Types of Business Reports — Your LIMS Software Must Have
The future of diagnostic laboratory management is being shaped dramatically by a number of significant trends. Data — the backbone of strategic growth and expansion of any laboratory is permeating every element of Lab management.
The growing inclination towards LIMS for better lab management can be attributed to the fact that it generates fascinating amount of reports with all much-needed actionable data. This allows pathologists and lab owners to record, analyse and utilise business data effectively.
Here are the types of business reports you should look for in a LIMS.
Analytical Reports
Analytical reports are a combination of various elements of your laboratory put together for comparative analysis, needed for effective management of your laboratory. These reports aid in monitoring turn-around time, analyse business growth, track department-wise activities, and assess overall sample load.
Some of the analytical reports commonly generated using LIMS are- test analytics, TAT analytics, outsource analytics, department-wise analytics, marketing analytics, financial analytics, and more.
Below are the most used types of analytical reports
Test Analytics Report
It provides an analysis of the number of tests conducted for all patients for a given time period. Using this, you can identify the topmost types of tests being conducted in your lab in terms of number as well as income.
Overall TAT Report
These are based on pre-analytical, analytical and post-analytical TAT, and are one of the most important types of reports for any lab business. The statistical representation of all data gathered here helps you understand better and make the necessary alterations in your operational flow to improve your turnaround time.
Operational Reports
With automation, analysing and monitoring operations is easier with timely reporting. Operational reports investigate all factors that contribute to the smooth operation of the lab. They are Test counts, approved results, cancelled results, processing sample info, stock consumption to name a few important ones.
Department-wise Reports
These are meant to give an in-depth analysis of the performance of every department of your laboratory and to measure staff productivity. These reports help you take necessary actions for better utilization of human resources.
Patient-wise TAT Reports
These reports give you a detailed analysis of every stage in patients’ sample-to-report journey in your laboratory. Every stage marked against the time consumed enables you to identify bottlenecks in the operations and take actions backed with accurate data to benefit the organisation.
Quality Control Report
These are meant for monitoring analysers’ quality control. With Levey-Jenning chart representation, these reports give you a real-time analysis of the performance of your analysers. It not only keeps you updated about your analysers’ functioning but is extremely useful for maintaining NABL standards.
Inventory Reports
To ensure better control of inventory stock, mainly relative to its consumption, expiry, and future purchases, such reports are quite impactful towards smooth laboratory handling.
Mentioned below is one of the highly essential inventory reports that you must look for
Stock Consumption Reports — Based on the tests booked, LIMS automatically maintains a record of the inventory consumed, the stock remaining and the stock wasted. This report allows you to track and analyse the inventory of all your centres without having to manually keep a tab on the items. Its real-time information allows you to place an order for the next batch well in-time to avoid last minute hassle and gives you full control of any possible leakages.
Financial Reports
Recording your laboratory’s end-of-day revenues & collections accurately is crucial for maintaining healthy financial flow. Errors in manual entry, unexpected delays in collating information and unavailability of data for immediate action can disrupt the workflow of your laboratory.
Clear and readily available information on the amount of cash collected from every location, separate log of the due credits sales and ledger for your business can be of utmost help. Implementing and using an efficient LIMS in your laboratory gives you access to a number of financial reports in both tabular and statistical format. This makes it easier to identify, track and control any possible leakages without spending hours at your desktop.
Some finance reports that can be really useful to extract from your LIMS are — billing, bill settlement details, daily collection, pending dues, doctors’ revenue, monthly revenue and organisation-wise collection.
In order to ensure success in laboratory business, it is imperative to track and analyse all operations at regular intervals. Knowing the types of reports that are available and how they can benefit your laboratory processes it may come in handy for you to choose a LIMS that offers all of these.
