Integrating laboratory processes into clinical processes, Web-based laboratory reporting, and the emergence of the virtual clinical laboratory.

References to integration occur frequently in the health-care literature. Integration in this context refers to the blending or merging of the separate components of a health-care organization to form a cohesive and seamless interoperating whole. The health-care industry is now in the process of reorganizing and consolidating through hospital mergers and the creation of provider networks. The stimulus for these activities, all integrative, has been the introduction of managed care as a replacement for fee-for-service reimbursement. Managed care was designed to introduce competition into health-care delivery, and it certainly has succeeded in this goal. The quest for integration in health care is thus a consequence of the shift to managed care and has been driven by the belief that integration will lead to greater efficiency and cost savings in the industry. The major vehicles for achieving integration in the clinical laboratories will be Web-based reporting and the emergence of the virtual clinical laboratory.