PLS allows users to enter the patient specific demographics manually, or using details received from the hospital’s PMI system. With either method, PLS ensures data integrity is maintained. Users can also manage patient demographics using details received from the host and view associated host episodes and appointments.

Using PLS, users can search for information using a variety of criteria and manage multiple patient identifiers including Medicare numbers, Veterans’ Affairs (VA) numbers and multiple hospital medical record numbers (MRN).

Patient related information including invoices, and patient conditions can be accessed and managed from PLS. Duplicate patient records can be managed through the patient merge functionality – allowing users to identify duplicate patient entries and then merge them with their associated data such as episodes, results, invoices etc. being carried over to the merged patient. Alternatively, users can delete a duplicate patient once it has been confirmed they are no longer required in the system.

Key Functionality:

• Mechanisms available to facilitate the entry of correct data and prevent the entry of invalid data.
• Validity checks on Medicare numbers and VA numbers.
• The ability to set fields to 'mandatory' and clearly define the mandatory fields on the data entry screen - preventing the user from bypassing the field until an appropriate value is added.
• Store and display patient data such as the patient’s name; including title, date of birth/age, patient residential address and suburb, home telephone, patient sex, Medicare number, private health insurer number, MRN and patient death status from external systems (e.g. Hospital PMI).
• Update patient demographics from the PMI.
• Identify a patient by scanning a barcode.
• Use a number of methods to search for patients; such as MRN, patient name, Medicare number (user defined – client makes the choice of whether they want to use this as a search criteria subject to their interpretation of the privacy laws), date of birth, patient age, sex and referring doctor.
• For example, search for all males with an approximate age of 32.
• Patient identifiers can be both numeric and alphanumeric and the system can support multiple identifiers for the same patient.
• Identify and merge duplicate patients.
• Store patient condition information such as mobility status, infectious status, oxygen requirements, presence of drains and intravenous (IV) tubes.
• Store all alert and allergy information and flag the user when allergies or alerts exist for a particular patient.
• Upload history and result data from existing LIS applications and display as for native history and results.
• Protect patients who wish to remain anonymous or where there is a legal requirement that the patient not be identified.
• Display a list of users who have previously accessed a patient’s record.
• Mark a patient as a bad debtor.
• Check the history of a patient.
• Lookup patient results and invoices and identify patients for follow up.

 

Episode Management

Within PLS, an Episode represents a patient request for clinical investigation. Episodes provide an accurate representation of instances where services were provided to a patient by your organisation.

All episodes are associated with the record for the relevant patient. PLS facilitates the efficient entry and management of episodes and displays all episodes for a given patient; in chronological order. Episode information can be determined during the initial system configuration and typically includes referrer details, report copies required, requested tests, patient inpatient/outpatient information, billing details and clinical notes.

Episode entry is further enhanced by provision of lookup, pre-filling, automatic checking and auditing. These and other tools ensure consistency and efficiency in the creation and management of episodes.

Key Functionality:

• Insert and maintain patient specific test episodes.
• Display or select a list of all patient associated episodes and their current status within the system.
• Access and manage episode related information including reports, invoices and aliquots.
• Automatically check episodes on save to ensure adherence to business rules.
• Access pricing information for an episode.
• Report, test and invoice lookup are invoked from the episode.
• Supports user definable default data field values.
• Specify data fields as mandatory.

 

Enhanced Data Entry

PLS provides users with a number of key features which ensure the quick and easy registration of data and assist in the maintenance of overall data integrity. All fields are clearly labeled and can be set as mandatory by administrative users to ensure appropriate data is contained in new records entered in the database.

Key Functionality:

• Automated registration (such as with blood gas samples).
• Quick registration (allowing the recording of minimal information to enter samples in the analysers).
• Data field pick lists.
• User-defined data field-based business rules to validate data entry.
• Algorithm checks for Medicare, Veterans’ Affairs numbers and credit card numbers.
• Upload and update from external database, extract or system such as patient master index (PMI).
• Widespread utility for barcode usage to improve accuracy and efficiency.

 

Enhanced Search Features

PLS provides a number of ways to search for records in the database using key identifiers such as patient demographics, ID codes and others.

Key Functionality:

• Search for a record by identifier code such as Medicare number, Veteran’s Affairs number or medical record number (MRN).
• Search using the name of the patient.
• Image viewable throughout application.
• Code search.

