Laboratory

The Laboratory area of BridgeERP HMS runs the full diagnostic-testing lifecycle — from the moment a clinician orders a test, through specimen collection and accessioning, analyser processing, multi-level result verification, critical-value escalation and final release back to the chart. It is built for a hospital laboratory that needs end-to-end traceability, turnaround-time (TAT) monitoring and a defensible chain of custody on every specimen.

Who uses this area

The Laboratory is shared by several roles, each touching a different part of the workflow:

• Ordering clinicians raise lab requests from a consultation or visit and read released results in the patient chart.
• Phlebotomists and collection staff draw specimens, label them and hand them to the lab.
• Lab technicians accession received specimens, run analysers and enter results.
• Senior technologists and supervisors perform the second and third verification steps and release results.
• Lab managers own the catalogue, analysers, quality control, proficiency testing and reference-lab relationships.

Where to find it

Everything lives under the Laboratory top menu:

Before you start

Two pieces of master data must exist before any test can be ordered:

• A test catalogue. Each entry in Laboratory → Catalog → Test Catalog defines a test code, name, default sample type and container, analytical method, target TAT in hours, price, unit of measure and category. Tests can also be marked as requiring fasting or written consent, and grouped into Panels that expand into their component tests when ordered.
• Reference ranges. Normal ranges and default critical-low / critical-high thresholds are configured per test so that results are flagged automatically. See Results & verification for how flagging works.

The laboratory workflow end to end

A specimen moves through the lab as a single, traceable chain. The high-level path is:

1. Order. A clinician raises a lab request and selects tests or panels. The request moves from Draft to Requested.
2. Collect. Specimens are drawn, given a barcode and recorded against the request; each becomes a sample in Collected status. See Orders, specimens & accessioning.
3. Accession. The lab receives and accessions specimens (Received in Lab); when all specimens are in, the request advances to Sample Collected.
4. Process. Technicians start processing (request becomes In Progress) and enter results on the analysers.
5. Verify & release. Each result is verified at technician and supervisor level, then released. When every result is released the request can be Validated and then Reported back to the chart. See Results & verification.

Request status reference

The lab request status drives the whole area. The available statuses are:

Quality and turnaround monitoring

Each test carries a target TAT, and every request computes its actual turnaround from request to release and flags any TAT breach. The Quality submenu adds internal quality control (QC materials and QC runs), external Proficiency Testing, and a TAT Report so a manager can see where the lab is meeting or missing its turnaround commitments. Results flagged as critical surface on the dedicated Critical Values list for urgent clinician call-back.

Reference (send-out) testing

Tests the in-house lab does not perform are sent to a partner laboratory. Partner labs are maintained under Reference Lab → Reference Labs, and each specimen sent out is tracked under Reference Lab → Send-outs, so esoteric tests remain visible on the same request and report back into the patient chart alongside in-house results. This keeps a single, complete record for the patient even when the work is split across laboratories.

Roles & access

Access follows the HMS security groups. Clinical staff (doctor group) can raise requests and read results; pharmacist, nurse and lab roles operate the bench; lab managers and HMS managers maintain catalogue, analysers and quality data. Administrators retain full configuration rights. Result release in particular is gated through the technician and supervisor verification steps described on the results page, so that running a result and authorising it are never done by the same single action.

Tips & troubleshooting

Laboratory menus at a glance

The full Laboratory menu tree, with the record type behind each entry, so an operator can navigate the area without hunting:

Specimen types and tubes

The catalogue and each specimen carry a sample type and a colour-coded container, so collection staff know exactly which tube to draw:

Roles & access matrix

Laboratory access is governed by HMS security groups. The table below summarises who can do what on the core records:

Related

• Laboratory — Orders, specimens & accessioning
• Laboratory — Results entry, verification & release
• Pharmacy