A Punch-Card Laboratory Reporting System With a Cumulative Summary Format

A laboratory reporting system has been developed in a 500-bed community hospital which processes approximately 40,000 tests a month. The patient's chemistry and hematology data are updated daily in a cumulative summary format. This daily summary updates and replaces previous summaries in that calendar week. The summary format proves particularly valuable for serial determinations. This review of the daily reports permits the pathologist closer control of laboratory data while giving him a more active role with the clinician in data interpretation. The system offers many of the advantages of automated laboratory data processing for hospitals already equipped with punch-card systems. Pick-up lists, laboratory work schedules, interim ward reports, charges, and statistical reports are also produced.