 

Electronic Requests

Records in the PLS database can be updated and maintained by remote request to the PMI and the program tracks request instances with time-stamps and maintains status updates.

Key Functionality:

• User configurable mapping of test codes across platforms.
• Update data received from the electronic medical record during the request process.
• Arrival of electronic requests is time-stamped.
• Maintain request statuses including request received, sample collected and received, modified and completed.
• Sort requests on work lists according to service provider, modality, department, test code, subspecialty, private/public patient status and so on.
• Manually assign requests to a particular work list.
• Flag all urgent requests.

 

Test Management

PLS provides users with the ability to easily manage test workflow, quickly enter information and make checks on user entry to ensure information has been correctly entered.

Key Functionality:

• Easily access a patient’s previous history.
• Allow for laboratory staff to modify registered tests, if needed, and print updated labels.
• Scan and store documentation, such as episode forms, with easy access and retrieval.
• Check information (using episode checking) entered by users and prompt if the information is incorrect. This is fully configurable by the site.

 

Report Management

PLS provides report management and verification functionality. All reports can be tailored to a site’s needs. Scientists, medical technicians and stenographers can access reporting jobs through configurable work lists and have the ability to use standard word processing functionality. Doctors can easily access the Reporting module to edit and verify their reports using configurable work lists, while having access to patient episode and history information. Work lists can be configured to reflect a site’s workflow – e.g. enable the more urgent work to be completed first. All changes to all reports are audited and stored to enable easy tracking of these changes at any point in the future.

• User-configurable appearance of reports, including the ability to define structured reports.
• Supports different report statuses such as interimed and authorised.
• Allow only authorised users to access certain work lists and verification functionality.
• Permanently store audit information relating to report management, including timestamps of the dates/times of report editing and status changes.
• Allow a stenographer to either pick a job off a transcription work list or manually enter accession or patient identifier data.
• Access for reporting doctors from remote locations.
• Allow for tests to be reserved for reporting by particular doctors.
• Store standard reporting text and formatting macros system-wide, and easily access these when needed.
• Utilise an Australian dictionary containing a comprehensive list of medical terminology.
• Easily add words to the dictionary.
• Utility is provided to allow administrators to clean up the dictionary where inappropriate or incorrect words are added.
• Easy to access for spell checking during reporting.
• Update all external systems that have received a report when modifications have been made to that report.
• Control the release of unverified reports.
• Automated, script-controlled authorisation and release processes based on the passing of delta and panic checks, QC or other defined events, singularly or in combination as defined by the user.
• Allow a clinician to flag and date reports for later follow-up.
• Have work lists of tests that have not yet been actioned, sorted and filtered by a variety of methods including test code, patient location, referring doctor, time frames and the like.

 

User Access and Security

The Authorities module provides the ability to create and expire users and maintains access to menu options and specific functionality within the system.

Key Functionality:

• Support for password/personal identification number (PIN) access.
• Only one password is required from the user to access all authorised menus.
• PLS is able to assign areas within the application and permissions within areas according to privilege level.
• Access can be grouped by geographical or work area location.
• A lockout feature prevents further access, via the desktop, once a definable time-out threshold has been reached.
• Password history is maintained by PLS in order to prevent recycling of passwords.
• The system can mandate that passwords consist of both alpha and numeric characters and a minimum length.
• Definable expiry dates can be set that force the user to enter a different password.
• Limits can be imposed on the number of consecutive attempts to enter an incorrect password.

 

Web-Based Results

PLS provides a read-only display of laboratory test results within a web-browser, along with search functions, access privilege features and more.

Key Functionality:

• Web-based interface to give clinicians read-only access to laboratory results.
• Easily search for patients by various criteria such as surname and medical record number.
• Full audit history for every result accessed.
• Secure and appropriate access to results via defined group/user permissions.
• Limit access to only those results where there is an established clinical relationship between clinical user and patient (e.g. doctor has referred patient episode, or been nominated to receive a copy of a report).
• Unit Review - allowing a clinician to review unreviewed tests results for patients in his/her unit.
• Patient lists via current location (e.g. inpatient ward).

 

Accounting

PLS includes a full accounts receivable/debtors system designed especially for Australia and the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS). The accounting module includes the ability to generate invoices and batches, reminders and bad debt lists, receipts payments and refunds and permits a user to journal credit or debit entries and adjust payments.

Accounting reports, such as aged debtors, outstanding debtors and audit journal reporting are included and the module also generates payment listings for banking use. Detailed end of month reports are provided, as well as statistical HTML reports of daily, weekly, monthly activity, with hot links and drill down to associated and/or detail information.

