35. The development, testing, and validation of an automatic LIMS import method for NGS myeloid panel results

Abstract

For oncology genetic testing, there is a critical need for patient results to be readily available and accessible for the ordering pathologist's review. After an initial genetic testing workup, emergency treatment or follow-up testing may be required, thus accessibility of results is a key feature in providing patient-focused laboratory testing. Ideally, genetic testing results would be incorporated into a LIMS data management system in order to have a permanent record of testing and to allow for the results to be easily accessible, searchable, and transferable by the clinical or pathology team working on behalf of the patient. For maximum impact, Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) reports should be electronically integrated into the patient's electronic health record. NGS reports uploaded as PDF attachments constrain health record searches. Additionally, data in PDF reports often are not able to be transferred to a comprehensive pathology report and may require cumbersome manual entry. Our team has recently completed a project to create an automatic import method for our Myeloid Complete NGS Panel report into our electronic patient data management system. Our data management system is interfaced with our client's LIMS platform enabling the direct and automatic transfer of orders coming in as well as delivery of the resultant NGS report into the patients' health records. We will present the steps taken to create, test, troubleshoot, and validate the automatic upload system. We will also detail critical components of the NGS LIMS report and challenges that were addressed during this project.