Construction of an exchange interface for the transmission of laboratory results: a case of the National Tuberculosis Center

Abstract

IntroductionThe transmission of test results by laboratories and their receipt by health facilities are common tasks in the processing of medical information. Managing the flow of information generated by these tasks remains a challenge for these centers. We describe a new system that will allow electronic management adapted to the transmission of results.Materials and methodsThe information system implemented is a client-server system including three main components: the server installed in the laboratory, the client distributed in the AntiTuberculosis Center (ATC) and the communication channel represented by a Virtual Network. The exchange protocol is based on the HL7 standard, in particular by using messages of type ORU_R01. ResultsDuring the two months of implementation of this electronic result transmission system between the National Tuberculosis Reference Center in Abidjan and the ATC in Adzopé, which is about 110 kilometers away, twenty laboratory results were transmitted as soon as they left the laboratory, unlike the time is taken previously, which was about 1 month. The minimalist interface and ease of use of the system have allowed it to be adopted by users.Discussion The use of the HL7 protocol for electronic notifications has proven its effectiveness in making transmissions of results instantaneous. Our system developed specifically addresses the problems related to the transmission of its results; reduction of transmission time, loss of paper supports, transport costs for remote sites. This system is at this level of development a proprietary system by its type of coding. The use of a code system such as LOINC would allow full interoperability between different Information Systems.