Billing and Pricing

The billing and pricing component of PLS allows users to produce prices for requests, define and manage Medicare rules, allocate item numbers to test codes and more.

Key Functionality:

• Storage room for multiple pricing schedules, including MBS, contracted services and intra and inter-hospital billing as required.
• Ability to produce a price for an episode with either single or multiple examinations.
• User-definable management and interpretation of all Medicare rules.
• Full update strategy when the Health Insurance Commission (HIC) releases revised schedules.
• Full compliance to all Australian government legislation and HIC regulations, including GST and Location Specific Practice Numbers (LSPN).
• Automatic allocation of item numbers to test codes.
• Interfacing of patient information to hospital systems for external billing.

Transacting, Invoicing and Batching

Using the transacting, invoicing and batching component of PLS Accounting, users can raise manual and automatic invoices, print Medicare forms and more.

Key Functionality:

• Ability to perform on the spot invoicing or invoice generation in runs.
• Generation of different types of invoices dependent on the patient’s bill category – inpatient, outpatient, private, public, Medicare, Veterans’ Affairs, compensable and consolidated.
• Ability to raise manual invoices (without the need to have a patient episode or item number).
• Ability to invoice for procedures not covered by the Medicare Benefits Schedule.
• User-definable patient account types (bill-codes) or PMI patient classifications.
• Ability to nominate alternate payees for invoices – patient-specific or general.
• Printing of invoices individually or in batches and reprint invoices at any stage.
• Invoices can be placed on hold, marked for follow-up or have the reminder period adjusted.
• Generation of up to 3 reminders for outstanding invoices at user-definable time periods.
• Production of bad debt listings or files for debt collecting agencies.
• Batching of invoices to be sent to Medicare, Veterans’ Affairs and insurance companies.
• Invoice printing to pre-printed or PLS-defined stationary.
• Printing of DB4 and Medicare claim forms.
• Electronic transfer of Medicare and Veterans’ Affairs batches to HIC.
• Creation of the paperwork required to accompany electronic transfer files.
• Electronic transfer of invoice batches to insurance companies.
• Electronic receipt of files from HIC (exceptions and electronic funds transfer statements).
• Automatic or manual process of exception and electronic funds transfer statements.

Payments and Receipting

The payments and receipting components of PLS are used to receipt money transfers and payments in cash, cheque, credit etc, allocate payments to item numbers, perform various printing tasks and a host of other invaluable processes.

Key Functionality:

• Receipting of cash, cheque, electronic funds transfer and credit card payments.
• Ability to select single or multiple invoices against which to record a payment .
• Part, full or percentage allocation of payments to item numbers, invoices or batches.
• Receipt printing to pre-printed or PLS-defined stationary or invoices to include payments.
• Easy adjustment to either the payment amount or to the way in which the funds have been allocated.
• Creation of batches of payments.
• Automatic generation of refunds.

Banking

The Banking component of the Accounting module allows users to generate bank lists for each payment type, view or reprint previous bank lists, generate audit reports and more.

Key Functionality:

• Bank lists can be generated for each payment type at any time to allow a systematic approach to banking.
• Ability to print draft lists before committing payments.
• Not all payments required to be committed at the one time.
• Capacity to view or reprint previous bank lists.
• Summary and audit reports for all payment/banking functions.

Invoice Adjusting

By allowing users to make changes to invoices, the invoice adjusting features of PLS ensure that incorrect billing can be altered to reflect the accurate charge.

Key Functionality:

• Invoice adjustment using user-definable transaction/journal entries.
• Adjustments can be applied at various times/stages in the invoices life.
• Easy reversing of incorrectly billed episodes.
• Alteration of patient billing category at any stage.
• Full auditing on invoice adjustment.

End of Month Processing and Reporting

PLS Accounting offers comprehensive end-of-month processing and reporting; including audit, journal and financial statistics reporting.

Key Functionality:

• Full end of month processing – automatic or manual.
• Breakdown of figures for GST compliance.
• Complete audit, journal and financial statistics reporting, including General Ledger statements, Aged Summary and Outstanding Debtors reports.
• Multiple financial interest group capabilities, including the splitting of all reports and money figures for each site.

 

Key Reference Tables

PLS relies on reference data that is logically grouped into key reference tables. The site key user updates and maintains these tables as required.

