An interview with Sandy Laughlin, LabDAQ Product Manager
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Q: Does Antek HealthWare LLC have a theme for AACC 09?
Laughlin: Our theme for the meeting ties into our current advertising theme: “Have You Seen LabDAQ LIS Lately?” With the numerous changes and enhancements to LabDAQ, we are encouraging attendees to visit our booth during exhibit hours.
Q: Which products are you featuring, and why?
Laughlin: We will be featuring the LabDAQ Laboratory Information System—which sets the benchmark for laboratory performance, innovation, and value. Opening new windows for the lab in flexibility, communication, security, and value, LabDAQ enhances productivity and financial-management capabilities of the lab. Installed in more than 2,000 facilities of all types, the system is scalable so that it can support a single physician, reference lab, or hospital. It can support multisite facilities on the same campus, or even in different cities. The base of installations includes hospitals, reference labs, clinical, specialized drug testing programs, veterinary labs, and research labs.
LabDAQ is also an integral part of system integration with electronic health record and billing systems. It continues to be the most cost-effective laboratory information system to acquire and maintain, and installation and training are simple.
Since it was designed by and for medical technologists, the system intuitively conforms to laboratory use. There is no difficult computer terminology to master, and the system’s straightforward instructions ensure that you can use it from the first day. A keystroke or mouse click quickly moves you around the system. LabDAQ has a simple, single-screen approach so that you do not need to go through layers of screens to perform functions.
LabDAQ also provides lab managers with a complete set of security and quality control tools, enabling them to meet the custom security needs of their facility as well as HIPAA and other regulatory requirements.
LabDAQ helps the lab communicate seamlessly with physicians and other departments within the facility, whether the need is for Web-based lab test requisitions and patient lab test result reports, or for an interactive interface with other information systems, including HIS/practice management/EMR. LabDAQ also supports true bidirectional interfaces to national and regional reference labs. This timely flow of accurate information and the resultant interaction between physicians, patients, and your laboratory is more important today than ever.
Q: Are you introducing any products or new versions/upgrades/updates of existing products?
Laughlin: We will be featuring a product update, LabDAQ 4.0.5. We will also be introducing our HL7 Reconciler, a new LabDAQ feature, which improves the efficiency of HL7 interfaces with reference labs.
Q: Tell us about these products you’re featuring. What are the competitive advantages, and/or how do they represent advances over previous versions?
Laughlin: Antek will be featuring the advanced QC module, comprehensive rules engine, enhanced data mining, and the HL7 Reconciler. The HL7 Reconciler will benefit any laboratory with a reference lab interface. The reconciler is a beneficial resource for laboratory professionals to accept reflexed reference lab results that were created directly at the reference lab. It will also assist with modified profile ID numbers received from the reference lab. The HL7 Reconciler increases laboratory efficiencies and improves patient safety by correctly matching incoming results with the correct patient.
Q: Will Antek be making presentations or demos in the booth during exhibit hours?
Laughlin: Antek personnel will be available in the booth throughout the meeting for product demonstrations.
Q: Any other special events or booth attractions?
Laughlin: To thank our clients, and to give them an opportunity to meet with our senior executives, a dinner for Antek customers is currently being planned.
Q: Looking beyond AACC, what can laboratorians expect to see from Antek in the future?
Laughlin: Antek will continue to improve and develop its product lines through customer feedback. Antek will also continue to expand its molecular testing knowledge and interfacing capabilities with this very specialized market.
