If you are using MS Word to manage your pathology lab, this guide will help you understand the shortcomings of using MS Word as an alternative to a proper Pathology lab management system. We have noticed a lot of MS Word users switching to our online lab software for better lab management needs, as a result of which this detailed guide is documented.
Running the lab becomes very stressful for lab owners, which can be easily avoided by having a quality lab management software.
a.
Patient name appears only on first page, but labs like Dr. Lal or other standard labs provide patient details on each page.
Labsmart allows you to create professional reports with quality as per Dr. lal’s. A quality report format improves your lab’s branding and improve patient and doctor’s trust in your lab.
a.
Patients travelling cannot receive report printouts, and often request for PDF reports (with letterhead and signatures).
b.
Problem increases specially when report is long and contains multiple pages. Waste of printouts will happen, in case printing is done just for sending pictures.
In Labsmart, you can share digital bills and reports with just 1 click. It’s easier than ever.
a.
If doctor's complaint, it’s impossible to verify the contents of the report. Whether reporting was done properly from the lab’s end.
b.
Reports lost by patient will create unnecessary stress on lab employees to redo the whole reporting job. Whereas, in Labsmart, historical reports are auto saved.
In Labsmart, all the historical reports of the patients are saved. We also track who did the reporting and when. You can provide a better service to both the patient and doctors.
a.
For PT INR test, calculating INR can take time and cause human errors. PT INR being a very serious test, and the scope for human error should be zero. In Labsmart PT INR is auto calculated reducing the chance of error.
b.
Mixup of report pages, as each page does not contain patient details.
In Labsmart, multifold checks are in place to reduce human errors on reporting. Software auto calculates the calculated parameters. Highly out of range values are flagged automatically. Test booking can be allowed by gender. And more.
a.
If you are not present in the lab, you need to trust employees in totalling the business, or need to add one extra employee to do the totalling verification. This creates extra work and unnecessary stress for the lab owner. This also has chances of internal frauds.
b.
Improper billing, receptionists might bill more or less if they forget the amount as per the lab ratelist. This will tarnish the lab’s reputation.
c.
Proper bills cannot be given, manual bills are not accepted in Mediclaim. Lab’s will miss on delivering services to Mediclaim patients.
Digital billing in Labsmart helps labs reduce mistakes. Ratelists are managed inside the software to reduce improper billing. Payments and transactions are also tracked to reduce internal frauds as much possible.
a.
Many test parameters are calculated using formulas. Eg. BUN, bilrubin indirect, DLC Abs. counts, Globulin, eGFR, INR, LDL, VLDL, eAG, uibc, urea creatinine ratio, AG ratio, SGPT SGOT ratio, Urine albumin creatinine ratio, NLR. It’s time consuming to calculate manually and more than being time-consuming, manual calculations have chances of errors and improper results can lead to spoiling the lab's reputation.
Labsmart software autocalculates the calculated parameters reducing the chances of reporting errors.
a.
MS Word is a specialized tool made for processing text documents. Most new lab employees haven't worked on MS Word ever and training them to prepare reports in MS Word is time-consuming. Reporting in MS Word would need the employee to know how to use formatting options available to create reports in the lab’s preferred formatting style and how to avoid common mistakes.
b.
Even experienced staff may forget or doesn't know certain complicated formatting rules, which may lead to inconsistent reports.
In Labsmart, employees require minimal training to start reporting. The employee just need to enter the findings and the software takes care of formatting by itself, and built-in formulas make it easy for new staff to do accurate & professional reporting from day one.
a.
If you are not present in the lab and a doctor calls from the OT requesting a patient’s repor, which the patient has forgotten to bring, it becomes nearly impossible for you to share the report.
In Labsmart, you can access the report from the phone incase of emergency situations. You can also share the pdf with doctor and patient via sms, whatsapp and email.
a.
Employees can pocket the whole testing charge, without getting caught. This is a common issue amongst all labs, due to human tendencies.
b.
It’s difficult for labs to grow due to such a corrupt work environment, created by a few employees.
In Labsmart, no reporting can be done without billing, which means employees have to bill and the software will track the payment. If the employee tries to modify older bills, these are tracked as activities. You can reduce internal frauds and enjoy more revenue.
a.
Copy and paste operation to prepare reports takes a lot of time and is stressful.
b.
Formatting needs to be adjusted for each report which gets difficult sometimes and time consuming more often.
In Labsmart, you just focus on entering the finding correctly. All other things like making abnormal results bold, formatting of the report, patient infos, entering the right normal value according to the age and gender is taken care by the software automatically.
a.
Reports for HIV patients should be saved as per Govt. norms. It’s difficult to store the reports while using MS Word. If computer crashes all the data will be gone. And it’s added task for lab technicians and they’re prone to forget.
Labsmart, saves all the historical reports in the cloud, taking the headache of compliance away from the lab owner. You can focus on growing your business while we take care of other things.
a.
Failing to deliver reports in case of urgency (eg. scheduled surgery) spoils relationships with patients and doctors.
In Labsmart you can access the report in mobile during emergency and share with patient and doctor. This will improve your relationship with both.
a.
Each report looks different. Doctors will not be happy reading the reports.
In Labsmart, the report formats are beautifully designed to look professional and have consistency. You can add methods, instruments, interpretations easily to impress the doctors and patients.
