Informatics for the Clinical Laboratory

This book will highlight all aspects of laboratory informatics, with a focus on information management and the corresponding hardware and technical processes involved. In addition to a comprehensive introduction on laboratory informatics, the book emphasizes the importance of information and resource management as opposed to simply covering the role of computers that support the information system.

As a Professor of Pathology and the Director of Laboratory Information Services at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Dr. Cowan has witnessed the shift in focus in the laboratory from the information generation to information management, and increasing resource limitations demand a higher level of management precision than can be gained from manual methods. The American Board of Pathology now requires an increasing sophistication in information management from candidates for certification. Thus, this book is intended for pathologists and residents in pathology, clinical laboratory scientists, and laboratory and information managers.

Following the broad-based introduction on laboratory informatics, the book's topics include: computer basics; development and validation of the laboratory information system; computer networks; security and confidentiality on computer systems and networks; total cost of ownership; essential software; interfaces; process modeling; artificial intelligence and expert systems; bar coding in the laboratory; image analysis and computer-assisted quantitation; and telepathology.