Innovation | Assist Tracking

Innovation: Always

At the forefront of innovation, Assist Tracking is continuously evolving to meet the demands of modern lab management. Through ongoing refinement and technological advancements, we’re committed to making Assist Tracking more powerful, intuitive, and efficient.

Our focus on excellence drives us to enhance every feature, helping labs operate with greater precision, safety, and ease. With each improvement, Assist Tracking becomes a stronger ally in transforming workflows, optimizing resources, and supporting laboratories in delivering outstanding patient care.

1st Quarter

2nd Quarter

3rd Quarter

4th Quarter

1st Quarter 2024

January 2024

Scoreboard – Clinical Office Board. Created this new scoreboard view for sites that make use of the Clinical office module of Assist in conjunction with the laboratory. The scoreboard shows inbound accession and specimen counts from the various clinical offices.
Admin Web Site – Distribution Location Maintenance. Auto Distribution Assignment Override checkbox. Added a checkbox to this screen to allow for the indication that a distribution location has an override. This impacts auto distribution and marks the location as being a “fill first” location for auto distribution.
Admin Web Site – Doctor Schedule Defaults Maintenance. Auto Distribution Assignment Override checkbox. Added this checkbox to the maintenance screen. This override will allow for date specific override functionality that works in conjunction with the same field on the distribution location maintenance and impacts auto distribution.
Admin Web Site – Distribution Auto Summary Report – Record Number. Exposed the record number field on this report due to the fact that the auto distribution robot routine runs too fast for a timestamp (i.e., multiple records in the same second). By showing the record number, arrival sequence can be determined.
Doctor Module – Diagnostic Tab. Grossing Notes and Clinical Information Enforcement options. Added checkboxes to the screen to allow for the notes and information fields to be mandatory. The options can be controlled via configuration to be visible, on, and enabled (or not).
Doctor Module – Medical Code Accession Audit Log – Created a new audit log table that captures all transactional changes to the medical code accession table.
Doctor Module – Diagnosis Deletion. Do not clear grossing notes section. If a diagnosis was started and then deleted, some of the grossing information was cleared when the delete was performed. Then, if the diagnosis transaction was completed, the grossing information was not there. Made the decision to not clear the grossing information.
Admin Web Site – Service Provider Maintenance. File Prefix Field. Added this field to the screen to allow for the capture of a file name prefix addition for service providers when performing digital file sharing (IMS) functionality.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab. Exact Accession Length scanning. Added the ability to consider an exact accession length scan to be considered an accession number for sites that do not make use of number wheels and have fixed length accession numbers.
Sample Testing – PCR Tab. Mandatory Batch Type. Modified the PCR batch creation process to require a batch type.
Sample Testing – PCR Tab. Mandatory Extraction Type. Modified the PCR batch batch creation process to require an extraction type.
Admin Web Site – Case Hold History Report. Max Rows. Added max rows logic to this report to cover for employees running the report with a wide open throttle and returning too much data.
Admin Web Site – CPT Category Maintenance. Recut/Deeper Flag. Added a checkbox to this screen to mark a CPT code as a recut/deeper to further delineate from the existing special stains, IHC, and first run protocols.
Admin Web Site – Service Provider Workflow Status Reference. Warning Days Field. Added a warning days field to this maintenance screen to allow for an “overdue warning” to be specified for a specific workflow/service provider/status combination. This is part of the outsource tracking section of Assist.
Admin Web Site – LIS Electronic Connection Type Maintenance. Source ID, Destination ID, Company Code variables have been added to this screen to further enhance the data that can be included in both inbound and outbound interface communications.
Admin Web Site – Service Provider Digital Assignment Report. Created this report to provide information on the service provider digital assignment data inside Assist that is used in conjunction with digital outsourcing.
Universal Slide POU. New Slide Tracking Fields. New fields have been added to the slide tracking table to reflect LIS interface upload, upload date, and upload user. Modified the write routine to fill these fields with placeholder values.
Admin Web Site. Stain Tracking Report. Modified this report to show the new upload fields that were added for LIS interface uploads of slides when digital processing is in place.
Admin Web Site. LIS Electronic Interface Requests Report. Modified this report to add multiple new fields associated with confirming receipt and processing of electronic orders via the interface.
Sample Testing. PCR Tab. Grid sort order changes. Modified the sort order on both the PCR extraction and order grids to include true numeric sort ordering on both the accession number and the cassette identifier.
Admin Web Site. Material Testing Report. Created this report to provide visibility to the material submitted testing information that is captured inside Assist via the sample testing module. This report allows for reporting over the “live” and audit log tables via the same report.
Admin Web Site – CPT Pricing Maintenance. Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of CPT pricing information. For the CPT library, each code can carry a pricing value for single, multiple, and multiplex use. This data can be declared across the board or can be carried at the client level.
Admin Web Site – Client Group Maintenance. Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of client groups. These groups can be used to aggregate clients that might be owned or managed by a business entity.
Admin Web Site – Clinical Group Maintenance. Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of clinical office groups. These groups can be used to aggregate clinical offices that might be owned or managed by a business entity.
Admin Web Site – Client Master Maintenance. Client Group. Added a drop down to the maintenance screen to allow for the specification of a client group assignment to a client.
Admin Web Site – Clinical Office Master Maintenance. Clinical Group. Added a drop down to the maintenance screen to allow for the specification of a clinical office group assignment to a clinical office.
Scanner Engine – Auto Distribution doctor show in case components tree. For sites that make use of the auto distribution artificial intelligence, provided the abililty to show the doctor to which a case is auto distributed in the case components tree. This would typically be used at embedding or legacy microtomy.
Admin Web Site – Case Hold Reason Maintenance. Auto purge information. Modified this screen to include a check box to note a hold reason as “auto purge” with a field for auto purge days. Also added a “suppress scoreboard” checkbox to have the case holds suppressed from inclusion on the case hold board if marked.
Scoreboard – Case Hold Board. Suppress Scoreboard Reason. Added the ability to suppress the display of case hold reason from the case hold board if the reason was marked with the suppress scoreboard option.
Interface Utility. Case Hold Auto Purge Logic. Add logic to the automatic routine to remove case holds. There was a routine in place to eliminate case holds that have been marked for “Auto Release”. A modification was made to handle “Auto Purge” case holds where the auto purge days count is used to clear case holds of so marked hold reasons. In both instances of auto purge or auto release, added logic to write to the case hold history table, which was not being done previously.
Admin Web Site. Service Provider Maintenance. Use Embedded Logic flag. Added a checkbox to the service provider maintenance screen to indicate whether or not digital files sent/received with a service provider are stored as an embedded object inside SQL or traded as a true file (SMB).
Admin Web Site. Service Provider File Type Maintenance. Compress Files and Use Embedded Logic checkbox. Modified the service provider file type maintenance screen to include checkboxes for “Use Embedded Logic” and “Compress Files”. This is used to indicate at the file type level when trading digital objects with a service provider if the files should be embedded as a BLOB in the SQL server and whether they should be compressed (zipped) before doing so to expedite transmission time.
Admin Web Site. Rework Request Report. Task scanned by selection criteria issue. Found an issue where if the “Task Scanned By” selection criteria was being used that the data did not filter correctly due to a case sensitivity issue with the LIS cross reference information. Added logic to ignore case sensitivity.