In some instances, some table entries will not be appropriate for all worksites. As such, larger tables such as the Doctor table and the Test table have a mode option that enables key users to mark entries as “lookup” or “no lookup” for specific worksites. The net effect is that each worksite will only be presented with table entries that are relevant to them.

Data integrity is dependant on reference tables being accurate. To ensure this is always the case, the system has inbuilt security features that allow users to expire table entries, and limits the ability to modify data in a manner that will compromise data integrity.

Key Tables

The system:

• Uploads provider details as provided by Health Insurance Commission (HIC) in the HIC Doctor table.
• Stores complete doctor details including provider number, address, surgery, fax, phone and email details.
• Supports multiple entries for doctors practicing under different provider numbers.
• Maps provider and patient details as stored on the hospital PAS.
• Allows records in key reference tables to be marked as expired to prevent inappropriate use.
• Allows records in key reference tables to be marked as lookup or no-lookup to ensure appropriate use across worksites.
• Uniquely identifies each workstation, and enables customisation accordingly.
• Allows user-defined standard comments and spell-check dictionary to facilitate ease, consistency and accuracy in reporting.
• Stores details of institutions, surgeries, departments, hospitals and wards serviced by the imaging department.
• Supports internal email groups to facilitate efficient communication within the department.

 

Document Scanning

PLS supports document scanning via a 3rd party solution. The document scanning module can be used for scanning paper-based documents such as episode forms.

Key Functionality:

• First point of contact scanning allows reception staff to immediately scan the episode form.
• Scanned documents available for viewing within the application.
• Scanning not limited to episode forms, e.g. can be used for electronic record of worksheets, hardcopy from external second/expert opinions, other clinical documents, etc.

 

Decision Support

PLS comes complete with inbuilt decision support functionality. The episode checking script provides a flexible method of applying checking rules to the registration of patient episodes. These rules enforce the business rules of the healthcare enterprise.

The episode checking script can scrutinise the tests that have been requested, the age of the patient, the ward and hospital recorded, billing category, patient conditions and other patient and episode details and then perform a defined action. The actions include displaying error or warning messages, applying urgent status to the episode, changing the tests requested, adding or removing tests and adding test markers.

In addition, the system will immediately issue an error message whenever users attempt to save inappropriate information in a field. These checks occur in the background, with errors and/or warnings only displayed if the information entered is incorrect.

Key Functionality:

• Provides a flexible, user-configurable, method of applying rule-based checking to the registration of patient episodes, paper or electronic.
• Defining combinations of tests that can or can not be ordered together.
• Changing the episode details.
• Displaying error or warning messages.
• Checking appropriate use of billing category.
• Warn users when a rule is breached.
• Flexible responses to a breach of rules - provide a simple warning or prevent the user from progressing with the episode entry until the breach is corrected.
• Allow the user to override the warning where appropriate.
• Require that the user provide a reason for overriding the warning where appropriate.
• Record when a warning is overridden, the reason and by whom.

 

Report Distribution

Patient reports can be distributed to a number of recipients using a variety of methods within PLS. The Report Distribution module allows for automatic and manual delivery of reports by printing, fax, email, HTML and electronic result delivery to doctor surgeries.

The module can be configured to automatically generate the report in any of the distribution formats using rule-based conditions such as referrer, examination type, patient location and report status. Manual report generation is available allowing the user to distribute a report in any of the formats on an ad hoc basis. The Report Distribution module is complimented by Kestral’s web-based result lookup application.

Key Functionality:

• Support for many types, models and brands of printers, including colour and black and white laser, ink jet, dot matrix, and thermal printers.
• Support for report distribution via different printing queue methods such as Microsoft Windows® network queues, print servers (including Novell), local printers, printing to file and HTML.
• Batch printing of reports.
• Discharge printing of reports.
• Automatic and manual faxing of reports.
• Automatic and manual secure, encrypted email delivery of reports.
• Electronic distribution of reports, including PIT and HL7 format, to practice management software at doctor surgeries, hospitals, wards, units and institutions.
• Control over report layout, font size and orientation.
• Ability to setup different formatting on subsequent pages of a report.
• All data held in the system, such as patient demographic and admission information, provider details, episodic, examination and report information and so on, can be made available for display on a report.
• Automatic report distribution for reports that have been validated via printing, email, fax and electronic result delivery.
• Manual, ad hoc report distribution to user-selectable destinations via printing, email, fax and electronic result delivery.
• Controlled release of unverified reports.
• Results broadcast to, or queried by, external systems, such as clinical repositories, using integrated HL7 messaging.

