[Future outlook for LAS, LIS].

In Japan, the application of LAS/LIS was started in some hospitals in the 1970's. Thereafter, these systems rapidly developed, becoming established in new national medical university hospitals in the late 1970's, referring to the system introduced in the central laboratory of each hospital. Currently, the LAS/LIS application system is employed in the central laboratory. In addition, this system provides diagnostic information based on laboratory data, responds to various questions regarding clinical examinations, develops strategies for controlling hospital infection using the infection control system, and provides information on the appropriate use of antimicrobial agents. In the future, this system may become even more useful. In this study, we reviewed the current status and issues of the mutual utilization of medical information among medical institutions to achieve further advances.