Doctor Closeout. Clinical Group and Office filter and exclusion. Added logic to the doctor order closeout screen to take into account clinical group and clinical office filters. Orders can be filtered to only specific clinical offices or clinical office groups and can also be modified to EXCLUDE specific clinical office groups. This supports the use of doctor orders and clinical office routing.
Universal Slide POU – Tracking Number by Delimiter functionality. Added logic to allow for the use of delimited slide tracking numbers (i.e., sequence) instead of requiring more complicated delimiters with start and end characters (ex. T:/) to support digital platforms that use the bar code as the genesis for a file name save where special characters are not supported.
Universal Slide POU – Digital Slide Batch Tracking. Added the ability to write slide scan transactions into a new digital slide batch tracking database table. This can be used to capture all objects that are intended for delivery to a digital platform to have a worklist of slides.
Admin Web Site – Clinical Master Maintenance. Clinical Code. Added a clinical code to the maintenance screen to be used to interface clinical locations to the LIS as needed.
Admin Web Site – Order Closeout Maintenace. Clinical Office drop down. Modified the order closeout maintenance screen to include a clinical office in the drop down so that a doctor order can be associated with a specific clinical office that placed an order.
Universal Slide POU – Digital Batch Button. Added a new button to the slide Point of use screen to be used in the display of open digital batches. If no batch exists one will be created on the first slide scan if digital capture is turned on for tracking.
Admin Web Site – Digital Slide Batch Report. Added this report to allow for reporting against the newly created digital slide batches. The export process can also be used to get the file that will be used to load into equipment.
Interface Utility – LIS Order Load. Prep Room/Clinical Office mapping logic. Modified the LIS doctor order interface robot to look at the order submitting prep room and looks this up against the newly added clinical code for the clinical office to associate the physical location that submitted an order.
Universal Cassette Queue. Disable Printer choice. Added the ability to freeze the choice of printers in the queue. This prevents a site from accidentally getting cassette requests that are meant for a different location.
Universal Cassette POU. Drop File Logic. Alias features. Made changes to the data retrieval logic for alias data when cassettes are printed. Whether a TC client or an internal accession, a look up is now performed using both slots to find an accession and retrieve patient demographics data for inclusion on cassette printing when utilizing cassette drop files.
Universal Cassette Queue. Drop File Logic. Alias Features. Made changes to the data retrieval logic for alias data when cassettes are printed. Whether a TC client or an internal accession, a look up is now performed using both slots to find an accession and retrieve patient demographics data for inclusion on cassette printing when utilizing cassette drop files.
Admin Web Site. Courier Type Maintenance. Shipment Type Vendor and default shipment type. Modified this screen to include a check box not note a courier type as a shipment type and added a drop down for which one. This helps with the tracking for facilities that use both courier fleets and commercial shipping partners such as Fedex and UPS.
Clinical Office. Multiple changes to outbound. Made multiple modifications to the handling of the clinical office module focused on the outbound scan transactions. Rearranged screen slightly, added the toggling of courier type and shipment type and added more audit log transactions.
Doctor Module. Digital Tab. Full UNC visibility and copy clipboard button. When selecting a digital object in the doctor module (i.e., slide) the full UNC was getting truncated and was not visible. Changed this and also added a small button with a “C” on it that can be used to send the unc to the Windows clipboard for use in other applications.
Admin Web Site. Digital Queue Pathologist Maintenance. Null fields. This maintenance screen was bringing null values to the web screen. Cleaned this up visually and placed blank placeholders into the database.
Main Scanner Engine – Case Hold Levels. Check all levels of case hold. The main scanner engine was not checking for case holds at all object levels when an object was scanned. For example, if a cassette was scanned, holds at the specimen and/or requisition were not being caught. Resolved this to look general and specific for case holds.
Distribution. Check all levels of case hold. The distribution was not checking for case holds at all object levels when an object was scanned. For example, if a cassette was scanned, holds at the specimen and/or requisition were not being caught. Resolved this to look general and specific for case holds.
Universal POU Grossing – Case Hold on screen message not displaying. The message on the screen when a case hold was encountered had gotten hidden on the screen behind another control. Brought this forward so that it will display.
Main Scanner Engine – Unscannable Slide Issue. Discovered an issue where the manual entry feature (unscannable) had gotten broken in the legacy microtomy scanning engine. Resolved the issue.
Admin Web Site – Case Hold Resolution Maintenance. Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of case hold resolution values. The case hold logic in Assist has been expanded to include the capture of the resolution of a case hold and this screen allows for the creation of the choices for resolution.
Admin Web Site – Batch File Export Type Maintenance. Created this screen to allow for a list of batch file export templates or types that can be created and customized inside Assist to meet a variety of file drop/interface needs.
Admin Web Site – Batch File Export Layout. Created this screen to handle the maintenance of the list of fields that should be included in a batch file export type (template).
Admin Web Site – Clinical Receiving Site maintenance. Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of clinical receiving sites. These sites are used in the clinical office module of Assist to designate and track the site (typically lab) that received a specimen.
Clinical Office Module – Clinical Received Site Information. Modified the clinical office module to capture the clinical receiving site. The data is propagated with blank data when sending and then recording the site that actual received the specimen(s).
Admin Web Site – Clinical Tracking Detail Report. Created this report to display the details associated with the clinical office module and specimens that are entered into the application.
Clinical Office – Rush Flag Capture and Display. Added a rush checkbox to the clinical office module to allow for the marking of a case as a rush and also display it on the receiving screens.
Universal Slide POU – Alias Specimen type lookup. When working with a client accession number that has a cross reference value for the laboratory LIS accession, the alias cross reference was not being considered when looking up the specimen type tracking information. Changed the logic to roll over and look for specimen information on both if they are not present.
Scoreboard – Clinical Office Scoreboard. Rush count. Added a column indicating the number of rush cases that are included in the clinical office scoreboard daily counts.
Clinical Office – Manifest Printing. Put X coordinates into configuration. Pulled the x coordinates for the manifest into the configuration for simple modifications. Also added the column headers and a visible Y/N choice.
Scoreboard – Case Hold Summary Board. Created a new scoreboard to show summary counts of case holds instead of the accession level detail information.
Universal Slide POU – LIS Cross Reference Accession into history. Modified the scan history logic to allow for the display of accession cross reference information where an LIS and alias accession are both present on an object.
Universal Slide POU – Automatic Distribution Doctor in scan history. Added the ability to write the intended doctor into the slide point of use screen when the cassette is scanned to provide additional information to the histotech. The data is shown in the font color assigned to the doctor.
Clinical Office – Software timestamp capture. Added the capture of the executable timestamp into the data capture to assist in research of data.
Check in – Equipment run already active check. Added a check to make sure that there is not already an active equipment run when clicking the load button. This can be turned on/off in the configuration.
Check In – double scan warning after case hold scan. There was an issue for sites using the “scan to place on hold” feature where scanning to remove from hold (ex. decal) and then attempting to scan into a processor run would reflect as a double scan. Removed this issue.

