The combination of specimen tracking with an advanced AutoLog in a laboratory information system.

The ability to provide timely laboratory results is an important aspect of quality which must be continually monitored. In order to complete all testing before the maximum turnaround time requirements are exceeded, laboratorians need to have immediate and automatic access to the location of specimens and the status of tests ordered on each specimen. Any such automated approach must be able to monitor continually the status of work in progress, while simultaneously linking it to a specimen tracking (history) system that allows real-time tracing of the path of specimens through all laboratory operations. The authors have greatly advanced the capabilities of the AutoLog technology and have added to it a tracking system that captures specimen movement with minimum user assistance. This has been accomplished without the need to implement total process automation.