Sofia 2 Connectivity
Overview
There’s a standard Laboratory Information Systems (LIS) Interface built into every Sofia 2 and it’s free to use. The Sofia 2 offers two independent protocols for interfacing to external Systems. The standard interface commonly known as an “ASTM Interface” provides automated uploads of Patient Test and QC results to Lab or other Systems that support this type of data exchange.
Support for Interfacing – Getting Started
Laboratory Operation
Quidel designed the Sofia 2 for easy replacement of the Sofia and therefore include the standard “ASTM interface” in the Sofia 2. Most of the popular LIS vendors in the U.S. have an interface available for the Sofia. To find out if you can interface the Sofia directly to your systems, the simplest way is to contact your LIS vendor and ask if they can provide an interface for your Quidel Sofia. If so, they can provide the requirements and cost. If your Lab utilizes the Data Innovations Instrument Manager for Lab instrument connectivity, Sofia is supported. Due to the included “ASTM interface” the existing Sofia interface from the LIS vendor will work with the Sofia 2.
Point-of-Care Operation
For point-of-care use you, you may choose to utilize a Data Management System. These systems provide remote management and reporting capabilities for the Laboratory Manager. They also serve to consolidate many instrument connections to LIS via a single HL7 interface to the LIS. Leading vendor-neutral Data Management Systems support many different brands and types of instruments allowing standardization of connectivity and management. Those systems include:
For information on these systems, please contact the system vendors.
EHR Connectivity
For physician offices or facilities that perform Sofia 2 testing and need to send data to an EHR system instead of an LIS system, interfacing instrument results can be challenging. Quidel recommends using the RelayMed system for Quidel instruments. Relaymed supports interface to a wide variety of instruments and connections to leading EHR systems. Find more information here: relaymed.com