February 2024

Admin Web Site – Research Project Type Maintenance. Animal Testing checkbox. Added this check box to the research project type screen to allow for the designation of research projects as involving animal testing.
Admin Web Site – Research Project Maintenance. Project Code. Added the project code to the screen so that a cross reference value for the project can be entered.
Admin Web Site – Species Source Maintenance. Created this screen as part of the research project area of Assist to allow for the maintenance of the source of species specimens that are acquired by a laboratory.
Clinical Office – Manifest Utility. Added some utility functionality to the screen to allow for the reassignment of a tracking object to a different manifest. Also provided the ability to close open manifests and provided for an “auto close” feature where all open manifests with closed objects can be automatically closed out.
Admin Web Site – Species Maintenance. Created this screen as part of the research project area of Assist to allow for the maintenance of the species for specimes that are used as part of research projects.
Admin Web Site – Clinical Tracking Summary. Created this report to provide a summarized view of the clinical tracking data captured in Assist.
Main Scanner - Alias Specimen type lookup. When working with a client accession number that has a cross reference value for the laboratory LIS accession, the alias cross reference was not being considered when looking up the specimen type tracking information. Changed the logic to roll over and look for specimen information on both if they are not present.
Admin Web Site – Auto Distribution Override Reasons – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of auto distribution override exceptions reasons. This will be used to capture why/if the auto distribution algorithm is overridden by a human during distribution.
Distributon – Auto Distribution – Exceptions Reason Logic – Added the logic to the distribution module to enforce the capture of exceptions reasons and text to allow an employee to explain why the auto distribution algorithm is being manually overridden when slides are distributed to pathologists.
Distribution – Auto Distribution – Show Rules Logic . Added logic behind the show rules section of automatic distribution. This shows accession header information regarding client, state, etc. Displays all of the specimens on the case. Displays any exceptions the robot encountered when attempting to distribute the case and also included a total list of doctors that were eligible for the accession.
Interface Utility – Auto Distribution Robot. Exception reasons and comments placeholders. These two new fields have been added to the automatic distribution algorithm and placeholders were created in the database for exceptions to be filled at distribution. Set default values in the database when creating records for database consistency sake.
Clinical Office – Tracking Number Duplicate Check – Added logic to check on the manifest data for a duplicate tracking number when performing a save transaction.
Clinical Office – Manual Entry on Open Tracking. Added a field for “Manual Entry” to the database to indicate whether or not the “open tracking” checkbox was set when a record was saved which would allow capture of a manually entered tracking number.
Admin Web Site – Clinical Tracking Detail Report. Manual Entry Field. Added this field to the report to see whether or not manual entry could have been made on the capture of the data line on the report.
Admin Web Site – Distribution Auto Summary Report – Exception Reason and Comments. Added these two fields to the report to support recent changes to the automatic distribution robot.
Admin Web Site – Accession Prefix Maintenance. LIS Slide Uploaded checkbox. Added this checkbox to the maintenance screen to allow for the specification of a prefix as supporting the upload of slide information to an LIS to support slide bar code contents updates.
Clinical Office – Manifest Barcode. Added the ability to place the accession number as a linear bar code to the “header” line per accession number to allow for direct scanning from the manifest into an LIS if needed. This can be turned off by configuration.
Admin Web Site – Slide Type Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the creation of slide types. Slide types are used to determine the type of slide such as “IHC, Special Stain, recut, etc.”
Admin Web Site – Slide Protocol Maintenance. Slide Type dropdown. Added the drop down to the protocol screen so that a slide type (and code) can be associated with the protocol.
Order Closeout – Selection Criteria Redesign. Clinical Group, office, alias, no filters, last maintained date. Rearranged the selection criteria on this screen and added all of the new filtering elements listed above.
Order Closeout – Display alias in both status and regular grid. To better support TC clients with private labelling, the client alias accession was added to the order closeout grid to reduce confusion on alias cases.
Order Closeout – Print log filtering for selection criteria changes. Made multiple changes to the print log screen to make sure that the log can be printed with the appropriate filtering.
Admin Web Site – Accession Slide Count Maintenance. Slide Type Code. Modified this screen to allow for the capture of slide type codes on the slide recipe area to allow for better reports of the types of slides produced. This can be manually overridden but preloads from the selection of the slide protocol.
Admin Web Site – Order Status Maintenance – Show Record Number Option. Added this checkbox to the screen to allow for the display of the record number assigned to a order status value.
LIS Message Queue Utility – Send Single Case Feature. Added functionality to this utility to allow for the sending of a single case via the utility rather than all unsent slides.
LIS Message Queue Interface Utility – Pull send message queue variables from the connections table in the database. Modified this utility outbound data to pull the information for the LISElectronicConnections table.
Admin Web Site – LIS Electronic Interface Connections Maintenance. Added all of the message queue variables necessary to perform outbound communications.
LIS Message Queue Utility – XML Validation logic. Added logic to this utility to validate the XML payload message to make sure that it is valid from a pure XML standpoint before communicating to the interface system. Any malformed messages are written to an exception table.
Admin Web Site – Slide Tracking Maintenance. Multiple new fields. Added new fields to the maintenance screen to reflect changes that have been made to the slide tracking process.
Admin Web Site – Interface XML Exceptions – Created this report to provide visibility to the XML exceptions that are now being captured when an XML file that is not valid is processed by the interface engine.
Admin Web Site – Location Maintenance – LIS Cross Reference – varchar(30) – Added this field to allow for the capture of information to identify an Assist location back to an LIS platform. This can represent a prep room, performing location, etc. when using an interface.
Admin Web Site – Slide Type Maintenance – BillableFlag – Added this flag to the slide type table to denote whether or not a slide type should be billable for sites that keep track of this level of information.
Admin Web Site – Slide Tracking Maintenance – LIS Upload Eligible Flag to maintenance and criteria. For sites that upload detailed slide tracking for interfaces such as digitial pathology, this checkbox for upload has been added to both the criteria and the update side of the screen to allow for “resend” transactions.
Universal Slide POU – Slide Tracking Creation – LIS Upload Eligible Default. Added a default value into the slide tracking creation process for this new field.
Admin Web Site – Dissection Method Maintenance. Created this screen to allow for the entry of dissection methods to be used at grossing (ex. Bisection, breadloafing, etc.).
Admin Web Site – Slide Status Maintenance – Reprinted Flag – Added a reprinted slide to the slide status maintenance to allow for the marking of a slide status value to indicate a “reprint”.
Clinical Office – Receiving – Clear the tracking number if auto receive was performed. The tracking number was staying on the screen after a scan which combined with the retrieve button was causing the screen to blank out all data in the grid.
Clinical Office – Outbound – Manifest refresh button. Added a button to the screen to allow for the manual refresh of the data to match the criteria entered.
Admin Web Site – Interface Type Maintenance – InterfaceCode, DefaultFilePath, and FileType. Added these fields to the interface type maintenance screen to allow for improved performance on interfaces.
Admin Web Site – Slide Protocol Maintenance – Stain Type Abbreviation. Added a stain type abbreviation field to this screen to allow for a cross reference maintenance back to other software platforms such as an LIS to tie protocols between platforms.
Admin Web Site – Service Provider Workflow Reference Maintenance – Post Download Status. Added a “post download status” to this table to allow for the marking of a status value an object should be moved to when downloading via the digital cloud module.

March 2024

Clinical Office – Manifest header reload on retrieval. When a manifest was brought back to the main screen from the find utility, the header information (i.e., shipment number, shipment type, etc.) was not loading from the original manifest. Changed the behavior to pull back this data.
Clinical Office – Manifest save button. Added a save button to the screen to allow for the update of manifest header information.
Clinical Office – “Air tag” capability. Added the ability to capture an electronic tag (ex. air tag) serial number to be associated with a clinical office manifest. This can be done via an “open tag” scan on the main outbound screen, or a pop up screen requesting the information can be presented when the “create manifest” button is selected.
Clinical Office – Pull patient demographics on object scan. Modified the outbound screen to look for the accession number that was scanned in the already existing clinical office tracking data and pull back the patient level (ex. name, dob, etc.) on the scan to reduce re-entry of information for a multiple specimen patient submission.
Clinical Office – Outbound – EMA Specimen bar code. Added logic to allow for the scanning of the specimen bar codes that are generated by the EMA system.
Clinical Office – Outbound/Receiving - Open Objects Grid – Include manifest number. The date and count information on open tracking data did not include the manifest number. Modified both grids to include the manifest.
Sample Testing – Specimen Ordering Tab. Show Client block identifier and show client accession checkboxes. Added these two checkboxes to the screen to allow for visibility to the client accession number and block identifier if they are entered when creating specimen orders via the blocks tracking tab of the sample testing module.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab. Patient demographic look up if no packages. Modified the receiving tab to change the behavior when an accession number is used as part of the selection criteria. If no existing packages are found, the routine now makes a secondary check of the LIS Interface data and loads the screen with the approprite client, patient name, and accession numer to expedite entry of the remaining data.
Admin Web Site – Distribution Auto Summary Report – Unassigned only checkbox. Modified this report to include a checkbox to filter and show only records in the summary table that were not assigned to any distribution location as part of the auto distribution process.
Admin Web Site - Slide Protocol Maintenance – Selection Criteria Changes. Active Only, description, and slide type were added as selection criteria filters to allow for more manageable retrieval of data. Also added a duplicate check to the description to not allow the same human readable more than once.
Universal Slide POU – Order Print Only. This option if set, could not be unset on configuration change. Fixed this.
Distribution – Auto Distribution and Void. The void transaction inside the distribution module did not back out the distributed data that was updated into the auto distribution data model. Corrected this so that the transaction got backed out.
Admin Web Site – Laboratory Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of laboratories via the Assist Hub module. This is used as a “lite” LIS module and the laboratory table allows for the routing of specimens to appropriate laboratories for accessioning.
Admin Web Site - Country Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the mainteance of countries to have a drop down list of consistent values rather than free form entry.
Admin Web Site – Database Definition Maintenance – Description, LIS, Notes – Added these new fields to the definition table to better define remote connectivity when pulling data from alternate databases in an environment with more than one database and shared specimens.
Admin Web Site – Accession Prefix Maintenance – Patient Demographic Database. Added this drop down to the screen to allow for the specification by number wheel of database values where the patient demographics are expected to be from a “database of record” standpoint to pull them on demand.
Interface Utility – PathQuest Order Loading. New fields. Modified the interface utility for the PathQuest LIS to include the date/time of the application that generated the exception along with the utility name. Also added the accession number and placed the ability to filter out specific number wheel ranges.
Universal Slide – Patient Demographics. Added logic to allow for the pulling of patient demographics real time from a remote Assist database if there are no demographics present at the time that the block is scanned for slide printing.
Closeout Module. Doctor Order Closeout. Audit Log Visibility. Added a button to the doctor order closeout screen to provide visibility via a pop up screen of the audit log details for the selected doctor order. Previously the audit log information was only visible via the administrative web site.
Admin Web Site – Collection Point Maintenance – Default Auto Logout. Added a default auto logout minutes field to the collection point maintenance screen to be used for “auto closing” abandoned employee scan time records.
Interface Utility – Employee Scan Time Correction. Created this automation job to look for abandoned time buckets in the employee scan time database and close them appropriately.
Admin Web Site – Employee Scan Time Report. Detail View. Robot auto logoff. Added this flag to the report to indicate when an employee time was closed by the automated robot job as opposed to manually logout or auto logout (timer on screen).
Admin Web Site – Insurance Carrier Maintenance. Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of insurance carriers (ex. Kaiser, Blue Cross). This data is available as part of the Assist Hub module when capturing patient demographics and this data is used in the insurance carrier drop down.
Admin Web Site – Underlying Condition Maintenance. Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of underlying medical conditions. This data is available as part of the Assist Hub module when capturing patient demographics,
Doctor Module. Digital Pathology Tab. Slide view tree. Modified the digital pathology tab to show a “tree” control on the right hand side of the screen to show all of the slides on the case with details to provide more meaningful data on digital slides.
Admin Web Site – State/Province Maintenance. Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of states/provinces and to provide for the ability to present this data in a drop down box as opposed to via free form entry to better provide data integrity.
Admin Web Site – Distribution Location Maintenance. Full Digital Checkbox. Added this checkbox to the distribution location table to allow for a site to be marked as “digital only” to represent a site that only gets images and not physical glass slides.
Admin Web Site – Image Type Maintenance. Digital Slide Checkbox. Added this checkbox to the image type screen to allow for the creation of an image type of digital slides.
Admin Web Site – Service Provider Maintenance. Status Eligibility Open Checkbox. Added this checkbox to the screen to allow for the marking of a service provide as having open status values which means they are not limited to the mapping of status cross reference values.

