Pathology Computer Services -- Informatics
Pathology Informatics Division: The Pathology Informatics division was created during FY’03. The four staff members include Application Development and Support Levels I, II and III and a Program Assistant.
They maintain the web server that hosts the Pathology Department intranet, the Pathology Laboratory Services Handbook development site, the Pathology development site, the Department of Pathology Referral Testing development site, College of Medicine selectives, Clinical Laboratory Science Program development site, Virtual Slidebox, Case Analysis and Identification of Morphological Entities of Disease (IMED).
Virtual Slidebox, Case Analysis, and IMED are used for Pathology education by multiple institutions, both nationally and internationally.
The Application Development and Support Level I position is the webmaster and primary developer for the Pathology Intranet, the Emory Warner Clinical Laboratories web site, the Pathology Laboratory Services Handbook development site, the Pathology Department development site and the Department of Pathology Referral Testing development site. The Pathology Laboratory Services Handbook site has been reported in recent journal articles and was recognized favorably during the CAP inspection fall 2003.
The Application Development and Support Level II position is responsible for multiple College of Medicine applications including the Virtual Slidebox (used in the Medical Pathology courses as well as worldwide), Introduction to Human Pathology, and Pathogenesis.
The Application Development and Support Level III position is the Pathology liaison and contact resource for both University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC) and Carver College of Medicine (CCOM) Pathology staff for application, design and support of the Cerner Laboratory Information System (LIS), the laboratory displays within INFORMM Patient Record (IPR), Finance/Admitting/Scheduling via IDX, Pathology Laboratory Services Handbook, Pathology Web Advisory Committee and Eclipsys (Transition Systems Incorporated TSI database).
The Program Assistant provides support for the Department of Pathology use of the IDX system for admitting, scheduling and billing, the IPR system for laboratory result retrieval, in addition to additional desktop support and training support for Pathology staff and faculty. The Program Assistant will also have responsibilities for multiple short and long term projects in support of the various informatics requirements of the department.
INFORMM/Cerner Support (ICS): A HealthCare Information Systems (HCIS) Technical Lead manages two Application Development and Support I positions, with two system support staff members co-managed by the HCIS Systems support manager. In addition, there is one full-time desktop-support staff member who is managed by the HCIS Help Desk. The Technical Lead also has responsibility for the Radiology Information System.
The ICS group is responsible for the management and maintenance of all personal computers and LIS activities in the Department of Pathology. Primary goals are to provide LIS support to the UIHC Pathology laboratories 24 hours/day in order to:
- achieve clinical, research, and administrative goals of the Department of Pathology;
- ensure efficient computer resource utilization;
- monitor and supervise progress toward implementation of all computer-related projects.
The current LIS is the Cerner Classic system Version 3.06 Rev.145. The Pharmaceutical Services Department also utilizes the same Cerner database platform as the Department of Pathology. The systems staff members noted above support both the Pharmacy and Pathology Cerner Classic system needs. This integrated support for the two departments provides the same network architecture and hardware thus resulting in cost avoidance for University of Iowa HealthCare. Both Pharmacy and Pathology data is interfaced to the INFORMM/IPR system; the Pharmacy database utilizes information from the laboratory database when laboratory result information is required for quality patient care.
Goals for the ICS and Pathology Informatics divisions:
- Improve laboratory information system utilization by implementing technological advances such as image incorporation, voice recognition, and increased used of bar code technologies.
- Enhance patient safety through use of positive patient identification throughout all laboratory processes.
- Increase utilization of laboratory information for data mining for clinical and research needs and enhanced efficiencies driven by solid statistical support.
- Provide Laboratory and Information Systems support for enterprise wide solution to Clinical Provider Order Entry (CPOE) and clinical data repository.
Informatics Projects Useful Computer/Informatics Links