A laboratory is perhaps Valhalla when it comes to testing. Maybe, because it is not perfect. When it comes to testing Laboratory Information Systems (LIS), we see a completely different picture. Experience shows that there is little priority for testing LIS. It is mainly seen as 'waste'. We see that IT is outsourced and there is little feeling about it. The lab is often a small group in the hospital and priorities lie elsewhere. But if the lab is not running, this can cause major problems. Add to that the fact that next year all labs must be ISO 15189 certified. This raises the question of how best to deal with these challenges.
How are you as a laboratory going to meet the certification if you do not have a sound test process or test environment? Let alone sufficient time and resources. The ISO 15189 standard sets requirements for the laboratory's information system. This confronts you with the question of whether to introduce an entirely new system or to perform an (extensive) upgrade. In both cases, this has consequences for the requirements of test cycle. The entire system must be demonstrably tested and approved. Clinical support must continue. Complex processes must remain under control and compliance with laws and regulations must be guaranteed.
How do you successfully test a lab system? Recently, the Radboud UMC implemented a new LIS, called GLIMS by software developer MIPS. The starting points for the test cycle were product risks and ISO standardisation. Especially for the ISO standardisation, the validation of the test results was an important part. Given the size of Radboud UMC, this meant an equally large test cycle. To manage this properly, Radboud UMC uses the tool Testersuite under the guidance of Salves. Radboud UMC has been working with Testersuite for some time within various projects. Since this tool is platform-independent, this choice was easily made.
The LIS has been successfully taken into production at Radboud UMC. However, testing continues to play an important role from a management perspective. The test cases and test approach used in the implementation phase are now continued in the management situation. Quality control is therefore guaranteed.
Based on the case described above, MIPS, Salves and Testersuite introduce the webinar 'Implementation of a lab system; crisis or controlled process? This 45-minute webinar will be held on 5 September at 14:00. This webinar has already taken place. Request a link to the recording of the webinar via the button below. Mention in the mail "link to webinar GLIMS".
Want to know more about this case? Then read this blog!
