Lab Network

Lab Network enables electronic ordering and result retrieval across national and regional laboratories by routing diagnostic orders to appropriate laboratories and returning results in a consistent FHIR R4 format.

What Lab Network Supports

Lab Network supports end-to-end diagnostic workflows that:

• Submit orders using standardized FHIR resources
• Validate orders against laboratory compendia, required inputs, and configuration rules
• Route orders based on laboratory capability and routing configuration
• Retrieve results as structured and document-based data

Lab Network normalizes inbound results to FHIR R4 resources to support consistent downstream consumption across systems.

Some tests require additional inputs at order time, including order-entry questions (AOEs) and other laboratory-specific requirements. Orders that do not include the required inputs or do not align with laboratory requirements are rejected during validation.

How It Works

A typical workflow follows these steps:

1. Submit an order using the API (RequestGroup and ServiceRequest), or Lab Network UI or iFrame.
2. Validate the order against the selected laboratory’s compendium and requirements.
3. Route the order to a laboratory that supports the requested tests.
4. Process the order at the laboratory.
5. Check order submission status.
6. Retrieve results using FHIR APIs.

Results are delivered asynchronously after laboratory processing.

Access Models

Lab Network supports multiple access models depending on your implementation needs.

• API: Programmatic order submission and structured result retrieval
• UI: Manual order placement and operational review
• iFrame: Embedded order placement within your application

Results consumption is primarily API-driven.

The UI provides limited, order-centric visibility into received result artifacts and status and is not intended as a full clinical results viewer.

Key Concepts

Orders

Orders are represented internally using FHIR R4 resources.

• RequestGroup: The overall order
• ServiceRequest: Individual tests within the order

Orders submitted through all access models are normalized to this FHIR resource structure.

Compendium

Each laboratory defines a compendium of supported tests, requirements, and constraints. Orders must align with the selected laboratory’s compendium and include required data to pass validation and be routed.

Laboratory test codes are specific to the selected laboratory and should be retrieved from that laboratory’s compendium rather than reused across laboratories.

Routing

Lab Network routes orders based on:

• Selected laboratory
• Test compatibility
• Compendium alignment
• Routing configuration

Note: Orders may be split if tests cannot be fulfilled by a single laboratory.

Results

Results are returned as:

• Structured data: DiagnosticReport, Observation
• Document-based data: DocumentReference, Binary

Structured and document-based results may arrive at different times.

Validation

Lab Network validates orders before routing. Validation includes compendium alignment, required inputs, and configuration checks.

Validation failures return an OperationOutcome with details describing the issue.