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Software Quality: What Role Does Testing Play?

No discussion about software quality would be complete without examining the role of software testing. In the previous post in this series on quality, we mentioned that software testing is a vital part of software quality control (QC). That’s because it’s used to find and prevent defects, ensure performance, and confirm that requirements are met. “Testing is the procedure of […]

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Software Architecture: What Makes it Good, or Not?

Clinical diagnostic laboratories must have high-quality software in order to run reliably and efficiently. But quality is about more than just the software code. Quality must also be the foundation of the software architecture. When labs prioritize the quality of their software and software architecture, ensuring it’s built thoughtfully from the ground up, the quality and maintainability of their processes […]

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Four Popular Search Topics for Labs in 2021

In the past twelve months, we’ve covered a lot of ground on the blog, and many of the posts have clearly resonated with clinical labs. So, we thought it would be interesting to share the topics that readers like you have been most interested in. Not surprisingly, these tie into what’s been happening in the clinical diagnostics sector this year. […]

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Software Quality and Lab Quality: What’s the Difference?

As we mentioned in our previous post in this series, the quality of your software refers to its ability to meet requirements. There are a variety of metrics you can use to measure quality — with varying degrees of importance depending on who you ask and what aspects you want to measure. Fortunately, a number of standards can guide you, […]

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Lab Software Quality: What is Validation & Why is it Important?

Software quality is a broad topic and often not well understood by clinical diagnostic laboratories, which is why we thought it might be helpful to offer a quick primer. Commonly, the “quality” of software refers only to its ability to meet a set of requirements. But meeting requirements is just one of many metrics for measuring quality and if you […]

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How to Visualize and Implement a Continuous Improvement Pipeline in a Clinical Laboratory Context

Clinical diagnostic laboratories may have business goals that include increasing profits, reducing costs, or accelerating innovation. Continuous improvement is an organized approach to identifying opportunities to achieve these types of goals. What is a continuous improvement pipeline? In our work with clinical labs, we recommend building a continuous improvement pipeline—a repeatable mechanism (often called a “recipe”) for planning and deploying […]

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Which Type of Integration is the Right One: Direct or Indirect?

In previous posts, we’ve talked about the importance of integrations for clinical diagnostic labs. Integrations can help labs improve business performance, reduce the risk of errors, and boost productivity. We’ve looked at file- and API-based integrations for liquid handlers and how to overcome the technical challenges of implementing integrations within a lab environment. In this post, we’ll take a closer […]

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How Your SOPs and Lab Software Can Help You Reduce Errors

In my previous post in this two-part series, I talked about how software can support your analysts as they follow your laboratory’s standard operating procedures (SOPs). This time, let’s take a closer look at how software that closely matches your SOPs can help your lab reduce errors, enhance morale, and improve patient safety. Two ways to view errors made in […]

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What Do Standard Operating Procedures Have To Do With Your Lab Software?

It might come as a surprise to some laboratory managers, but a lab’s standard operating procedures (SOPs) offer software consultants key insights into the workings of your lab. They also describe how your lab software should behave—assuming they are up to date. In this two-part series, we’re going to explore how SOPs relate to your lab software and how a […]

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Why Should Clinical Diagnostics Labs Care About Ontology?

In our previous post, we talked about the importance of data provenance for clinical diagnostics laboratories—that is, tracing the origin and changes to critical data such as electronic health records, analytical results, and workflow records. But no conversation about data is complete without also considering the ontology used. Proper data management is crucial for labs If your laboratory wants to […]

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