2nd Quarter 2024

April 2024

Closeout Module – Doctor Closeout – Distinct LIS interface records. Modified the closeout screen to collapse down LIS interface records if multiple records came over via an interface from an LIS and more than one is active. Previously, this could result in multiple rows getting displayed in the order closeout grid.
Check In Module. Robot Scanner. Missing last iterative scan from robot. It was discovered when using a high speed robot scanner in the check in module that the last transaction was getting ignored. Correct this behavior.
LIS Message Queue Interface Utility – Manual Send Capability. Added functionality to allow for the manual sending of messages to an IBM Worldsphere message queue.
Universal Slide POU – Order only no print feature. The ability to mark “doctor orders” for no print was not working correctly and the doctor orders were still printing even with this check box marked. Corrected this issue.
Admin Web Site – Laboratory Number Wheel Maintenance. Created this screen to allow for the mapping of number wheel to laboratories. This feature set is part of the Assist Hub module which can serve as an LIS feature for facilities and allows for the assignment of accession numbers and the mapping of different number wheels to different laboratories.
Stain Queue – Equipment Interface File Format Logic. Added logic into the stain queue to handle multiple file formats based on the equipment interface file logic. Based on the staining platform chosen, a different file format section of the routine can be trigged to handle multiple platforms in one facility.
Stain Queue – Ventana HL7 Communications Format. Added logic to format the HL7 file that Ventana needs as part of a standard stain queue/staining platform interface.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Interface Maintenance. Equipment Interface File Format value. Modified this maintenance screen to allow for the different file formats to be matched and called by the various equipment interface records.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Interface File Format Maintenance. Created this report to allow for the maintenance of the various equipment interface file formats that might exist and need to be matched to interface records.
Admin Web Site – Number Wheel Allocation Report. Created this report to provide visibility to the allocation of accession numbers to patient demographic/testing records as part of the Assist Hub module.
Admin Web Site – Employee Work Statistics Report – Criteria rearrangement. Rearranged the top of this report to make it more visually appealing.
Admin Web Site – Slide Protocol Maintenance – Protocol Number. Added a protocol number field to the slide protocol (i.e., protocol dictionary) to allow for the assignment of numbers as well as human readable “standard” values.
Admin Web Site – Employee Accession Log Report. Selection Criteria redesign and issue with collection points. Rearranged the selection criteria on this report to make it more visually appealing and also resolved an issue where the collection group filtering logic was not getting applied correctly to the criteria.

