In one sentence
A LIMS, or Laboratory Information Management System, is the software a laboratory uses to register samples, track them through analysis and release results. It decides what a diagnostics supplier can tell you about a sample and how soon.
LIMS stands for Laboratory Information Management System, the software a laboratory runs to register a sample, record which analyser measured it, apply the reference ranges and release the report. Every sample gets an identifier at registration, and the system keeps the record of who handled it and when.
For a buyer the laboratory system matters because it is the source of every status your own product can show. If it only records that a sample was received and that a report exists, your support team can say very little between those two moments. If it records receipt, then the start of analysis and the release of the report, your product can show each step to the customer who is waiting.
You rarely integrate with a laboratory system directly, because the supplier puts its own interface in front of it. That interface is the part you can test before signing, so ask for sandbox access during the evaluation.
- Ask which sample statuses the laboratory system records and what each one means.
- Ask how your system is told about a status change, by webhook, by API call or by file.
- Ask what happens when a sample is unusable and how you are told the reason for it.
- Ask whether the laboratory, the supplier and your product use the same sample identifier.
In this glossary, Webhook describes how your system is told about a status change, while Befund covers the result document itself and Time-to-Result covers the period between collection and a finished report.
This glossary entry is general information, not medical advice, and it is not intended to diagnose, treat or rule out any condition. Discuss your own results with a clinician who knows your history.
