ASL Bari: a single LIS in the cloud for the 11 analysis laboratories
SOFTWARE
The customer
ASL Bari has chosen a single cloud-based LIS based on WebLab.LIS and WebLab.MDW to network 11 analysis laboratories, about 100 sampling points and a reference area of 1.2 million inhabitants. A single database, hosted on the regional cloud infrastructure, now governs over 12 million examinations a year, ensuring sample traceability, integration with company systems and homogeneous quality standards for the entire network.
The ASL Bari is one of the largest healthcare facilities in the South.
It covers a provincial territory with about 1.2 million inhabitants, distributed over a wide network of hospitals and territorial facilities.
The laboratory network includes 100 sampling centers distributed over the area of competence and 11 main laboratories:
- Altamura
- Bitonto
- Corato
- Bari – Di Venere Hospital (Clinical Pathology)
- Bari – Di Venere Hospital (Microbiology)
- Molfetta
- Monopoly
- Putignano
- Bari – San Paolo Hospital
- Terlizzi
- Triggiano
The volume of activity is significant: about 12 million examinations in 2025, for a total of over 26 million examinations performed from 2023 to date.
The ASL manages a heterogeneous flow of internal (hospital departments, corporate services) and external requests, including: SerT (addiction services), RSAs and residential facilities.
The need: towards a single network LIS
Before the project, the laboratories of the ASL Bari used different LIS, in use for over 15 years. This scenario made it complex:
- Standardize processes
- share samples and tubes between the different principals
- ensure full network-wide traceability
- Manage quality and process control in a homogeneous way
The health authority needed to:
- converge on a single LIS, with a centralized database for all 11 laboratories;
- exploit the regional cloud infrastructure (INNOVA PUGLIA) to ensure continuity and high reliability;
- integrate the laboratory with the company’s and regional clinical and administrative systems;
- To offer professionals and patients digital, complete and traceable reports on the entire care pathway.
The project was also born on the basis of a consolidated relationship thanks to EMOPUGLIA, the single regional system for donation centers, blood banks and transfusion centers, already implemented with the solutions now part of the GPI offer.
In that context, WebLab.MDW was introduced for instrumental management, facilitating the extension of middleware to the network of analysis laboratories.
“The healthcare company needed to converge on a single LIS, with a centralized database for all 11 laboratories”
The challenges of the project
In the transition to a single cloud LIS, the main challenges were:
- Migration of historical
LISBring data and processes from systems that have been in use for more than 15 years to a single platform, safeguarding business continuity. - High-availability architecture on the regional
cloudDesign a unique, high-reliability installation on the INNOVA PUGLIA cloud infrastructure, capable of supporting high volumes of requests and simultaneous connections. - Change management for users
Involve and accompany about 650 registered users, of which 300 are active, towards new workflows, new interfaces and shared ways of use.
The testing period developed from April 2023 (first center) to May 2024 (last center), with a progressive activation of the network’s laboratories.
The solution: unique LIS in the cloud with WebLab.LIS and WebLab.MDW
For the ASL Bari, a single LIS in the cloud has been implemented, based on the following solutions:
- WebLab.LIS – for the complete management of the laboratory analysis and microbiology flow
- WebLab.MDW – instrumental middleware for the integration and centralized management of equipment
The system was installed on a regional cloud infrastructure made available by INNOVA PUGLIA, with a single database serving all 11 laboratories.
Key features:
- Laboratory workflow management (clinical chemistry, hematology, microbiology)
- Full traceability of samples and tubes throughout the process (from takeover to reporting)
- Centralized management of instrumental quality controls (QC)
- Automatic reporting for laboratory activities and performance
- Digital signature of reports, for fast and compliant distribution
Around 90 laboratory instruments were interfaced, integrated into the unique middleware.
An innovative element of the project was the development, for the first time in Europe, of an automatic instrumental connection with a highly automated microbiology chain, confirming the ability of the LIS to dialogue even with the latest generation technologies.
System integrations
The single LIS has been supplemented with:
- HIS ASL Bari
- EMOPUGLIA (transfusion and blood bank)
- TAO (Oral Anticoagulant Therapy) management system
- Corporate document repository
- Regional registry of assisted persons
- Electronic Health Record (EHR)
In this way, the laboratory data is made available throughout the patient’s entire clinical pathway, from prescription to electronic file.
The adoption of the single LIS in the cloud has generated benefits on several levels for the network of ASL Bari laboratories
Governance and standardization
- A single system for the 11 laboratories, with a shared database
- Homogeneous acceptance, analysis and reporting processes
- Better network governance, thanks to centralized indicators and reports
Operational efficiency and traceability
- Smoother flows between HUBs and spokes: the Di Venere Hospital in Bari acts as the main HUB for the other second-level centers
- Full traceability of samples and tubes along the various network steps
- Centralized management of instrumental QCs, with greater control over the risk of error
Quality of service for operators and patients
- Signed and easily accessible digital reports
- Integration with HIS, EMOPUGLIA, TAO and FSE for an integrated view of the patient
- Greater capacity to absorb increasing volumes (over 12 million examinations/year) while maintaining constant quality standards.
Evolutionary perspectives
With the single LIS in the cloud, the ASL Bari now has a scalable platform, on which it is possible to:
- further expand advanced reporting and performance indicators
- enhance laboratory data for epidemiological and clinical governance analyses
- progressively integrate any new laboratory instruments and services
The project consolidates a long-term relationship between the ASL Bari, the Puglia Region and the GPI Group companies involved in laboratory and transfusion systems, paving the way for subsequent developments in the field of regional digital health.
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