 

Statistical Reporting

PLS provides several methods to enable data to be extracted and reports to be generated.

Episode Lists

Episode lists are scripts that allow users of PLS to extract data relevant to patient examination Episodes such as test codes and item numbers.

Key Functionality:

• Many parameters of the episode list extraction can easily be defined by the user; including date range, search text, examination codes, pricing and billing type.
• Results of episode list extractions can be displayed on screen or exported to CSV or text (ASCII) files.
• Popular 3rd party programs such as MS Access can be used to present the data extracted from episode lists in a format defined by the user.
• Kestral can provide a free MS Access application that can process CSV files into a variety of predefined reports.
• Episode list parameters allow users to apply proposed pricing changes for creating forecasting reports and estimating future revenue based on proposed fee changes.
• Reports can be scheduled to run at user defined times.
• The extraction of data can be restricted to defined users.

KStats

KStats is an interface that automatically produces statistical and statement files on a daily, weekly and monthly basis in a compiled HTML format. These files are produced automatically and do not require any input from a user.

Key Functionality:

• Provided free of charge to all customers as part of their normal comprehensive maintenance package.
• Various data is collected including:
  • Actual and notional amounts for:
    • Billing category analysis
    • Collection centre category analysis - time breakdown Hospital analysis
    • Doctor analysis
    • Surgery analysis
    • Cost centre
  • A list of the outstanding invoices for each financial site broken up into each individual hospital, debtor.
  • A list of all outstanding Medicare invoices.
  • Automatically produces the daily financial statistics information.

Data Extractions

The Data Extraction option is a method of producing user specified reports from the data that is stored within PLS.

Key Functionality:

• Extract statistics that pertain to patient results.
• Useful for research purposes.
• Apply user-defined scripts, with each script having a set task - to search for and retrieve all the patient reports that contain a particular type of data.
• Example: List patients who have tested positive to a specific virus within the past six months.

System Auditing

PLS has extensive auditing capabilities. Every action in the workflow process and system setup can be recorded and tracked. This information is then readily available to monitor the system and to provide information such as turn around time for management statistical reporting.

With Kestral’s full accounting functionality native to the application, the client is provided with full financial auditing.

Clinical Auditing

Detailed clinical auditing provides monitoring from the creation of the report, to the access of the released report and all subsequent versions thereof.

Key Functionality:

• User access to reports, whether the report was viewed or edited, is audited.
• Report distribution audit trails make it possible for privileged users to see where and when a report was sent.
• By using Kestral’s web-based result viewer as a mechanism to provide up-to-the-minute reports to clinical users, additional auditing to know when a report was actually viewed is provided.

General Auditing

Appointment scheduling, system script changes, patient record transfers and more are audited by PLS providing data made available for reporting.

• The system records timestamp information for all the steps in the PLS workflow, from appointment scheduling to report distribution.
• Unsuccessful log-in attempts are recorded.
• Changes to system scripts and user-created scripts are audited.
• Duplicate patient record merges and transfer of episodes from one patient to another are audited.

 

Daybooks

PLS supports work lists through a number of options.

The Daybook option allows users to customise and maintain their own daily electronic outstanding work list that brings together all the functions the user would routinely perform. The information displayed in daybooks and the keys assigned to perform specific actions can be customised for each user or group of users.

The Pathologist Authorise option allows radiologists to review, edit, interim and authorise outstanding reports. The behaviour and display of this electronic work list can be customised to suit the requirements of each pathologist.

The History Panner option allows users to access historical reports electronically for a specific patient. The results can be from a single report type or from several report types to give a more complete picture of the patient’s history. The history panners may be accessed via daybooks or via the patient’s results list screen.

Key Functionality:

• Fully user-customisable, script-driven services.
• Includes default behaviour, such as sort-order options, automatic refreshing, printing functions and historic results.
• Customise the information displayed, based on criteria such as department, report status, report group, test and worksite.
• Key users specify which actions can be performed by inclusion/exclusion of corresponding browser options.
• Define work lists for individuals or groups according to their routine duties and workflow.
• Set work lists to automatically load for specific users or workstations.
• Pathologists manage outstanding reports, in a manner that facilitates efficiency and excellent turn-around.
• Ensure no episode is “lost” in the daily routine and promote excellent turn over and turn‑around time.
• Further customise user views by adjusting column order and width. Data can be sorted (ascending or descending) on a number of columns. Such customisation is retained and users have the option to refer to the default configuration at any time.
• Output work lists to print or file.

