Laboratory Management
Keep the specimen, result and review history connected
NextHealth Care
NextHealth Care
Included in Care Clinics Pro and Care Hospitals; available as an add-on to Care Clinics.
NXH Care laboratory software follows each specimen from collection to a verified result. Barcodes track the specimen, entered values are checked against reference ranges, and abnormal and critical values are flagged, with an alert to the ordering clinician for a critical result. A different authorised person must verify each result before release, so the person who entered a value cannot release it, and a rejected quality control run holds release for that test. Analyser results can arrive by HL7 and pass the same checks.
Keep verification between result entry and release
-
Step 1
Track specimen
Follow the barcode from collection
-
Step 2
Enter result
Record the laboratory result values
-
Step 3
Flag values
Check values against reference ranges
-
Step 4
Verify
Get a second authorised review
-
Step 5
Release
Release the result after verification
What your team can do
- Track each specimen by barcode from collection to receipt in the laboratory.
- Enter result values with units and reference ranges.
- Flag abnormal and critical values, and require acknowledgement of a critical result.
- Alert the ordering clinician to a critical result.
- Require a different authorised person to verify each result before release.
- Hold release of a test while its latest quality control run is rejected.
Show who entered, who verified and who can release
Each result keeps two names: the person who entered it and the different person who verified it. Care refuses to let the person who entered a result verify it. Only staff with the verify permission can do so, and only at the performing facility. A result is final once verified, and a verified result can then be released to the patient portal as a separate step that can be withdrawn.
Analyser connectivity is separate
The laboratory workflow works without an analyser, because staff can enter results by hand. Care can also receive analyser results as HL7 v2 ORU messages, either from an interface engine posting to Care or through a direct MLLP listener. Each analyser is registered with its own test mapping, and a message is filed only when it matches an order and the patient’s MRN. Results arrive as preliminary, so critical alerts, quality control and second-person verification still apply. Which instruments can be connected depends on what each can send, so confirm yours with our team.
Base plan or add-on
Laboratory is not in the base Care Clinics plan. That is a different statement from not being available: it can be added to Care Clinics as an add-on, and it is included in Care Clinics Pro and Care Hospitals.
Illustrative example: from specimen to verified result
This example uses synthetic data.
A clinician orders a haemoglobin test for a synthetic patient, Lena Sample. A phlebotomist collects the specimen, which carries a barcode, and the laboratory receives it against that barcode. A scientist enters the value, and Care flags it as low against the reference range. A second scientist with the verify permission reviews it and verifies it, which makes the result final. The first scientist could not have done this. The ordering clinician then sees the verified result. The clinician’s side of the handover is covered in Lab orders and results.
Related NXH Care modules
3 more modules
Common questions
-
Laboratory is included in Care Clinics Pro and Care Hospitals. It is not in the base Care Clinics plan, but it can be added to Care Clinics as an add-on.
-
The workflow requires a second authorised person to verify each result before release. This provides a defined review step after result entry.
-
Entered values are checked against reference ranges, with abnormal and critical values flagged for review. The authorised team remains responsible for assessing the result.
-
Care can receive analyser results as HL7 v2 messages, through an interface engine or a direct MLLP listener, and files them as preliminary results that still need second-person verification. Which instruments can connect depends on what each can send, so confirm your analysers with the technical team. Manual result entry works without any analyser.
Not answered here? Contact the team
NXH Flow