LigoLab LIS & RCM Operating Platform

Pros

Ease of use and Functionality.
Adaptability

Cons

Upgrades, testing, and implementations difficult to manage.

Pros

For my daily use, I enjoy that all the features I need access to are simplified and easy to access. The grossing queue is allows for my entire department to visualize the incoming cases that need to be completed. There is a streamlined effect that you can see with each individual case as the column to the left in anatomic pathology allows you to see the progression of each case block created as is progresses within each department further down.

Cons

The imaging software within the grossing touchscreen is weak and poor. If an image is needed to be provided, when using the recommended camera, the image that is displayed is of poor quality and is small in size. This particular feature has not been fixed since the beginning of use.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to LigoLab LIS & RCM Operating Platform

Pros

I like that whenever I have an issue, that I can call someone in customer support and they are usually pretty good with keeping everything up to date.

Cons

That the server goes down, sometimes it is not as user friendly as you would think

Pros

For anatomic pathology they have thought about almost everything. The functionality and customization with relatively little major work or overhauling is unparalleled in the industry. It seems like every time we ask, can we do this? They walk us through how we could adjust settings and make it happen. They get pathology and labs. You can really tell the folks who developed this product worked in a lab environment.

Cons

I wish it was cloud based. I wish they would apply their genius to include a scheduling module for pathologists and also a more robust means of case assignment to said pathologists.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to LigoLab LIS & RCM Operating Platform

Pros

The software has greatly impacted our company. We are now able to easily run Quality Measure reports, better understand our daily volume, and track our current case load.

Cons

Some of the wording within the software is different from wording routinely used in the industry.

Pros

Reliability, customizability, and the speed of use.

Cons

Without a thourough hands on training, there apears to be a considerable amount of redundancy for specific tasks. When collaborating with different developers I could see they had different views on implementing specific solutions for laboratory needs. At times there would be a certain lack of responsiveness to requested implementation.

Pros

Once a user learns how to navigate the application it does become user friendly. The platform allows our facility to create a workflow that best fits our needs.

Cons

Though it seems there are several reports and workflow actions that are used in similar labs, it seems that our facility needs a custom build. However, this may be due to how the application was created when first implemented by our facility.

Pros

The best thing about LigoLab is the ability to do anything/everything we need.

Cons

The only con was the intense setup process, but I understand why this was so intensive, so it's worth it in the end.

Pros

For effective LIS software, the most important thing is to have a clean user interface that is simple and intuitive to navigate and LigoLab is excellent in that regard. Training new users on how to navigate the system is simple, workflows are intuitive to follow, and the system is laid out in such a way that relevant components to a given workflow are easily accessible and view-able.

We initially started using the software in our lab midway through 2017 and have been using it ever since. We began with only GYN Cytology being processed through the system, but in the years following we've since moved over our NGYN and Surgical work as well. We've moved over the majority of our lab operations over to the program and have found it to be an excellent system with great resources available that make tracking cases and analyzing statistics on a quarterly and/or yearly basis very simple. It's simple to update existing templates, implement new lab tests, and create/review custom reports to track all the relevant statistics for orders in your system.

If we ever run into an issue or have an implementation in mind that we cannot perform ourselves, it's very easy to get in touch with someone on the development team to help push down fixes down the pipeline.

Cons

The only issue I have with the system is the speed of use. Booting up the program can take some time depending on certain machines/environments, but this is mostly due to minor updates being performed on the program whenever it is booted up as well as database connection. Once the environment has been booted up it's reasonable, but actually booting up the program can take upwards of a minute and a half.

Pros

When creating a new test or setting up new equipment for production, I love that I can work with Ligo Lab support. They can stay on track of tickets, typically have a great response and turnaround time, and are incredibly nice while maintaining great professionalism!

Cons

Sometimes setting up or training on a new type of test can be hard because there are so many ways to do one thing that it can get confusing. However, I am fortunate to have an excellent support team and Ligo Support such as [SENSITIVE CONTENT], who is great at explaining things and showing us his process so we can better understand. The support we receive with LigoLab is fantastic.

Pros

I like the flexibility of the LIS. I like that it can integrate with just about everything. The LIS has a Connect application which allows IOPs to accession their own cases and then forward to the lab for processing. This feature saves the laboratory from having to accession a case and the order is electronic. TAT doesn't begin until the specimen reaches the lab and the order is released. It's great for other laboratories that use our lab as a reference lab.

Cons

Ad-hoc reporting could be improved upon. For example, If your attempting to pull data for a 12 month period and have specific filters like test type, client name it will take some time and patience.

