OREM, UT – A recent report from KLAS indicates that 17 percent of hospitals with at least 200 beds are planning to replace their laboratory information systems within the next two years. That’s music to the ears of Richard Atkin.

Atkin is the CEO of Sunquest Information Systems, a Tucson, Ariz.-based developer of laboratory information systems and one of several LIS vendors poised to take advantage of the opportunity outlined by KLAS. In fact, the Orem, Utah-based market research firm rates Sunquest among the top LIS vendors for both large and community hospitals.

“The economy overall has caused hospitals to pause,” said Atkin, who estimates that 70 percent of all medical data created in hospitals is derived from labs. “You need strategic solutions that add value.”

Atkin maintains – and KLAS agrees – that hospitals are also looking for LIS systems that can be integrated with other clinical systems. “It’s important to the entire continuum of care,” he said.

To that end, Sunquest recently acquired the Outreach Advantage solutions suite from Pathology Associates Medical Laboratories of Spokane, Wash. Outreach Advantage, which will be integrated with Sunquest’s LIS package, offers customer relationship management tools, sales and marketing business intelligence, mobile courier management and connectivity tools for integrating with electronic medical records, LIS and other non-enterprise systems.

“The Outreach Advantage suite ... has equipped us with tools to win numerous clients and deliver world-class outreach services and functionality in a very competitive business environment,” said Tom Tiffany, MD, CEO and president of Pathology Associates Medical Laboratory.

According to the KLAS report, hospitals and other healthcare providers are weighing feature-rich LIS products with enterprise-wide solutions that support integration.

“In the KLAS LIS report, healthcare providers indicated that when choosing a solution, integration with a clinical information system or being tightly coupled by a sole source vendor is a decision driver 74 percent of the time,” said KLAS Chairman Kent Gale. “Further, nearly 70 percent of the 266 providers interviewed for the report felt that there is no best LIS, and that an LIS that is integrated or part of an enterprise solution is preferred.”

According to KLAS, top-rated LIS vendors include Siemens (Novius Lab), Sunquest and McKesson (Horizon Lab) among hospitals with 200 or more beds and Orchard Harvest, Antek (LabDAQ) and Sunquest among community hospitals.