May 2024

Admin Web Site – Distribution Cancellation Category Maintenance – Created this maintenance screen to allow for the maintenance of distribution cancellation categories. These will be used as part of the distribution cancellation process to provide categories of the reasons that a cancellation was performed.
Admin Web Site – Distribution Cancellation Reason Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of distribution cancellation reasons. These reasons will be part of the distribution cancellation process and supports the specification of the reasons that a cancellation was performed.
Universal POU – Cassette and Slide prefix drop down sizing. Modified the drop downs to become wider when clicked than the default display size to allow for the display of “extra wide” accession prefixes.
Interface Utility – Auto Distribution Robot – Database Connection Information in title bar. Put the database connection information in the header bar of the robot screen for visual confirmation of the connection for the screen.
Doctor Module – Digital Pathology Tab. View On Click feature and functionality. Added a “view on click” check box to the screen to allow for the instant launch of the viewer functionality when a slide in the “tree” is clicked rather than needing to first click the item and then click the display button.
Hub Module – Quality Screen – Added a new screen to main menu driver to provide for the ad hoc research of quality information.
Admin Web Site – Insurance Carrier Maintenance. Insurance Company Field. Added the insurance company field to this maintenance screen so that multiple carrier values can be held and grouped into a company to account for state or regional offices of a national brand.
Doctor Module – Digital Count Incorrectly Red. Discovered an issue where the digital count button was showing as red with a count of 0/0 instead of green. Corrected this issue.
Doctor Module – Prefix Auto Expansion Setting. Modified the prefix drop down to grow in size to show all prefix data in case any number wheels are large visually and then collapse back down after selection.
Hub – Specimen Type and Quality Error Auto Expansion Setting. Modified these two drop down boxes to expand to a much bigger size to not cut off information visually and then collapse back down to a manageable size after selection.
Admin Web Site – Insurance Carrier Maintenance – Address Fields. Added fields to the carrier maintenance screen to show address information and comments along with 2 phone numbers and phone types for the storage of insurance carrier contact information.
Admin Web Site – Body Source Maintenance – Body Source Category. Added this drop down to the screen to allow for the categorization of body sources for grouping purposes.
Admin Web Site – Case Hold Maintenance – Grid Display Changes. Modified the data display to consolidate the accession number into a full accession field instead of displaying broken down into component parts (i.e., Prefix, Accession, Specimen, Part). Also made the hold date visible.
Admin Web Site – Body Source Category Maintenance. Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of body source categories. This data is used to then group body sources into logical categories for reporting purposes. An example would be a category of “Foot” might then contain all of the body sources associated with a foot (i.e., 10 toes, left vs. right, etc.).
Admin Web Site – Distribution Cancellation Report. Created this report to provide visibility to the distribution cancellation transactions that have been added as captured data into the distribution module.
Distribution Module – Distribution Cancellation Logic. – Added logic to the distribution module to allow for the capture of accession numbers that are not processed by the location to which they were distributed. This allows for the specification of a cancellation reason and free form comments and tracks the location that did not process the specimens. Examples might be a simple refusal to process, availability issues, legality issues, etc. Reasons can be codified and categorized into the business reasons for the cancellation.
Clinical Office – Specimen Type Auto Expansion Setting. Modified this drop down box to expand to a much bigger size to not cut off information visually and then collapse back down to a manageable size after selection.
Manufacturing Module – Close task on task scan. Added logic to the manufacturing module that allows for any open manufacturing tasks to be automatically closed when a new task is scanned. This can be allowed/disallowed via the configuration.
Manufacturing Module – Close task on case scan. Added logic to the manufacturing module that allows for any open manufacturing tasks to be automatically closed when a new case is scanned. This can be allowed/disallowed via the configuration.
Manufacturing Module – Task cancel does not delete task transaction. The task scan cancel used to actually delete the task transaction record. Added fields for cancel date and employee to cancel the transaction but show the fact that it was cancelled rather than removing it.
Manufacturing Module – Include Close Task in History. Added logic to allow based on configuration flag the ability to write the task close transaction into the scan history.
Manufacturing Module – Task Close on Logout or form close. Added logic to the manufacturing module to make sure that any open tasks are closed when the autologic routine is called or if the module is manually closed.
Admin Web Site – MFG Task Transaction Report. Rework Cancelled and Task Completed Fields. Added these two fields to the report to provide visibility to fields that were added to the data capture after the report was originally created.
Clinical Office – Outbound Screen. Body source category inclusion. Added the body source category to the screen to allow for the filtering of body sources.
Admin Web Site – Insurance Carrier Company Maintenance. Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of insurance carrier company information. This is a grouping that allows for insurance carrier data to be grouped into a company. This is relevant if multiple insurance carrier instances (ex. state versions) roll up into a single company.
Admin Web Site – Image Type Maintenance – File Type Field, Grossing Image checkbox, and sketch background. Add these new fields to the image type maintenance screen to allow for the specification of the image file type, whether or not the image reflects a grossing image, and provides for a sketch background image for the grossing sketching tool.
Admin Web Site – Case Hold Closure – Rewrote – Modified the functionality of the case hold closure screen to make it look better visually and change the functionality to better support batch transactions.
Admin Web Site – Case Hold History Report – Resolution Fields. Modified this report to include the case hold resolution information fields (i.e., employee, date, resolution reason, and comments) that have been added.
Universal Module – Grossing Point of Use – Sketch Pad functionality. Added the ability to sketch diagrams of biospsies inside the grossing module. This sketch pad allows for the free form drawing of lines with various colors, input of numbers and text as needed with the ability to store multiple images and modify as necessary. These sketches will be available in other modules of Assist as needed.
Check In – Case Hold Save on Scan checkbox. Added a “save on scan” option inside the check in/Case hold area to allows for repetitive case hold scanning (add/delete) without having to click the save button in between transactions.
Check In – Show Equipment Reload Button – Added a reload button to the main check in screen to allow for the hide/show of equipment that has an active processor run. This is an attempt to reduce errors where the same equipment could be included in a processor run when a prior run was still active.
Check In – Hide Equipment Choice on Active/Show when run finished. Modified the logic in this module to hide equipment from the drop down box if has an active processor run. This information will update as the run is closed (green shield) or any other timer routine closes the run.
Check In – Equipment/Size Change Warning. Added logic to put scanned transactions iinto a pending list with a count visible at the bottom of the screen. If the equipment and/or processor run is changed in the middle of building a batch, a warning is generated and ALL pending can be moved to the new values or a cancellation can be performed to process the records already loaded.
Check In – Modified the transaction timer to run regardless of login status. When an employee was no longer logged into the screen, the timer was not launching which stopped auto closure from working correctly.
Check In – Case Hold Removal on Auto run completion. Modified the transactional timer to allow for the automatic closure of tissue runs once the end date is beyond the current date.
Check In – Case Hold Removal on Tissue run auto hold deletion. Added logic to the utility screen to make sure that on the deletion of a processor batch, any automatic case hold transactions for the accessions on that batch will be deleted when the batch is deleted.
Check In – Case Hold Removal/Addition with utility run changes. Added logic to the utility screen to either add or remove case hold transactions if a processor batch is changed to a processor run that has automatic case holds or that removes case holds.
Admin Web Site – Work Queue Type Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of work queue types. These types are used for categorizing work queues for sites that make use of them.
QC Out Module – Bad Image File Handling. Added logic to the QA out version of the QC module to make sure that bad images that will not open in Windows do not cause issues for the module.
Admin Web Site – Logout Reason Maintenance. Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of logout reasons. These will be added to the logout process to allow for the capture of why an employee is loggin out of the module(s) (ex. Lunch, Break, End of day, etc.).
