HemaLink: supporting data management in haematology

The Haematology Department at Basingstoke & North Hampshire Hospital was the first department in the UK to have installed Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics’ HemaLink, a middleware data management system that provides a central validation system for the department. The following brief article provides an overview of how the system works and the benefits it brings to routine haematology practice.

Analyser-specific or rack validation
HemaLink results validation is based on user-definable rules that define which results may be autovalidated and which require an operator to review and validate the results manually. Validation is performed via two methods: analyser-specific and rack validation. Use of colours and icons easily communicate a range of information to the user (Fig 1), while rack validation allows multiple operators to validate at the same time.

Results validation
In order to achieve validation of haematology results using the HemaLink system, the operator is provided with all the data from the analyser including scatter plots, morphology, system flags and laboratory information system (LIS) request information (Fig 2). Results are linked to others obtained previously, ensuring that the operator is able to make a decision based on current and previous results. Furthermore, a clinical diagnosis can be set against a patient so that it is available for future reference.
 A full database of all samples analysed is kept together with scatter plot and flag data. Any repeat sample can be reviewed and compared with the original, allowing easy comparison of multiple analysers to check their performance.