Hi Folks-
How are people handling laboratory integration with their OpenEMR these days?
I know that at one time Williams Med Tech offered support with Quest, but last I heard that ended a year or so ago.
Is OpenEMR now without support for commercial labs?
Thanks- Harley
There is a solution from Williams Technology as long as you don’t use a Docker implementation of OpenEMR. I want to say the cost of the interfaces is around $2000, and with a big lab vendor like Quest or LabCorp, they will pay for it if you use a lot of their services. I couldn’t use it because I use docker-based OpenEMR implementations (at least on AWS, which is what I was using when I was looking into these options).
http://www.williamsmedtech.com/lab-interfaces
Sincerely,
–RBL
Hi @Ralf_Lukner -
Thanks for the tip, and the link.
I’m curious, when was it that you checked with WMT- was it over a year ago?
I followed the link you provided, and sent them a message re: their current support of OpenEMR. Will post back here if I hear anything from them.
So my followup question would still be, how are you meeting your lab needs without WMT’s services?
Best- Harley
Ok, let me be the one to stand corrected: I got a prompt reply from Brenda at WMT:
“We are definitely still doing lab integration/lab interfaces for OpenEMR. We have multiple labs that we do interfaces for including Quest and LabCorp. Any OpenEMR practice is welcome to contact us regarding a lab interface OR they can contact their laboratory as the lab has to approve an interface before we can install the interface.”
If anybody’s interested in contacting them, they can follow Ralf’s link and click on the ‘Contact Us’ link at the top of the page.
But I’m still interested in what people are doing about their labs who have not signed up with WMT… 
I’m on the link to Quest and cannot get past the EMR Vendor point of contact without a name and phone number, may I have your permission to give them yours?
BTW we’re still using the old school method, hence the attempt to move into the 21st century.
@hitechelp supposedly Sherwin (@juggernautsei) just recently did a Quest thing. Since it sounds like you may go with him for e-prescribe, you might want to check that out. Otherwise you’d need to follow that link that Harley mentioned and contact Williams Technology directly.
Curious I am what ‘a quest thing’ might be. The point of engaging WMT is that they have the interface for OpenEMR <-> Quest . Did he ( you @juggernautsei ) write a new interface?
@htuck
It is not a new interface but a module that works in concert with the existing interface to transmit and receive lab orders from quest. The module is in final testing. The issue that we are stopped is if Quest sends and unsolicited result to the system. Right now it just gets deleted instead of matching it to a patient. I have not gotten an opportunity to work this out yet. Once that is working, the module will be ready for release approval.
Hi @juggernautsei thanks for the explanation.
The last I heard, the way labs work now is if an OpenEMR customer wants to work with Quest they have to contact WMT who will install the interface and support the interactions between the OpenEMR and Quest. Is this still the case?
And on the OpenEMR side, the lab orders and results are handled by the Procedures module. Does your patch change the process, like maybe replace the Procedures module’s role in the process?
Cool beans, Man - HT
@htuck and what you knew in the past is correct. WMT has been MIA for some time.
The lab feature that is built into OpenEMR is sufficient enough to seen lab orders to Quests. All lab order testing is completed and passed Quest review with minor adjustments to the HL7 segments. No major revisions needed. It is a misnomer that WMT software is needed like people still think they need Mirth and long ago @sunsetsystems removed that requirement but people still ask me about it because it is hanging out there on the web in some old thread that has more authority than the current status of OpenEMR.
Best =^)8
That is good to know, I learned something today! Thanks