Admin Web Site – Work Queue Maintenance. Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of work queues. These will be used as part of the work queue process for sites that need this feature to mark work as it moved through the workflow.
Scanner Engine – On Call List Functionality. Added the button to the main scanner engine to allow for visibility to the on call lists.
Scanner Engine – Grossing Images At embedding. Added the grossing image button the main scanner engine to allow for grossing sketches to be visible at embedding and legacy grossing/microtomy.
Universal Module – Slide POU – Grossing Images button. Added the grossing image button to the slide point of use view inside the universal module to provide for visibility of grossing sketches to the microtomy department.

June 2024

Universal Module – Cassette POU – Work Queue Button. Added a button to the cassette POU to allow for a display of work queue data for sites that make use of the work queue during scanning.
Universal Module – Cassette POU – Work Queue Data Capture. Added logic to the cassette POU (grossing) screen to add records to the work queue for sites that make use of this information.
Universal Module – Slide POU – Work Queue Button. Added a button to the slide POU to allow for a display of work queue data for sites that make use of the work queue during scanning.
Universal Module – Slide POU – Work Queue Data Capture. Added logic to the slide POU (microtomy) screen to add records to the work queue for sites that make use of this information.
Admin Web Site – Medical Code Accession History Report. Audit Log Choice. Modified this report to add a check box to allow for the branching of information between the history report and the true audit log for medical accession data.
Doctor Module – Button Consistency. Changed the buttons on several tabs to make them consistent with other Assist modules as image buttons with the consistent size instead of text buttons.
Doctor Module – Image Tab. Send image to Windows. Added a button to this screen to allow for sending images to windows for a more blown up view of the image if needed.
Accessioning Module – Bottle Print View. Clear Accession on Print Choice. Added a checkbox to the screen to allow for the clearing of the accession number on the print transaction.
Admin Web Site – Logout Reasons maintenance. Auto Logout and Screen closed checkboxes. Added checkboxes to this maintenance screen to allow for marking of a logout reason as the default auto logout and screen closure logout reason.
Universal Module. Cassette POU. Logout reason logic. Added logic to the cassette POU screen to prompt for a logout reason (if configured for this data capture) when a logout is performed. This prompt also has a timer set so that it will not be displayed indefinitely if no response is provided.
Universal Module. Slide POU. Logout reason logic. Added logic to the slide POU screen to prompt for a logout reason (if configured for this data capture) when a logout is performed. This prompt also has a timer set so that it will not be displayed indefinitely if no response is provided.
Interface Utility – LIS Order Interface. Exceptions purge days logic. Added purge days logic to the order interface utility so that repeated exceptions will not be out of control and flood the Assist database.
Sample Testing – FISH tab. Exclude material submission master closed status. Found an issue where if the material package header record has a status of closed, but the individual material was never indicated as returned, the orders will continue to show up on the FISH tab. Added a check for the header status.
Admin Web Site – Business Area Maintenance. Business Area Color. Added a color value to the screen to allow for the color coding of business area information.
Sample Testing – FISH Tab. Color Coded communication Log. Added logic to the FISH tab in the communication log column. While the asterisk is there to indicate that notes exist, color coding by business area was added to the background color to allow the employee to have a visual indication that a note exists AND that the note is specifically targeted to their business area.
Sample Testing – Communication Log. Business area defaults for log source. Set the communication log source to default to the active business area source assuming this is set.
Scanner Engine – Logout reason logic. Added logic to the main scanner screen to prompt for a logout reason (if configured for this data capture) when a logout is performed. This prompt also has a timer set so that it will not be displayed indefinitely if no response is provided.
Scanner Engine – Auto Distribution display on main screen. Added verbiage to the bottom of the screen to indicate if auto distribution has been performed on an accession to show the technician which pathologist will end up getting the case.
Scanner Engine – Digital Doctor back color capability. Added logic to the screen to allow for the back color of the screen to change to reflect that a doctor is set for the accession and that it is a doctor configured for digital work. This only works if auto distribution is in play to indicate the assigned pathologist at embedding.
Scanner Engine – Auto Distribution Digital Notation. Added the ability to denote that the doctor is a digital case regardless of the back color setting.
Universal Module – Slide POU – Auto Distribution display on main screen. Added verbiage to the bottom of the screen to indicate if auto distribution has been performed on an accession to show the technician which pathologist will end up getting the case.
Universal Module – Slide POU – Digital Doctor back color capability. Added logic to the screen to allow for the back color of the screen to change to reflect that a doctor is set for the accession and that it is a doctor configured for digital work. This only works if auto distribution is in play to indicate the assigned pathologist at embedding.
Universal Module – Slide POU – Auto Distribution Digital Notation. Added the ability to denote that the doctor is a digital case regardless of the back color setting.
Universal Module – Cassette Bulk Print. Serial Number Tracking. Modified the bulk print capability inside the cassette print section to handle serial number cassettes to support facilities that do not print cassettes with “standard” accession number formats.
Universal Module – Cassette POU – Serial Number Tracking. Made multiple changes to the cassette POU screen to augment the way that serial numbers are scanned via the serial builder section to enhance performance and behavior.
Print Center – Bottle Multiple Format screen. X/Y coordinates into template and configuration. Pulled the various X/Y coordinate values out of the code and placed them in the configuration and print template areas to give greater modification flexibility to the end users.
Admin Web Site. Specimen Type Maintenance. Require Grossing Image. Added a checkbox to the specimen type screen to allow for the indication that a grossing image is required for specific specimen types.
Universal Module. Both POU. Background color for scan history and case components. Added background color options to the configuration to allow for customized back color for the case components and the scan history to allow for more visual appeal.
Print Center. Slide Labels. X/Y Coordinates into template and configuration. Pulled the various x/y coordinates for the contents of the slide labels utility screen and placed them in both the configuration and the print template.
Admin Web Site. Dissection Method Maintenance. Method Code. Added a method code field to the dissection method maintenance screen (ex. Breadloaf, bissect, etc.). This new code will append or further explain the pieces values that are put into the system.
Print Center. Slide Labels. Dash in bar code option. Added a configuration option to determine whether or not a dash is placed in the bar code between the prefix and the accession number. This was added to both the configuration and the print template.
Universal Module. Slide POU. Case Component Changes. MCS, ECS Summary. Doctor Orders. Alias Information.
Universal Module. Cassette POU Pieces Utility. Code Addition. New data for a method code has been added to the pieces data capture to account for a dissection method code that works in conjunction with the pieces data. Modified the utility screen to allow for changes to this value after it was captured in real time.
Universal Module. Slide POU. Specimen Type Change. The specimen type button with the subsequent change/update was not working correctly and was not repositioning the protocol/stain after making changes. Fixed this issue.
Sample Testing – Quick Receiving tab. Collapsible selection criteria. Changed the selection criteria portion of this screen to allow for the expand and collapse of the criteria to clean up the visibility to the screen. This is driven by facilities that are retrieving based on accession number bar code where criteria is not really needed.
Sample Testing – Quick Receiving tab. Scan accession bar code and retrieve on scan. Added the ability to scan directly into the bar code/accession retrieval field and added the ability to immediately perform the retrieve to cut down on click events.
Print Center – Slide Print – Initials X/Y – Modified the slide print screen to add X/Y coordinates for the initials to allow for modifications of the look of the label without requiring programming support.
Universal Module – Cassette POU – Dissection Method Code Capture. Added a dissection method code that can be triggered on selection of the method that extends the information associated with pieces of tissue placed into a cassette.
Universal Module – Cassette POU – Dissection Method Selection by bar code scan. Added coding to allow for the scanning of a bar code to select the dissection method rather than requiring the selection from a dropdown box via a mouse click.
Universal Module – Cassette POU – Scan Bottle with No Requisition/Display Only. Modified the screen to allow for use without the requisition scan. Can now scan the bottle and the “parent” accession number will show up on the top line rather than being reflected as if a “phantom” requisition was scanned.

