analyzers that speak ASTM or HL7 v2, in one of two ways, set for each device under Laboratory devices:
- The browser. The Analyzer station page, open in Chrome or Edge on the computer the analyzer is cabled to, reads that USB or serial port in ASTM. Nothing is installed, but the page must stay open, and networked analyzers are out of its reach.
- OPALEVI Connect. A small Windows service that receives results over a serial cable or the laboratory network, in ASTM (E1381 framing or bare E1394 records) or HL7 v2, and keeps readings on disk until OPALEVI accepts them. Create download link gives the laboratory computer the installer, already set up for that device.
The analyzer reads the tube's barcode. OPALEVI finds the visit by the tube number and the analysis by the device's Test codes, linked once. A device value is marked as the device's and waits for a person's check: it never overwrites a typed value, never changes a verified sheet and never adds an analysis nobody requested. Latest results received shows what happened to each reading.
Prove the link before you stop typing
Analyzers are set up differently. Link the codes, run a batch both through the link and by hand, and compare every value. Results travel one way: OPALEVI sends no worklist to the analyzer.
Reception, doctors and the money
- Reception registers patients and visits, books appointments, ticking Email the patient a reminder the day before when wanted, and takes walk-ins through Quick admission; by default it neither requests analyses nor enters results. More in clinic reception software.
- Money. Priced analyses are on the visit's bill, so Invoice this visit starts from the request; once invoiced, they lock. The Laboratory calculator, switched on under Settings → Application menus, totals analyses without a visit; by default it is open to the administrator, doctors and finance, so give reception that permission if the desk quotes prices.
- Doctors. In a clinic or hospital with a laboratory, every department's visit has the Analyses card. On verification the visit's doctor is notified, and their own visit is left as it was. See gynaecology software and cardiology software.
- Roles. The Laboratory technician role runs analyses, enters and verifies results, and sees no invoices and no cash box.
How the week went
Reports → Laboratory shows the analyses ordered and verified, the median Time to result, the share verified within 24 hours, and a Turnaround table with median and 90% times for each step.
Ten questions to ask before choosing medical laboratory software
Answer them with a day of your own requests, not a demo.
| Question | What to look for | OPALEVI |
|---|---|---|
| Are ranges chosen by sex and age? | Several per analysis, the most specific used. | Yes: by sex, and by age in years, months or days. |
| Is the flag set from the number? | On entry and on the sheet. | Yes, for numeric values; text results carry none. |
| Are entering and verifying kept apart? | A name and a time for each. | Yes; the PDF waits for the signature. |
| Can corrections be traced? | Reopen, correct and verify again, with history. | Yes: Reopen for correction, recorded. |
| Do analyzer results arrive without retyping? | ASTM or HL7 v2, device values marked until checked. | Yes, through the Analyzer station or OPALEVI Connect; one way only, no worklist sent. |
| Do tubes carry a barcode? | A label the analyzer reads. | Yes: 50 × 25 mm labels, Code 128. |
| Does billing start from the request? | Priced analyses on the bill, locked once invoiced. | Yes. |
| Is turnaround measured? | Median and 90% times per step. | Yes: Reports → Laboratory. |
| Are microbiology and pathology structured? | Organisms and susceptibility in their own fields. | Partly: a text result and a comment; no antibiogram grid. |
| Can a panel be ordered in one click? | Profiles that add their analyses at once. | No: analyses are chosen one by one. |
A wider checklist is in how to choose clinic software. Shared modules are on the features page, and the department's summary on the laboratory department page.
Your first week: from sign-up to the first verified sheet
Register as a medical laboratory, and the First steps checklist on the Today screen guides the setup:
Check the catalogue
Review your analyses, prices and reference ranges: OPALEVI starts you with common biochemistry, blood count and microbiology analyses to adapt to your methods.
Invite the team
Invite your colleagues, giving technicians the Laboratory technician role.
Take a real request
Take your first lab request and follow it to a verified sheet.
Add one analyzer
If you wish, connect one device and run it alongside manual entry for a few days.
Re-run a real day
Enter one day of last week's requests and results, and lay the printed sheets beside the ones you sent. They either match or show you what to fix.
Frequently asked questions
What is medical laboratory software?
A program, often called a laboratory information system (LIS), that records the analyses requested for each patient, the sample, the results with their ranges and flags, and who verified them, then prints the result sheet. It replaces the request book, retyped printouts and billing spreadsheets with one record per request.
Can OPALEVI receive results from laboratory analyzers?
Yes, from analyzers that send ASTM or HL7 v2. A cabled ASTM analyzer can be read by Chrome or Edge on the laboratory computer; a networked or HL7 v2 one goes through OPALEVI Connect, a small Windows service. Each device's test codes are linked once, and results flow into OPALEVI only.
Can the laboratory use it on a phone or a tablet?
Yes. OPALEVI opens in the browser of any phone, tablet or computer, and nothing has to be set up on the device. At the bench, a phone's bottom bar leads to Today, Visits, the Laboratory board and Patients. Only the Analyzer station needs Chrome or Edge on a desktop computer.
Can I try it before paying?
Yes. A free trial starts the moment you register, and no card is asked for. When it ends without a plan, you pay nothing; the records stay readable and nothing is deleted. Run the trial on a day of real requests, so the decision rests on your own sheets.
How is OPALEVI priced for a laboratory?
Per staff member who uses it, on a monthly or a yearly plan. The number of analyses, patients or departments never changes the price, so a busy month costs the same as a quiet one. The pricing page lists today's prices and works out the total for your own team.
