LABO - Electronic Exchange of Laboratory Results

Distributed Laboratory Data Exchange system within Healthnet

The implementation of such a system entails the exchange of data among different partners, requirering the integration of heteregenous IT solutions in the global architecture.

The system consists of a centralized archiving system offering security, adaptability and scalability, hosted in Healthnet. The implementation of the system in existing environments should be as easy as possible. The answer to this requirement boils down to a common data exchange format.

The forementioned common data exchange format is based on XML. All communications are encrypted and signed using the S/MIME Standard. The generation of the required keypairs is done using a dedicated Healthnet Certification Authority (CA).

Participating partners, i.e physicians and laboratoires, can apply for the required keypairs via application forms that can be downloaded from the Healthnet Webserver.

Laboratoires transmit previously signed and encrypted results to central server via FTP. The server automatically dispatches the results to the inbox of the prescribing physician. The physician fetches his results via FTP, before decrypting the result and verifying the laboratory signature (Sample Results).

Free Laboratory Results Viewer

• The company Micromed S.A. has developped a free client which allows physicians to retrieve their results from the central server:
  Micromed Labo
• CR Santec has developped a free Java based viewer which works on Windows, MacOS X and Linux systems:
  Labo Viewer