15 Jun 2021
Best Laboratory Quality Control Software

Laboratory Information Management System:

Laboratory Information Management system (LIMS) is a laboratory automation software that helps to improve the efficiency, performance and accuracy of lab data. The main functions include workflow management, instrument integration, lab samples’ management, inventory management, quality assurance, data tracking, document control, reporting, etc.

The range of laboratories that require LIMS include:

  • Clinical laboratory
  • Research and national/environment laboratories
  • Diagnostic laboratory
  • University and school laboratory
  • Hospital laboratory

 LIMS is also referred to as Laboratory Management System (LMS) or Laboratory Information System (LIS).

What is the Purpose of Laboratory Quality Control Software?

Though LIMS is an overall package for laboratory related data management, there has to be a specific system that validates if the results produced by the labs are accurate and they conform to standards. Quality is of prime importance to health laboratories. An inaccurate or a non-conforming result produced by a clinical laboratory may cause adverse effects to patients such as providing inappropriate treatment, under/inadequate treatment, or over treatment which in turn produces side effects and other ailments; and to healthcare providers such as the wrong reputation, deviation from medical standards. This is when quality control software comes into the picture.

Laboratory quality control ensures that the lab processes are reliable and the results are produced accurately and within the required time frame. Major laboratories around the world streamline their processes and test result specifications according to the international standards or regulations such as GLP (Good Laboratory Practices), ISO /IEC 17025 (General requirements for the testing competence and calibration laboratories), ISO 15189 (specific for medical laboratories). Quality control can ensure that the laboratories meet these standards and the precision of test results.

A good laboratory quality management system (QMS) controls and coordinates all the processes within the lab and guarantees that they are well-maintained, organized and error-free results are obtained. If at all an error occurs, there should be a traceable process implemented with QMS that tracks the people and the equipment or process involved in the testing. Based on the search results, appropriate action will be taken to correct the error and a preventive mechanism will be defined to avoid repetitive issues. Sampling has to be enabled in a QMS to create templates of usual repeated activities such as delivering test results, maintaining patient records, to reduce time in managing them manually.

The Best Laboratory Quality Control Software:

As an ocean of data is handled day to day in laboratories especially in this pandemic situation, all the laboratories must have the best laboratory quality control software and quality management system to obtain accreditation and produce reliable results for proper treatment and medical advice. Also, it is important to have the software updated frequently according to government standards. The software has to be of international standard so that laboratories in any part of the world can use it. Proper and continuous maintenance has to be done to have the up-to-date latest information.

One such quality management system is HQMS by Harrington Group International. We have established our QMS Software Systems to ISO9001 standard so it not only meets the quality standards but also exceeds them so your laboratory will be in trusted hands. We offer our services to various diagnostic services and hospitals.

Features Provided by HQMS for Laboratory Services:

Harrington Quality Management System provides a centralized cloud software with proper access control and surpasses all the requirements of the best laboratory quality control software by providing the following features:

  • Audit management to support internal, external or remote audit cycles.
  • Training management to efficiently store, organize and track training information for lab assistants and personnel.
  • Non-Conformance application to define standards, document any non-conformances with the equipment and actions related to the deviation.
  • Equipment Calibration to periodically calibrate laboratory equipment and tools. Monitors resources and their performance.
  • Issue management and CAPA:
  • Root Cause Analysis (RCA) to find out the starting point of an issue and resolve it.
  • Corrective Action to manage and track issues anytime via an online portal.
  • Preventive Action to prevent an issue from reoccurring.
  • Document Control to create, store, manage and share all documents related to audits, training, standards, employees, patients, equipment and issues.
  • Customer and complaints management to arrange customer data in a single database and create links to various complaint records. It enables patients to submit issues or questions to the laboratory and also to track until resolution.
  • Risk Management to analyze and track the risks such as deviations to standards, incorrect samples, and reduce the seriousness to allow the continuous functioning of the laboratory.
  • Other applications of HQMS are Asset Management, Group management, contact management, supplier and parts management, notification management, meeting management and summary dashboard.