 

Product Customisation

PLS offers extensive customisation to suit users. Initially, the User Option script enables the control of a multi-site environment where each site is able to retain their workflow and operate completely separately from the other hospitals or sites. For each individual site, further customisation is achieved by defining startup functionality that governs site defaults, printing and services. Additional customisation is readily applied for departments, workstations, individual users, groups of users and so on.

From a workflow perspective, the User Option script controls:

• Plain paper printing - labels, data extractions, worklists and invoices.
• User definable parameters - automatic loading of services on login.
• Default site conditions.
• User-specific scripts and startup script actions.
• Enabling or suppressing various report definitions.

Key Functionality:

• Enables scalable customisation, per user, workstation, worksite or hospital.
• Provides customisation of control over all non-report printing.
• Controls level of episode validation.
• Defines login behaviour (automatic loading of user services).

Multi Site Environment

Facilities within the same group that utilise PLS can be separated into individual sites so that settings, printer resources, behavioural properties and more can be indivualised on the same system.

Key Functionality:

• Worksite specific behavioural properties.
• Worksite default settings.
• Worksite printing set-up.

 

Microbiology

PLS gives the microbiology laboratory the ability to achieve significant gains in efficiency and accuracy by providing a wide range of user-definable features.

Key Functionality:

• Secondary (unique) sample numbering.
• Produce plate labels with the option of automatic or ad-hoc printing.
• User-definable daybooks, demonstrating outstanding reports and providing flexible presentation to accommodate different bench workflow.
• Quick Entry Menu to allow for the rapid reporting and recording of microscopy and culture information without the requirement for paper.
• Entry work lists for on-screen batch entry of results.
• Machine interfaces to a variety of microbiology devices such as blood culture instruments, urinalysis machines and identification and sensitivity instruments.
• Agar Dilution Service for the direct batch entry and transfer of agar dilution identification and sensitivity results.
• Auto-authorisation and checking of results from instruments.
• Notifications of positive or abnormal results.
• Isolate and Sensitivity Module (ISM) for recording, storage, interpretation and management of results that include identification method, growth quantitation, sensitivity method and sensitivity results.
• User-definable Infection Control Reports and Lists.
• Epidemiology Module providing reports on a range of parameters including location of patient, specific sensitivity results and specific organisms and specimen types.
• Turnaround Time utility quickly monitors turnaround times on the fly. Users specify various start and end points for the analysis and rerun the utility to achieve the new turnaround time instantly.

 

Anatomical Pathology

PLS provides many features that have been designed especially for use by Cytology and Histology Departments.

Key Functionality:

• Secondary sample numbering to enable easy filing of slides.
• Different workflow configurations for each area – e.g. histology, cytology, electron microscopy, immunohistochemistry.
• Recording of Specimen, Blocks and Slides.
• User-configurable defaults for each specimen including number of blocks, slides and types of stain.
• Supports entry of further investigation, recording of storage locations and flags for teaching slides.
• Interface between PLS and slide and cassette writers.
• Slide labels in batches or immediately.
• Create worklists, as well as place old specimens on new work lists.
• Allocating of cases to pathologists and registrars.
• Daybooks for scientists, pathologists and medical typists.
• Split reporting for separation of macroscopic, main report body and supplementary reports.
• Generic or user-specific coded comments.
• Lookups for SNOMED and complexity codes.
• Multiple history/previous smear lookup options.
• Standardised Cytology report formats.
• Monitor abnormal smears screened by pathologists.
• Monitor the number of smears screened by a primary screener.
• Correlation between cytology and histopathology.
• Screener’s/Rescreener’s evaluation report.
• Review of Cytology with previous normal results with current abnormal results.
• Smear adequacy report for referring doctors.
• Recall service for PAP smears.
• Electronic result transfer to Cancer Registers.

 

Blood Bank

The PLS Blood Bank module provides an integrated system for stock control, patient management and auditing processes within the blood bank laboratory.

