Michael's Story
Michael, from Syracuse, NY, is vacationing in New York City with his family when he starts to feel under the weather. He decides to visit a local clinic to find out what is happening.
The physician in the clinic orders some lab work. A lab technician draw's Michael's blood and sends it to the lab. The lab sends the test results back to the clinic physician, and these results are incorporated into Michael's electronic health record (EHR) along with the proper LOINC code for each test. The physician provides Michael with a diagnosis based on his test results.
Over the last year, Michael's physician in Syracuse has been working closely with a local Health Information Organization (HIO) to implement a standardized lab results interface. The physician, HIO and HIE vendor have been using the LRI IG to build and implement this interface, following the standardized guidelines outlined so that the physician will be able to receive lab results from a variety of sources.
When Michael returns home from his vacation, he follows up with his primary care provider, who already has Michael's results as they had been made available via an HIO. The results were seamlessly incorporated into Michael's EHR at his primary care provider's office because the results were transmitted from the lab's Laboratory Information System (LIS) using a standards-based interface and standardized vocabulary, message structure, and format to the PCP’s local HIO, where his provider was then able to use the new interface.