A GENERAL PURPOSE SMALL LABORATORY COMPUTER SYSTEM

MANY SMALL RESEARCH LABORATORIES WOULD BENEFIT FROM THE USE OF A SMALL COMPUTER SYSTEM TO MONITOR THEIR TEST PROCEDURES,HANDLE THEIR TEST RESULT REPORTING, PROVIDE DIAGNOSTIC DECISION SUPPORT, MAINTAIN THEIR DATA FOR LATER RESEARCH PURPOSES, AND PERFORM ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT AND BILLING FUNCTIONS. POTOMAC MEDICAL SYSTEMS HAS DEVELOPED A LABORA- TORY INFORMATION SYSTEM THAT IS CURRENTLY BEING USED BY TWO STATE SCREENING LABORATORIES. THIS SYSTEM COULD BE MODIFIEDTO MEET THE NEEDS OF SMALL RESEARCH LABORATORIES IN AN ECONOMICAL FASHION; THE SYSTEM RUNS ON A PERSONAL COMPUTER AND WILL SUPPORT MULTIPLE SIMULTANEOUS USERS. SUCH MODIFI- CATION WOULD INVOLVE GENERALIZING THE SYSTEM SO THAT THE USER COULD SUIT IT TO A PARTICULAR LABORATORY. ONE OF THE MAJOR PROBLEMS SMALL RESEARCH LABORATORIES HAVE IN OBTAININGSOFTWARE IS THAT IT MUST BE CUSTOMIZED TO THEIR NEEDS; THIS SOFTWARE WOULD BE USER CONFIGURABLE SO AS TO AVOID THE COST OF CREATING CUSTOM SOFTWARE. PHASE I OF THIS PROJECT WOULD INVOLVE EXAMINING THE NEEDS OF A LEARNING SET OF SMALL RE- SEARCH LABORATORIES, DETERMINING THEIR COMMON REQUIREMENTS, AND DESIGNING THE MODIFICATIONS TO GENERALIZE THE EXISTING SOFTWARE TO MEET THESE NEEDS. THE SOFTWARE DESIGN WOULD THEN BE COMPARED WITH A SET OF TEST LABORATORIES TO DETER- MINE WHETHER THE PROPOSED DESIGN IS ADEQUATE TO MEET THEIR NEEDS. PHASE II OF THIS PROJECT WOULD INVOLVE IMPLEMENTING THE REQUIRED MODIFICATIONS, TESTING THE SOFTWARE IN A VARIETY OF SMALL LABORATORIES, AND MAKING ANY FURTHER MODIFICATIONS REQUIRED. EXTENSIVE USER DOCUMENTATION WOULD BE PRODUCED SO THAT THE USER COULD CONFIGURE THE FINAL SYSTEM WITHOUT EXPERT HELP.