Pathology Informatics

Help Desk: 734-936-6740
Emergency Pager ID: 9398
 
 
Office Hours
Monday - Friday, 6:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Closed Saturday and Sunday 
Pathology Informatics is a unit within the Department of Pathology at the University of Michigan Health System.

 

The primary mission and focus of the Pathology Informatics division is providing uninterrupted stewardship of the clinical laboratory information systems in use by the clinical faculty and staff, across the department, to produce the clinical laboratory results serving the enterprise’s patient populations.  Division activities include support for:  Clinical Pathology, Anatomical Pathology, Molecular Pathology, MLabs (the department’s reference lab division), and Paradigm Diagnostics (the department’s Personalized Medicine for Oncology next-generation sequencing service).  The laboratory data produced in Pathology provides approximately 60% – 70% of the evidence supporting major clinical decisions when caring for patients.  A primary responsibility of the team is to ensure the integrity of the patient results that are produced and distributed to other clinical information systems and to ensure the timely reporting of these results.
Our laboratory information system is based on an enhanced version of SCC-Soft Computer.  We implemented this new platform on June 2, 2013, with it replacing the Cerner Classic laboratory system (originally installed in 1988). Soft laboratory is a modular system that serves the basis for all lab sections with the exception of the HLA laboratory(which is currently utilizing Histotrac™). 
The Pathology Informatics staff is organized into support teams that support the IT component of the clinical, research, and education branches of the Department of Pathology.
 

The Laboratory Information System (LIS) and Interfaces team

This team performs data integrity testing and validation, sets up and maintains daily operations and billing, supports LIS users in the use of the application, and sets up and maintains interfaces from the LIS to other clinical systems. The support team consists of medical technologists with specialized training in healthcare informatics and they are closely integrated with the laboratory staff and workflow processes.
 

The Mlabs team

This team provides the IT support needed for our Mlabs program which is the marketing of laboratory services outside of the University of Michigan Health System.  The team consists mainly of medical technologists with specialized training in healthcare informatics.
 

The Helpdesk and Desktop Support team

This team manages the Pathology Help Desk which utilizes Remedy software consistent with MCIT (Medical Center Information Technology).  They monitor operational report production and distribution; monitor the operational state of the LIS, manage security access to the LIS; and manage patient record maintenance activities. The desktop team maintains the desktops, laptops, and printers in the department of Pathology, utilizing the MCIT core image on workstations, where possible.  They also manage the fleet of phlebotomy mobile specimen collection carts. They work with the MCIT team as upgrades are rolled out for the core image devices.  The team consists of members trained in the support of laboratory information systems and specialized desktop support training.
 

The Systems and Networking team

This team manages the Pathology network and servers, manages and maintains workstations and Citrix™, manages the VMware™ server farm, supports Point of Care testing, and supports printers in clinical areas.  They are responsible for system server security and for the operational maintenance of our server room.  The team consists of bioinformaticists, networking specialists, and computer hardware engineers with specialized training in laboratory information systems.
 

The Applications team

The application team provides support for the many clinical systems that produce laboratory data for clinical care givers but that are not using the primary laboratory information system.  The team consists of medical technologists and programmers with specialized training in laboratory information management.
 

The Web team

This team maintains the front facing web site as well as develops and maintains the internal tools for department.  They develop and support both administrative and clinical web applications focusing on applications that support the clinical laboratory workflow.
 

The Imaging team

This team offers a large range of services.  They prepare visual materials for all needs including patient care (clinical), research, and teaching.  Additionally, they provide autopsy and forensic imaging services for the autopsy service and for the medical examiner’s office.
 
All staff is involved in development of innovative solutions for customer problems.