Mapping Laboratory Data: Integration between EHR and LIS

Guest blog by Pam Banning, Healthcare Data Analyst with 3M Health Information Systems

A recent American Association of Clinical Chemistry webinar, “Essential Tools to Implement Meaningful Use (MU) in the Laboratory” discussed what laboratories needed to know about standard terminologies and how to start on the enlightened path towards meeting MU (for more information on MU visit the CMS Electronic Health Record website). The audience expressed challenges in meeting MU requirements within their organization. Specifically, they voiced concerns such as:

•  Variation between platforms at their facility

•  Confusion on standard terminology requirements

•  Adoption and implementation of these standard terminologies

The questions articulated were parallel to difficulties communicated from audiences since the MU legislation was put into place in 2011. MU provides basic requirements in the storage of terminology codes and human readable representations for these codes. However, many organizations don’t know which internal systems should adopt standard terminologies and what the…