Cases in the LIS - your internal, traceable communication hub

The Case feature centralizes internal lab communication so work doesn’t get trapped in personal inboxes when staff are out or leave the organization. It creates a shared, auditable workspace tied to patients, orders, and clients, ensuring continuity, accountability, and faster resolution.

Why use Cases instead of email

• Shared visibility: Anyone with permission can see history and pick up where others left off.
• Traceability: Full audit trail of who did what, when, and why.
• Context: Natively linked to orders, patients, tests, and distribution events.
• Standardization: Consistent fields, templates, and statuses reduce variability.
• Compliance: Easier to enforce PHI safeguards, retention, and access controls.

Core capabilities

• Record linkage
  • Link a Case to one or more: orders/accessions, patients, client accounts, providers, tests/panels, send-outs.
• Ownership and collaboration
  • Assignee/owner, watchers/subscribers, team/queue routing.
• Structure and prioritization
  • Statuses (e.g., Open, Closed)
• Communication and evidence
  • Threaded notes, attachments (requisitions, fax confirmations, screenshots), and internal-only vs. client-visible notes if supported.
• Notifications
  • Alerts and optional email/push digests.
• Audit and security
  • Immutable timestamps.
    
  • Make private and share with key members of the staff.

Common use cases and workflows

• Pre-analytic
  • Missing/invalid demographics, ICD-10 clarification, insurance verification, recollect needed.
• Analytic
  • Critical result callbacks (document call attempts, contact reached, time stamps).
  • Reflex/add-on approvals and specimen stability checks.
    
  • Result Hold
• Post-analytic
  • Report corrections/addenda, distribution failures (fax busy/bounce), resend tracking.
• Billing follow-up
  • Medical necessity denials, ABN confirmation, payer info requests, rebill/adjustment coordination.
    
  • Billing Hold
• Send-out/reference lab
  • Tracking external accession, delays, temperature excursions, result import issues.

Best practices

• Assign an owner and date upon creation.
• Keep one topic per Case; open separate Cases for unrelated issues.
• Tag consistently for easy retrieval and reporting.
• Summarize resolution clearly; attach proof (fax logs, call notes).
• Close promptly once done; avoid “status drift.”
• Use watchers for cross-team visibility instead of CC’ing via email.
• Periodically review aging Cases and auto-stale rules.

Common pitfalls to avoid

• Relying on personal email for critical follow-ups.
• Unassigned Cases or unclear next step.
• Mixing multiple issues in one Case, making reporting and handoffs difficult.
• Storing decisions only in attachments—summarize key outcomes in the Case body.

By shifting internal communication into Cases, your lab preserves institutional knowledge, accelerates follow-through, and strengthens compliance—while ensuring anyone can seamlessly continue the work when staff are out or roles change.

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