Your Public Health Laboratory Requires a Robust LIMS

Public Health Laboratories (PHL) are multi-disciplinary facilities that offer diagnostic services including analytical support and consultation for physicians, private laboratories, hospitals, and county health departments. Public health laboratories collaborate with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Food and Drug Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Department of Homeland Security. They serve as the backbone of the national Laboratory Response Network, which is facilitated by the CDC. Public health laboratories also partner with the World Health Organization and other international entities.

Given the interdisciplinary nature of PHLs as they provide everything from newborn screening to biothreat and special pathogen to environmental testing, LIMS are mission-critical. For a PHL, LIMS must be multifaceted and flexible, combining clinical and environmental testing needs while applying quality control measures to maintain regulatory compliance. It’s complex. But the right LIMS centralizes and streamlines processes for even the largest PHL.

Very few LIMS can handle patient-centric sample log-in as required by HIPAA, or group or batch-centric sample log-in mandated by the environmental side of the laboratory. HORIZON can. HORIZON offers one of the few LIMS capable of performing for the whole laboratory and not just various sections. We are a proud partner to many PHLs throughout the country.