Key Functionality:

• Extensive stock control functions in the PLS Blood Inventory system, including:
• Adding, modifying, deleting and finding stock.
• Moving, returning, discarding and transferring stock.
• Definition of multiple fridges.
• Recording of conditions against stock (“Irradiated”, “Filtered” and so on).
• Functions for recording requests for, and results of, blood bank tests, and the recording of specific blood bank information for a patient, including:
• Blood group.
• Antibody screening and results.
• Direct antiglobulin tests.
• Patient warnings.
• Patient requirements.
• Blood Grouping rules dependant upon laboratory practice and patient history.
• Checking routines for selection of units for patients with special requirements.
• Multiple crossmatch modes that allow different rules to be applied to the issuing of blood products according to the situation including:
• Extensive, user-definable checking procedures for issuing of units to patients via a Computer Crossmatch mode.
• An Emergency mode to allow issue of units prior to completion of pre-transfusion testing.
• Work list generation for individual or batch validation of unit blood groups.
• Recording of antibody screen and crossmatch reaction scores using the Batch Reactions functionality.
• The Other Blood Products (‘Batched Products’) functionality to record the receipt, issue, and movement of these items to wards and patients.
• Reporting functionality including C:T ratios, usage statistics, transfusion history for patients, and audit trails of bag movements.

 

Specimen Processing & Order Entry

PLS offers a wide range of options that facilitate effective and efficient workflow of specimens and samples through the central processing area and to the relevant departments for processing.

Key Functionality:

• Worksite separation and customisation.
• Single and multiple patient identifiers.

This is useful  when, for example, a patient has a UR number from 2 different hospitals and a private health insurance benefit number which all need to be attached to the patient.

• Registration of patients without UR numbers.
• Patient and episode details on one screen.
• Variety of fields for episode entry.
• Browser hints and easy lookup of tables for ease of data input.
• Record a variety of times and dates.
• Site definable mandatory fields.
• Add list of specimens received, which is used by the aliquotting functionality to determine numbers of labels for aliquot tubes.
• Generate aliquot labels for sample separation, and transfer to other sites.
• Generate referral letters/dispatch sheets for referred specimens.
• Full auditing of laboratory site and externally referred samples.
• Authority (access) levels tailored to meet requirements of particular users.
• Full auditing of changes to patient and episode details.
• Patient information entered both manually and via hospital interfaces.

 

Integration and Interfacing

Kestral has an extensive history of providing system integration and application interfacing. This integration and interfacing covers a broad range of applications and involves interfacing within the imaging department, within the clinical setting (single or multi-campus hospitals) or with external systems/providers.

The sophistication of the integration solutions offered has developed over time and Kestral now offers such capabilities as full interfacing to a plethora of instruments and systems; as well as an electronic order entry interface/module. With this development, the tools available to Kestral and to its clients have also evolved. These tools enable easy configuration and modification of HL7-based interfaces or translation to/from custom messages to HL7.

Where possible, Kestral’s integration solutions are standards-based (HL7, DICOM, IHE, XML etc). Where required, Kestral also offers the flexibility of custom interfaces.

The following list provides a summary of some of the integration and interfacing that is possible from PLS. This list is by no means exhaustive; so if there is a particular interface or application of interest to you, please do not hesitate to contact us for further information.

Patient Master Indexes (PMI) and Patient Administration Systems (PAS)

PLS can interface with hospital information systems (HIS):

• Interfaced extensively to all major HIS, PAS, emergency medicine and outpatient systems.
• Capable of storing patient and visit data (PMI/ADT).
• Standards-based (HL7) and custom interfaces.
• Broadcast and Query-based interfaces.
• Please see the attached HL7 compliance statement for the supported message types.
• Supports both universal patient index (UPI) or hospital specific medical or unit record numbers (MRN or URN), or a combination of both.
• Supports multiple PMI/PAS feeds for multi-campus implementations.

Host Linking Interface

This interface is used to capture and store an association between the patient’s hospital encounter and their imaging encounter.

• Allows the configuration of business for linking hospital and departmental encounters.
• The association data can be used for billing or clinical repository purposes.

Clinical Costings

PLS has been interfaced to a number of third party clinical costings systems.

• Existing interfaces to applications such as Transition, Trendstar, PowerCost.
• The test table has an in-depth facility to apply work unit loadings to the various exam codes providing them with a KPI weighting that enables calculation of their value relative to the portion of the budget they consume.
• Tests can be defined with work units (weighting points) which can be extracted with the exam statistics for the purpose of clinical costings analysis in clinical costings applications.

Machine Interfaces

The ability of PLS to interface with a wide range of instruments has lead to a vast knowledge and experience in this area. Please contact us should you require a comprehensive list of analysers to which we currently interface.

