CLSI Publishes Updated Protocols for Transferring Information Between Clinical Laboratory Instruments and Computer Systems

WAYNE, Pa.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) has recently published an updated standard, Specification for Low-Level Protocol to Transfer Messages Between Clinical Laboratory Instruments and Computer Systems; Approved StandardSecond Edition (LIS01-A2), which describes the electronic transmission of digital information between clinical laboratory instruments (those that measure one or more parameters from one or multiple samples) and computer systems (those that are configured to accept instrument results for further processing, storage, reporting, or manipulation).

Ed Heierman, PhD, Abbott Diagnostics, and CLSI volunteer, explains, The LIS01-A2 protocol continues to serve as the foundation for the reliable transmission of patient results to laboratory computer systems for many laboratory instruments. The updates made to the LIS01-A2 standard improve the readability of the specification and help clarify the protocol details, which will be beneficial for protocol implementers.

This document replaces the first edition of the approved guideline, LIS1-A, which was published in 2003. It includes the following updates:

  • TCP/IP communication is now included and the state diagram was replaced so it is consistent with the text of the document.
  • The title and text have been revised throughout to indicate that this standard applies to clinical laboratory instruments.
  • The term computer has been replaced with the term information to better reflect the current terminology (ie, LIS) and the headings of two sections in the document have been changed to make them more specific.

This specification addresses the low-level protocol used for both serial binary data exchange and TCP/IP data exchange. These changes help bring a commonly used and popular standard for instrument interfaces to meet the needs of todays networked environment.

For additional information on CLSI or for further information regarding this release, visit the CLSI website at http://www.clsi.org or call +610.688.0100.

CLSI is a global, nonprofit, membership-based organization dedicated to developing standards and guidelines for the health care and medical-testing community. CLSIs unique consensus process facilitates the creation of standards and guidelines that are reliable, practical, and achievable for an effective quality system.