3rd Quarter 2024

July 2024

Sample Testing. Cytogenetics tab. The “Suppress” closed checkbox in the selection criteria was not working correctly. This was fixed.
Sample Testing. Cytogenetics tab. Grid default view. The status value for specimens that have not been worked yet were showing with a blank status column. Changed the “no status” value to be “None” rather than an empty cell in the grid for better clarity. Did the same thing for the culture date if there is no date because the culture has not been created yet.
Sample Testing. Cytogenetics tab. Selection criteria changes. Added a “suppress closed” checkbox for the culture status (order status already existed) to add more flexibility. Set this checkbox to “off” by default.
Sample Testing. Cytogenetics tab. Culture Tracking and Audit Log Changes. Added several fields to the culture tracking and audit log tables to make the audits more meaningful in regard to where data came from with the new data specifically being the computer name and the software version.
Sample Testing. Cytogenetics Tab. Audit log clearing. Noticed when working with the cyto tab that when switching accession numbers that the audit log was not clearing on the click of the retrieve button which could make the screen confusing as the audit trail from a prior record was being displayed. Now the grid clears on retrieval.
Admin Web Site – Culture Tracking Audit Log. Modified the report to include the machine name and software version that made the changes.
Admin Web Site – Culture Tracking Report. Modified the report to include the machine name and software version that made the last change to the data.
Sample Testing – PCR Tab. Vial label print with multi part information. The specimen letter was not printing in either the human readable OR bar code. Added configuration options to print or suppress these values as needed.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Tracking Analysis Report – Batch Number Criteria. Added the batch number to the selection criteria to allow for improved data filtering.
Admin Web Site – Timer Countdown Report – Batch Number Criteria. Added the batch number to the selection criteria to allow for improved data filtering.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Tracking Report – Batch Number Criteria. Added the batch number to the selection criteria to allow for improved data filtering on both the summary and detail version of this report. Also added the batch number to the report. Added formatting to the full accession number to add dashes to make the report data more visually appealing.
Check In Module – Auto Batch Close. Added logic to the check in routine to determine whether or not a check should be performed for open processor batches. If any are found with an end date less than the current date, they are closed. This feature should only be activated if the “unload process” is not being used to indicate when a processor run batch should be closed.
Admin Web Site – Specimen Category Maintenance. Category Metric Value. Added this value to the specimen category maintenance screen to make the information available in automatic distribution. This value can be used instead of or as an adjunct to the metric values that can be specified at the specimen type level.
Universal Cassette POU. Case Hold Changes. Modified the case hold entry screen to include comments and reorganized the screen to be more logical.
Universal Cassette POU. Case Hold Reason Scanning. Added logic to allow for the scanning of case hold reasons. If this is scanned from the main grossing screen, it immediately presents the case hold screen as if the button were pressed and positions the case hold reason drop down to the bar code value scanned.
Universal Cassette POU. Requisition Switch with no bottle. Found a couple of visual changes that needed to be made with how the error condition is handled when a second requisition is scanned after the first with no child scan. Modified the error reset on no error inside requisition to clear the screen.
QA Out Module. Task Being rejected error. There was a problem inside the routine for loading rework data to the screen that was causing an erroneous message of “Taks does not exist for the selected MSP”. Fixed this issue.
QA Out Module. Clear rework data on new case. Found an issue where the rework tab was still showing information from a prior case if there was no rework data on the current case. Set the retrieval routine to clear the screen before attempting to load new data.
QA Out Module. Rework Audit Log Capture. Added logic to the rework request process to introduce an audit trail capturing all of the rework request transactions to see all of the changes over time.
QA Out Module. Rework Audit Log Toggle. Added a toggle choice to the rework screen to provide for display of rework request active data as well as providing visibility to the new audit log data to see all of the transactions associated with the rework request.
Admin Web Site – Doctor Schedule Override Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the specification of schedule override information for doctors in terms of workload quotas and such for sites that take advantage of distribution limitations.
Admin Web Site – Rework Reason Audit Log. Created this report to provide visibility to the newly created rework reason audit log.
Admin Web Site – Client Accession Prefix Maintenance. Sample bar code and comments fields have been added to this maintenance screen to allow for entry of the bar code that the prefix is designed to handle. Comments are also provided to allow for a detailed description.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Tracking Analysis Report. Run Start/Run End columns. Added these two columns to the report to provide additional information.
Admin Web Site – Material Submission Audit Log. Created this report to provide visibility to the detailed audit log that is written to any time a material submission record is modified.
Universal Slide POU – Order Master Update Changes. With the routine that automatically prints doctor orders at cassette scan, it was discovered that the status was changing but the last changed user/date fields were not getting modified and no record was getting written to the audit log to reflect the status change. Corrected this to record both.
Sample Testing - FISH Detail Audit Log. Modified the FISH tab so that the transactions adding accession to and removing from batches go into an audit log for more detailed tracking.
Sample Testing – FISH Tab Audit Log. Added an audit log tab to the FISH batch details area to show full audit trail information in regard to FISH batches.
Admin Web Site – Doctor Schedule Defaults Maintenance. Created this screen to allow for the specification of default values of case capacity and case metrics for a doctor with an effective start and end date. While capacity values can be specified at the distribution location level, this allows for an effective start/end of default changes from the values for the doctor in general.
Check In Module. Software Time Stamp. Modified the check in write to the equipment tracking table to include the executable date/time stamp to help in determining version information.
Universal Cassette POU. Case Hold Functionality Changes. Added logic to how the case hold functionality works. Added the ability to look at the production hold vs. “information only” case hold information. Also provided detailed ability to view all of the case hold information on the case hold view rather than just the description (ex. WHO put the case on hold and WHEN).
Accessioning Module. Software Time Stamp. Software Time Stamp. Modified the check in write to the equipment tracking table to include the executable date/time stamp to help in determining version information.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Tracking Analysis. Modified this report to sort by tracking start date if “include date” is selected rather than just by the date without the time stamp to make the data show in true chronilogical order.
Accessioning/Opening Module. Login Panel standard buttons. Modified the login and cancel buttons to be standard picture buttons.
Admin Web Site. Client Accession Prefix Maintenance. Delimiter Package Drop down. Added this drop down to the maintenance screen so that delimiter packages can be specified for specific client prefixes to handle technical component work.
Admin Web Site. Delimiter Package Maintenance. Comments field addition. Added a free form comments field to the screen to allow for a detailed description to be entered to explain the purpose of the delimiter package.
Distribution Module. View Options Grouping. Added a view options group box to the upper right-hand corner of the screen. This view option will provide additional choices between manifest view, auto distribution views, etc. to meet the increased demand for viewing options.
Distribution Module. Manifest Printing Area. Reorganized the manifest printer choices to make them more visually appealing and decreased the font size to allow for more information to be displayed on the screen. This was also done in anticipation of adding alternate printer choices to the screen.
Distribution Module. Alternate Printer Logic. Added a second printer and checkbox to the manifest printing area. This allows for the specification of an “alternate” printer. This was done to simplify the transactions for users that wanted to print a physical copy of a manifest to a paper printer as well as an electronic copy to a fax printer and/or PDF printer without having to go through a reprint process.
Sample Testing. Tracking Tab. Reorganized several cosmetic items on the tracking tab to have the screen make more visual sense. Added defaults to the view choice between transactions and zone scan information. Added accession information to the selection criteria to allow for better filtering. Added a check to make sure an employee is logged in before allowing data retrieval.
Sample Testing. Tracking Tab. The zone scan side of the tracking tab was already operational and working fine but the transactional side of the inquiry was not in place. Added the ability to display transactions from a chain of custody standpoint over the main transactional audit log.
Sample Testing. Tracking Tab. Extended the transactional scanning data stream to include equipment tracking (ex. tissue processors and other equipment loading touchpoints) to provide more in depth information on the chain of custody information on a specimen and/or accession.
Sample Testing. Tracking Tab. Extended the transactional scanning data stream to include distribution data (ex. doctor slide distribution, send outs) to provide more in depth information on the chain of custody information on a specimen and/or accession.
Sample Testing. Tracking Tab. Extended the transactional scanning data stream to include warehouse data (ex. banking) to provide more in depth information on the chain of custody information on a specimen and/or accession.
Accessioning Module. Default cassette identifier specimen type tracking. Found an issue where the “type” of cassette identifier flag “A/N” was getting written into the specimen type tracking table, which was not valid. Corrected this to be the value “A” or “1” if data is written and implied values are in play.
Admin Web Site – Block Slide Instructions Maintenance. Description criteria. Added a description criteria field to allow for the filtering of data ont he screen by wildcard character matching.
Accessioning Module – Case Hold Functionality Changes. Added logic to how the case hold functionality works. Added the ability to look at the production hold vs. “information only” case hold information. Also provided detailed ability to view all of the case hold information on the case hold view rather than just the description (ex. WHO put the case on hold and WHEN). Brought this feature set up to the same standard as the universal module for grossing to be consistent.
Accessioning Module – Case Hold Reason Scanning. Added the ability to scan case hold bar codes to select the appropriate case hold reason from the dropdown listing when the case hold panel is visible.
Scanner Engine – Case Hold Functionality Changes. Added logic to how the case hold functionality works. Added the ability to look at the production hold vs. “information only” case hold information. Also provided detailed ability to view all of the case hold information on the case hold view rather than just the description (ex. WHO put the case on hold and WHEN). Brought this feature set up to the same standard as the universal module for grossing to be consistent.
Universal Slide POU. Case Hold Functionality Changes. Added logic to how the case hold functionality works. Added the ability to look at the production hold vs. “information only” case hold information. Also provided detailed ability to view all of the case hold information on the case hold view rather than just the description (ex. WHO put the case on hold and WHEN). Brought this feature set up to the same standard as the universal module for grossing to be consistent.

