An adaptable computer interface for radioimmunoassay.

To assist data handling of results derived from radioimmunoassay the RIACalc Multigamma counter package was interfaced to a laboratory information system. The interface was bidirectional and allowed transfer of worklists and results. A suite of programs was written for the laboratory information system that enabled flexible data processing to meet a range of laboratory requirements. One utility within the suite contained a simple user definable rule based routine for automatically requesting additional tests. Use of the interface and new software improved laboratory efficiency and illustrated the potential benefits of decision making systems.