Client/Server computing: is this the future direction for the clinical laboratory?

One of the major trends in computing for the 1990s is the move towards distributed systems based on Client/Server architecture. Although a recent survey has suggested that some 41% of the major companies in the UK are either using or planning to adopt this new technology, there is little evidence at present of similar progress in the field of clinical laboratory computing. The Pathology Laboratories at St. Luke's Hospital have been developing in-house computer systems using object-oriented software tools since 1988, but these were initially based on conventional file sharing and suffered from poor performance under load. The conversion to Client/Server took place in March 1993 and the results have either met or exceeded all expectations. Our experience suggests that this approach may well be the way forward for the high performance but user-friendly laboratory systems of the future.