Ever since the coronavirus pandemic began, laboratory directors across the country have been searching for ways to simplify workflows and accelerate test results to meet the growing demand for more access to covid-19 testing. They’ve been searching for ways to boost capacity, remove testing backlogs, eliminate paper requisitions, improve turnaround times, and better manage patient follow-up.
The TestDirectly web portal is designed to effectively address all of these issues. “Our platform targets and eliminates the barriers that can cause reporting delays and it frees laboratories from having to commit large amounts of time on manual order entry and resources for case follow-up,” says Suren Avunjian, CEO at LigoLab Information System, the company that developed, designed, and brought TestDirectly to the market.
“The portal connects laboratories and collection centers with patients, government agencies, employers, and physicians for fast and safe covid-19 testing, with results sent directly back to patients and providers minutes after the instrument releases the results,” says Avunjian. “Additionally, we assist with follow-up by providing administrative portals where test results and prevalence can be securely monitored in real-time. This allows for the quick isolation of positive covid-19 cases and the prevention of outbreaks.”
TestDirectly can be deployed quickly to interface with any laboratory information system (LIS) and test instrumentation. Once deployed, the company says it replaces manual processes with an electronic workflow that starts when a patient self-registers for a test on any computer or mobile device. From there, the streamlined workflow continues and covers the scheduling of an appointment at a collection center, the sample collection, the report delivery, and the distribution of the test result, all at a level of efficiency and speed needed for patients and officials to quickly take action and control the spread of the virus.
TestDirectly is designed to remove the bottlenecks that occur when labs enter patient data from paper requisitions into their information systems manually, as well as the data entry errors associated with this process. By switching to an electronic workflow that supports remote patient self-registration and contactless/paperless drive-through or onsite/dispatched sample collections, significant time is saved, enabling the specimens that arrive at the laboratory to be quickly scanned in as electronic orders and then go straight to processing. As soon as test results are finalized and verified, reports are created and immediately delivered from the LIS to the TestDirectly portal, and patients are notified that their results are ready to be reviewed by accessing the reports section of the portal. From collection to reporting, patients typically receive their results within a 48-hour window, no laboratory follow-up is needed, and the officials monitoring the results in real time can take immediate action when positive cases are identified.
The TestDirectly web portal works with any LIS. It helps laboratories quickly move to an electronic workflow that addresses the order entry bottleneck while also reducing data entry errors. TestDirectly supports both drive-through and on-site collections with a workflow that expedites patient data collection, report delivery, and follow-up. It enables laboratories to boost capacity and improve turnaround times.
For more information, visit LigoLab and TestDirectly.
