Manual and computerized cumulative reporting systems for the clinical microbiology laboratory

A manual and a computerized system that produce cumulative updated reports from the clinical microbiology laboratory are described. Each system gives the physician a report that is clearly formatted, cumulative, readily updated, and written in conversational terms with minimal abbreviations. The report formats and updating sequences are nearly identical, so that one system can easily replace or back up the other. The cost and complexity of the hardware and software for the computerized system are modest, so that these are suitable for the moderate-sized hospital laboratory processing fewer than 10,000 specimens per year. Also, the laboratory personnel in our community-based nonteaching hospital were able to develop, set up, and support these systems without external consultation or purchased services. Therefore, the improved quality of reporting based on these types of systems can now be available to all laboratories without regard to size or workload.