A few examples are listed below:

• Microbiology interfaces, including Blood Culture Instruments (Bactec, BactAlert), Urinalysis (Clinitek, Uroquick) and Identification & Sensitivity devices (MastaScan, Vitek, Microscan Walkaway).
• Haematology interfaces, including Cell Counters (Coulter MaxM, Sysmex SE9000, Advia 120, Celldyn 3500), Coagulation Analysers (ACL 1000).
• Histology interfaces such as slide & cassette writers and imaging instruments.
• Biochemistry interfaces such as General Biochemistry analysers (Vitros 500, Olympus AU8000, Hitachi 911, Integra 700, ElecSys), Endocrinology Analysers (ACS 180), Blood Gas Analysers (Chiron Blood Gas) and Serology Analysers (Axsym).
• Specimen reception instrumentation such as Pathfinder, as well as full integration with robotic sample handlers.
• Point-of-care instrumentation, including Blood Gas Analysers, Biochemistry Analysers.
• Computer-based clinical decision support systems, such as LabWizard.
• Full integration with robotics sample handlers.
• System-wide interfaces for a variety of purposes including PMI, costing, finance, email and surgery download of results.
• Workflow tools for interfaces including:
• Comprehensive aliquoting control (including the option of controlling a fully robotic aliquoting instrument).
• Notifications of results that are deemed as abnormal, as well as urgent and/or telephoned.
• Error notification in regards to failed QC results, inability to auto-authorise and calibration errors.
• Auto-authorisation on completion of checking (as defined by the user).
• Detailed delta and panic checking, as well as normal, action and life range settings.
• Auto-registration of requests from Blood Gas Analysers.

General HL7 Interfacing

PLS has been interfaced to many clinical systems via HL7, with some examples listed above. PLS also has a unique HL7 message development and interfacing module. This module allows PLS to be easily interfaced to most clinical repository systems. The system also has a HL7 result receive module for import of results from other systems.

• PLS includes a number of inbuilt tools to manipulate, view and test the messages.
• The association data can be used for billing or clinical repository purposes.
• Using Kestral’s custom ‘KScript’ environment, users are able to specify the contents of outgoing messages quickly and easily.
• Users have the ability to specify what data is sent using a number of options including specifying data variables and data fields or utilising the data dictionary.
• The KScript environment has been used for a number of results interfaces utilising both broadcast of unsolicited updates and responding to queries.
• For the results receive interface, the user can explicitly specify where incoming HL7 results are placed into the report.
• Please contact Kestral for further deatils on our supported message types.

HL7Connect

HL7Connect is a companion product to PLS.

• HL7Connect is a fully featured HL7 gateway with a full web-based GUI front end for interface configuration and message manipulation.
• It also includes a message development and validation environment.

Lexicon Server

Provides the ability to apply inbound and outbound aliases to code sets for translation when the data is sent through or received via an interface.

Data Upload

Kestral has an established record of providing data conversion strategies for new customers. The company’s comprehensive upload facility has made uploading data from existing applications a relatively automated process.

This service can be used to upload legacy system data, where PLS replaces an existing departmental system. The upload service will upload data from a structured, fixed format file.

The facility allows clients to upload history and result data from existing legacy applications and display it as for native history and results.

Standards-Based Integration

We understand the value of, and are committed to supporting and using standards such as HL7, DICOM, and the IHE framework. We have been organisational members of HL7 for 9 years, have 3 of Australia’s 5 accredited specialists in control/query, regularly attend HL7 working meeting in the US (at least twice a year on average) and co-chair the HL7 Control/Query technical committee. Our control specialists work with support and technical support consultants when HL7 interfaces are required or if issues arise.

Kestral is committed to standards compliance (such as HL7, DICOM, CCOW, and IHE). Kestral actively advocates the use of standards-based integration as opposed to proprietary solutions. Standards-based integration allows us to do the development once and then be able to offer the integration solution to the rest of our client base.

Kestral’s commitment to standards also extends to being an active participant in standards development bodies, such as HL7 (described above), OMG, and the Australian Standards IT-14-6-5 Diagnostic Messaging Working Group. This group is responsible for developing AS 4700.2 -2004, Health Level Seven (HL7) Version 2.3.1 - Part 2: Pathology Orders and Results and the draft standard Health Level Seven (HL7) Version 2.3.1 - Diagnostic Imaging Orders and Results.

Please contact Kestral for details of our HL7 conformance statement.