The clinical laboratory computer, or as it is now commonly called, the laboratory information systems (LISs), has rapidly become one of the most important features of a modern laboratory. One of the most important criteria for choosing an LIS is selecting a company that will be a reliable long-term business partner that supports and tailors its products to meet a laboratory’s changing needs. The systems profiled in the chapter vary wildly in scope and price. They range from basic single-user products for less than $1,000 to complex multisite systems that cost millions of dollars. Some laboratories may get more benefit from a simple lower-cost system than a complex one that takes years to configure and install and for staff to learn to use. The major cost factor in switching from one large LIS to another is not the purchase or installation fees the vendor charges but the immense amount of work the laboratory must perform to train staff and remap its workload and laboratory description from one information model to a different one.
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