As more laboratories transition from glass slides to images, one sometimes underestimated success factor is laboratory information system (LIS) integration. The LIS continues to underpin the diagnostic workflow, from accessioning and specimen tracking to sign-out. Yet most legacy LISs lack the flexibility to support digital pathology’s image-rich and data-driven workflows, turning them into a bottleneck rather than an enabler.
This doesn’t make the LIS obsolete. Instead, its role must evolve to suit the modern diagnostic ecosystem.
The Integration Imperative
As an enterprise pathology platform, Concentriq® lays the foundation for scaling expertise, increasing efficiency, and incorporating AI into routine diagnostics. But these benefits depend on real-time, bidirectional data exchange, particularly with the LIS.
When systems aren’t integrated, critical functions like case prioritization, image review, reporting, and workload orchestration become fragmented. Digital pathology risks being reduced to a standalone image viewer instead of powering a transformation.
This is why Proscia has continued to prioritize interoperability since day one. We recently announced the successful completion of integrations with over 100 LIS instances, including CoPath, Epic Beaker, NovoPath, LigoLab, and Orchard Harvest. Powered by bidirectional HL7 interfaces, these deep connections showcase the flexibility and scalability needed to meet laboratories where they are today.
A Practical First Step: Digitizing the Wet Lab
While deep LIS integration is the long-term goal, it doesn’t have to be the starting point. Rather than waiting for the perfect setup or embarking on a complex LIS overhaul, many laboratories are adopting a more modular approach. The strongest dependency on the LIS lies in the wet lab—specimen tracking, slide labeling, and other pre-imaging steps—which remain unchanged in a digital workflow.
The challenge of depending on LIS often comes after the wet lab, once the whole slide image has been generated. It can be difficult to perform case assignment, data generation, and reporting among other tasks in the LIS without bi-directional integration with Concentriq. By shifting these tasks to Concentriq, laboratories can better meet their needs in a digital workflow while creating clear delineation among systems.
In these deployments, Concentriq powers the full spectrum of downstream digital workflows:
- Tailored case worklists by subspecialty, turnaround time, or workload balance
- Advanced image review tools and integrated AI for rapid, consistent results
- Flexible reporting and collaboration workflows, without requiring LIS dependence
- Scalable QA and remote sign-out capabilities
- Streamlined scheduling and orchestration across teams
By working with the LIS, not around it, laboratories can make meaningful progress toward their digitization goals while maintaining operational stability.
Even for laboratories with mature LIS infrastructure, there’s significant value in introducing an enterprise pathology platform like Concentriq. That’s because the LIS isn’t where images live and flow. As laboratories scale their digital footprint, the enterprise pathology platform becomes the central hub for managing image-based workflows, integrating AI, and orchestrating diagnostic activities that depend on visual data. Concentriq always complements the LIS, rather than replaces it, by serving as the image-native system of record.
Unlocking ROI While Preserving the LIS
This approach helps labs start capturing the ROI of digital pathology today. It reduces risk, preserves continuity, and creates a more adaptable infrastructure ready for deeper integration or LIS modernization when the time is right.
At Proscia, we know that enterprise pathology demands enterprise thinking. That means recognizing your current architecture and identifying the highest-impact digitization opportunities while working towards a fully integrated ecosystem.
Your LIS doesn’t need to be rebuilt for your laboratory to go digital. With Concentriq, you can start where it matters most– and start now.
