Mayo Clinic, National University Hospital in Singapore Announce Their First Direct Laboratory Interface in Asia-Pacific

By Gina Chiri-Osmond • December 5, 2017

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Mayo Medical Laboratories, the global reference laboratory of Mayo Clinic, and National University Hospital (NUH) in Singapore are now electronically linked via the widely used and secure Health Level 7 interface. The system enables NUH to order specialized Mayo laboratory tests and receive patient results in real time.

Health Level 7 (commonly referred to as HL7) refers to a set of international standards for transferring health care data between software applications used by the collaborating entities. The interface enhances patient safety and quality of care by expanding the flow of accurate health care information and eliminating manual processes. Mayo Clinic has established more than 500 HL7 interfaces with other health care institutions throughout North America and parts of the world. The interface with NUH represents Mayo’s first in the Asia-Pacific region.

“Setting up an HL7 interface represents a major commitment of time and resources,” says William Morice, II, M.D., Ph.D., President of Mayo Medical Laboratories and Chair of Mayo Clinic’s Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology. “This progressive decision by NUH supports its commitment—and Mayo’s—to putting the needs of the patient first.”

Now that National University Hospital’s laboratory information system (LIS) is securely linked with Mayo Clinic, NUH staff members may place laboratory orders for Mayo tests, receive results directly into their LIS, and provide their physicians and specialists with real-time information to treat and diagnose patients.

“The interface between NUH and Mayo Medical Laboratories will allow our test results to be accessed immediately by the doctors as soon as they are available, without waiting for transcriptions from our laboratory staff. This also cuts processing time by up to three hours per day,” says Roland Jureen, M.D., Senior Consultant and Head of NUH’s Department of Laboratory Medicine.

About the National University Hospital

The National University Hospital (NUH) is a tertiary hospital and major referral center for a comprehensive range of medical, surgical, and dental specialties. The hospital also provides organ transplant programs for adults (in kidney, liver, and pancreas) and is the only public hospital in Singapore to offer a pediatric kidney and liver transplant program. Staffed by a team of health care professionals who rank among the best in the field, the NUH offers quality patient care by embracing innovations and advances in medical treatment. In 2004, the NUH became the first Singapore hospital to receive the Joint Commission International accreditation, an international stamp for excellent clinical practices in patient care and safety. Today, patient safety and good clinical outcomes remain the focus of the hospital as it continues to play a key role in the training of doctors, nurses and allied health professionals, and in translational research, which paves the way for new cures and treatment, offering patients hope and a new lease of life. A member of the National University Health System, it is the principal teaching hospital of the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and the NUS Faculty of Dentistry. For more information, please visit www.nuh.com.sg.

Gina Chiri-Osmond

Gina Chiri-Osmond is a Marketing Channel Manager at Mayo Clinic Laboratories.