Pros

It is very tailored to our needs. The developer are very knowledgeable in lab processes and work hard to develop workflows that streamline our processes.

Cons

The developing is time consuming. For clinical lab, it isn't an out of the box LIS

Pros

The ways in which you can customize the features to suit your company's needs are endless. We have a wide variety of systems feeding into and out of Ligolab that all have their own custom needs along with our staff that like their pieces to function a certain way. LigoLab does a great job of making each part function as we need them to and more importantly work together as a system.

Cons

The ability to customize so extensively comes with a cost. That cost is that the manipulation of the software and the downstream effects that come with it become so complex that it often cannot be done by me or my colleagues and must be handled by LigoLab's support teams. Their customer support teams are well prepared for this though.

Pros

With the loss of our IT Manager I was sort of thrown in to doing some things that I had little to no training on. Although I am usually able to figure it out myself I often have had to rely on LIGO help. On top of that I am getting COVID fatigue and at times, as I'm with LIGO help on a team viewer session or such I will suddenly see the problem and feel like an idiot. I am normally very sensitive to 'hearing' any sort of frustration in someone's voice and either they are very good at hiding it or they just don't get frustrated. They have always been extremely kind, patient and helpful. They are truly the poster children for customer service.

Cons

If there is something about the software that is not liked they are very good at taking into consideration an enhancement.
Sometimes it frustrates me that there are so many ways to get what you need to accomplish done but having said that, I've had the same experience with other systems as well so it's more just a 'me' issue. :)

Pros

LigoLab is easily customizable so it can be tailored exactly to your laboratories needs and even to individual physician preferences.
Their customer service team is responsive and always a pleasure to work with.

Cons

There is a decent learning curve to master the intricacies of LigoLab. There are often multiple ways to do any one thing which can lead to some degree of non-standardization.

Pros

I like how nimble it is. We can easily customize, interface and integrate for use with many applications.

Cons

Because it is so customizable, I would recommended that you have a least a couple "super-users" within your organization.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing LigoLab LIS & RCM Operating Platform

Reasons for Switching to LigoLab LIS & RCM Operating Platform

Pros

User friendly, many features to help prevent errors at every workbench, ability to customize rules and reports to fit our workflow

Cons

Integrating a dictation system with LigoLab has been a challenging project for me, in general. Perhaps it would be helpful if LigoLab provided a specific guide for integrating a recommended dictation platform.

Pros

They are very open to discussing solutions with us and very rarely have we asked for something that they have not been able to address or accommodate. Also I think the system is well organized.

Cons

I would say there could be some improvements with usability especially for users that are not as comfortable using computers and specialized computer software.

Pros

The system is highly customizable; there is "almost" nothing you can't do.

We are able to produce beautiful reports that are easy to read; this is a huge physician satisfier!

Support team is very well versed and able to devise creative solutions to challenging issues; pleasure to work with.

Cons

Not necessarily a bad thing, as more comfort will come over time and exposure to all of the software nuances, but there is a lot to "take in" to use the system to its fullest capacity.

Pros

This system allows our teams to touch many aspects of our laboratory testing quickly. We are able to provide results to clients in a variety of methods and can provide many custom reports to meet their patient-care needs. We can ascertain TAT for the lab in general or for a specific test and/or client.

Cons

It is not always intuitive and you have to search several ways before you can find the most meaningful data.

Pros

Very user friendly and intuitive with good workflow.

Cons

Not applicable, Not applicable, Not applicable.

Pros

The LigoLab LIS has the most sophisticated features I have seen in my 30 years in the lab business. I have never used a system that allows so much user customization, via parameter files, without the need for custom programming. We did not have one single lab workflow that the system could not handle. The LigoLab support team has always been available whenever the lab had an issue or needed something new. Their technical design people are the best I have ever worked with in my years in the business.

Cons

The system has so many sophisticated user-driven parameters that it takes even a strong user at least 6 months to learn how to use them. However, once this knowledge is gained, the power it represents is second to none in my experience.

Pros

When I first started using the system it was fairly easy to figure out. Processing claims needing corrections, posting payments, fixing errors etc.

Cons

When updates are made to the system, we as users are not always informed. Processes which had been tried and true, were then gone and we had to recreate the wheel.

Pros

Easy to setup and use.
Reliable with no down time.
Accurate resulting.
Good management reports and statistical reports.

Cons

Migration from training/testing environment to Live or production environment is manual and could lead to inconsistent result.

Pros

The ease of implementation, and once you get used to it, it's pretty efficient.

Cons

Data mining. You have to go through multiple layers to find the actual info you need, and there is not Database guide available to point you in the right direction.