[ROCHESTER, Minn] Mayo Medical Laboratories, the global reference laboratory of Mayo Clinic, and National University Hospital (NUH) in Singapore announced on December 5 that are now electronically linked via the widely used and secure Health Level 7 interface. The system enables NUH to order specialized Mayo laboratory tests and receive patient results in real time.
Health Level 7 (commonly referred to as HL7) refers to a set of international standards for transferring health care data between software applications used by the collaborating entities. The interface enhances patient safety and quality of care by expanding the flow of accurate health care information and eliminating manual processes. Mayo Clinic has established more than 500 HL7 interfaces with other health care institutions throughout North America and parts of the world. The interface with NUH represents Mayo’s first in the Asia-Pacific region.
“Setting up an HL7 interface represents a major commitment of time and resources,” says William Morice, II, M.D., Ph.D., president of Mayo Medical Laboratories and chair of Mayo Clinic’s Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology. “This progressive decision by NUH supports its commitment — and Mayo’s — to putting the needs of the patient first.”
Now that National University Hospital’s laboratory information system (LIS) is securely linked with Mayo Clinic, NUH staff members may place laboratory orders for Mayo tests, receive results directly into their LIS, and provide their physicians and specialists with real-time information to treat and diagnose patients.
“The interface between NUH and Mayo Medical Laboratories will allow our test results to be accessed immediately by the doctors as soon as they are available, without waiting for transcriptions from our laboratory staff. This also cuts processing time by up to three hours per day,” says Roland Jureen, M.D., senior consultant and head of NUH’s Department of Laboratory Medicine.
