That is, you must strive to make your laboratory clinically pervasive. Pervasive computing is a modern technology buzzword which implies that digital communication devices will be everywhere we go, not only on our desktops, but in our cars, our lunch rooms, the grocery store, the golf course, and our homes. While the concept would have been considered ridiculously futuristic a decade ago, World Wide Web technology, palm devices, and cell phones have changed everything to where it can be done today. The Web has made it possible to interconnect computers all over the world affordably and with relative ease. Key Web-based technologies are briefly reviewed to help you understand why the Internet is having such a dramatic impact on our lives.
Digital communication is now worldwide and becoming ubiquitous.
That means it is feasible for your lab to become clinically pervasive today by tapping into Web technology. Tapping into the Web to make the results of your LIS browser-accessible and to allow lab orders from outside your walls to flow into your LIS can greatly enhance your competitive edge. You can then much better integrate your information with the clinical setting, integrate work processes to ensure that you get the clinical information you need, and have the potential to deliver results where, when, and how they are needed for clinical decision making. Relevant examples of Web-based applications in the laboratory and a summary of the key potential benefits they offer your laboratory are included in the presentation. Lest you think we've already reached digital Nirvana, there are some very real speed bumps along the road to becoming clinically pervasive.