[The ideal form of laboratory information management]

In a clinical laboratory, not many staff can point out the problems of laboratory information management. Although the clinical laboratory introduced information systems in early stage, no organization supplies specialists to this field. Much knowledge is hidden in the clinical laboratory data, which can be discovered by data-mining technology. We can contribute to medical development with this technology. Moreover, the cost of routine work and research work may also be mitigated. However, data-mining technology including structurally recorded data and diversified analytic systems are required to build such capability. The laboratory information management division should make sufficient use of the formal information with non-fixed data base searching. This section should become an important section in the hospital by supplying advanced knowledge discovery and strategic decision-making. In this paper, we discuss the necessity of the information education in the clinical laboratory field and describe the importance of information management in a clinical laboratory.