August 2024

Admin Web Site – Specimen Order Report. Created this report to provide for visibility of the specimen ordering information captured by the sample testing module.
Interface Utility – Paylocity Interface. Comma delimited file parser changes. Modified the method used by the text file parser inside the paylocity interface (time clock interface) to handle some data changes on the source information.
Warehouse Module – Configuration Change Screen. Standard buttons. Modified the configuration change pop up screen to use Assist standard buttons.
Warehouse Module – Object Filing. Leave drawer on configuration change. Added logic to the main filing screen to have a specified drawer not revert to the default drawer when toggling between configurations.
Universal Module – Slide POU. Requires Drawer checkbox. Added this checkbox to the screen to provide the ability to enforce or opt out of enforcement of the required warehousing drawer for cassettes. This checkbox can be visible or hidden by configuration.
Universal Module – Slide POU. Warehouse Button. Default prefix and accession number on the warehouse tab when there is an active accession prefix and number to reduce time with the assumption that an accession is being researched.
Universal Module – Slide POU. Warehouse Storage Transactions. Modified the automatic block filing logic to write object storage transaction records when filing blocks. Also added logic to the count to ensure that only unique block counts are reflected from a capacity standpoint if the same block is scanned multiple times.
Universal Module – Slide POU – Warehouse Void Button. Added a warehouse void button inside the “automatic” block filing section of the screen to allow for backing out of a transaction.
Sample Testing – Specimen Order Screen. Client/Facility tab with communications log. Added a client/facility view tab with the communications log tab on the specimen order screen view. This makes it easier for screen usage by providing line of sight to client and facility information without having to go to a different screen.
Admin Web Site – Batch Type Maintenance. Freezer Batch Checkbox. Added the freezer batch checkbox to this screen to allow for marking a batch type as a freezer batch.
Interface Utility – Auto close on complete – Added the ability to the interface utility to have a configuration option to automatically close the interface on completion of the job. Typically, this is accomplished by a flag on the schedule job, but this provides extra functionality for terminating a job.
Interface Utility – ARCAD Interface. Added logic to the interface utility to support a digital file sharing transaction to support orthodontic applications that send files to ARCad.
Scanner Engine – Serial Number Scan Processing – Added logic to the main scanning engine to support serial number scanning. This supports the case builder serial logic added to the universal previously.
Admin Web Site – Work Queue Listing. Created this report to provide line of sight into work queue data that can be captured to reflect accessions passing through the various workflow steps in a laboratory.
Storage Tracking – Batch Instance Logic. Modified the storage tracking module to make use of “resusable” batch numbers for the tracking of things such as storage bins. These tracking “batches” can need to be reset to reflect a new batch of child objects being stored inside them. The batch instance logic was added to keep track of what batch a child object was in over the course of time.
Storage Tracking – Void Ability and clear batch. Added the ability to both void a prior transaction out of a storage batch and also to clear an entire batch of all child objects.
Storage Tracking – Clear batch on scan checkbox. Added a checkbox to the screen to allow for a batch to de-activate the batch automatically on scan.
Storage Tracking – Priority flag and panel back color. Added logic to the module so that the color on the screen can be modified to change if a priority flag is set to make it visually obvious when a priority case is being worked.
Storage Tracking – Outbound Batch Accession Tree – Added logic to show a tree view of all of the accession information in the outbound view of the storage tracking batch when a batch is active and the view radio button is selected.
Storage Tracking – Priority flag bring forward on batch rescan. When a batch is marked as a priority batch and it is scanned on the screen, the batch priority flag comes forward for subsequent batch instances.
Admin Web Site – Surgical Technique Maintenance. Grossing Image Required. Added the grossing image required checkbox to the maintenance screen.
Admin Web Site – Specimen Type. Surgical Technique Drop Down. Added the surgical technique drop down to allow for the joining of a surgical technique to a specimen type for sites that have a relationship between the two (ex. Skin vs. Skin Excision).
Universal Cassette POU – Specimen Type Disable and default to surgical technique Added the ability to disable the specimen type at grossing for sites that want this data to be changed solely in the LIS and also added the ability to position the surgical technique automatically based on the specimen type.
Storage Tracking – Storage History Tab Creation – Created an entire new tab inside the storage tracking module to show the storage history information on a new tab.
Storage Tracking – FIFO Outbound Scan warning. Added a warning on an outbound scan of a batch bar code if the oldest and/or highest priority batch is not being checked out. Added a field to the database to indicate that the employee ignored the warning if they proceed with the checkout.
Storage Tracking – Closed batch reinstatement. Added a button and a pop up screen to allow for the “reinstatement” of a batch that was marked as checked out to allow an employee to return a batch if a mistake was made.
Sample Testing – Material Order Pop up screen. Apply order to all material check box. This checkbox was unchecked at screen launch and there was no configuration setting to allow for the change of this behavior. Added a flag to the configuration to all to default it as “on”.
Case Finder – Chain of custody tab. Distribution location on distribution transactions. Added a field to display the distribution location (i.e., doctor) in a new “other” column on the chain of custody tab to provide more detailed information on distribution transactions.
Storage Tracking – Fixed length bar code support. Added logic to the storage tracking module to allow for the scanning of fixed length bar codes to represent storage objects (ex. bins) to allow for the assignment of individual accession numbers to “batches” when storing and removing from storage.
Universal Module – Cassette/Slide POU – Logout clear patient name on screen. The patient name was staying on the screen at logout. The prior patient was still showing on the screen. A logout transaction either manually or automatic will now clear the field.
HL7 Utility – HL7 Debug mode. Added a configuration flag to the HL7 utility to allow for a debug transaction to be written into the HL7 debug table in the database to better facilitate troubleshooting HL7 interactions.
HL7 Utility – HL7 Audit Trail. Added logic to the HL7 utility to capture basic audit trail information such as when the utility was launched, from which machine, etc. This is only relevant in scenarios where the HL7 is launched periodically instead of being “always on” and provides line of sight into this information.
Stain Queue – HL7 File create control number. Modified the HL7 header transaction (MSH Segment) to allow for the generation of a unique number as a control number for target systems that would like this unique number included in the HL7 payload.
Stain Queue – Write HL7InterfaceTransaction. Modified the stain queue transmission routine to generate an HL7 record for transmissions where an HL7 format is being used. This unique record number can also then be used in the MSH segment of the HL7 build as a unique control number.
Admin Web Site – Body Source Maintenance – Cross Reference. Added a cross reference field to the body source maintenance screen to provide for the cross reference of a body source between Assist and other systems.
Admin Web Site – Specimen Type Information. Dissection Method and Body Source Added the dissection method and the body source to this report to provide visibility to the information.
Admin Web Site – Specimen Type Audit Log. Dissection Method and Body Source. Added these fields to the audit log.
Admin Web Site – Specimen Type Tracking Maintenance - Dissection Method and Body Source. Added the dissection method and the body source to the maintenance screen to allow for override entry of these data elements.
Interface Utility – Employee Scan Time Robot Fix. Added an employee scan time fix to the interface utility. This “fix” looks for large elapsed time buckets and reconstructs them based on the login/logout history on that computer for the employee in question.

September 2024

Admin Web Site – HL7 Debug Report. Created this report to provide visibility to the HL7 utility debug transactions if debug mode is utilized with the HL7 interface.
Admin Web Site – HL7 Audit Trail – Created this report to provide visibility to the HL7 utility audit trail that reflects transactions that are run with date/time and IP address/port information.
Admin Web Site – Laboratory Maintenance. Database Definitions. Added a drop down to the laboratory screen to allow for the association of a seperate database for each laboratory.
Universal POU – Case Summary. Surgical Technique Grossing Image Required. Added the logic to enforce the grossing image at the surgical technique level in addition to the already added ability to enforce at the specimen type.
Admin Web Site – Specimen Type Maintenance. Age limit and gender limit. Added two new fields to the specimen type screen to allow for an indication of a age and gender limitation. This will be used inside HUB to better introduce data entry error tracking by filtering tissue where needed by an age or gender limitation.
Admin Web Site – HL7 Interface Transaction Report. Created this report to provide visibility the HL7 interface transaction data that has been added to the HL7 utility.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Tracking Report – Employee Name inclusion in grid. Modified the equipment tracking report to include employee name in addition to the user ID to make it easier to identify employees.
Admin Web Site – Client Configuration Type Maintenance – Business Unit. Added a drop down list to allow for the specification of a business unit for which a client configuration type is relevant. This will be used to filter the “magic hat” button for sites with multiple business units inside a single Assist installation.
Admin Web Site – Batch Tracking Report – Batch Description Inclusion. Added the new batch description column to the report.
Admin Web Site – Interface Utility – ARCAD Interface interface errors. Added the ability to capture interface errors into a newly created interface errors report to provide better visibility to errors.
Admin Web Site – Feature Finder. User Rights not showing features. The feature finder was not showing features if the employee did not have rights to them which was an error. Now the features all show, and the Rights column is accurate.
Admin Web Site – Employee Task Summary Report – Add Employee group criteria. Previously, the reporting group was shown on the screen as criteria which was being confused with the employee group. Added both to provide filtering as needed.
Admin Web Site – Interface Error Report. Created this report to provide visibility to interface error data that is captured by the Assist interface utility.
Admin Web Site – Order Type Business Unit Maintenance. Created this screen to allow for the assignment of order types to business units in order to filter appropriately for sites that might have split business workflows inside the same Assist installation.
Admin Web Site – Slide Protocol Business Unit Maintenance. Created this screen to allow for the assignment of slide protocols to business units in order to filter appropriately for sites that might have split business workflows inside the same Assist installation.
Admin Web Site – Order Notation Master Maintenance. Business Area inclusion for capture and criteria and NewSlideRequired. Added the business area drop down list to the order notation maintenance screen to allow for the filtering of order notations by business area which represent “sub labs” inside a laboratory.
Sample Testing – FISH Tab – Order Repeat pop up screen. Added logic to the FISH tab order grid to allow for the specification of order repeat logic in much the same way the feature works inside the PCR tab.
Admin Web Site – Order Reason Maintenance. Order notation and always available fields. Added a drop down of order notation values to allow for the filtering of reasons by notation. Also added an “Always Available” checkbox to indicate that reason is valid across any/all notations.
Admin Web Site – Image List Report – Purged Date. Added fields for a purged date to the report to provide visibility of whether or not an image has been purged.
Admin Web Site – Accession Slide Count Maintenance. Specimen Type Panel checkbox and filter. Added a checkbox to this maintenance screen to allow for the specification of a record as a “specimen type panel” as opposed to a special stain and/or IHC type of panel and added to the criteria area as a filter.
Admin Web Site – Slide Protocols Maintenance – Full Description and Cross Reference Fields. Added fields to the screen to allow for the specification of a full description and a cross reference field.
Interface Utility – ARCAD Interface. Write service provider digital assignment. Added logic to this interface to write data into the service provider digital assignment database table for advanced tracking.
Admin Web Site – Service Provider Workflow Reference Maintenance. OverdueHours. Added an overdue hours field to this reference screen to allow for the tracking of overdue records at the service provider/workflow level to determine is service levels are being met.
Admin Web Site – Service Provider Digital TAT Report. Created this report to provide visibility to the turnaround time for digital outsourcing with service providers.
Scanner Engine – Work Queue Void/Roll back. Modified the main scanner engine to include logic for sites that make use of work queues to provide for a void feature that rolls back data to a prior work queue step.
Scanner Engine – Case Components – Alias Accession Number Inclusion in details and header. Modified the main scanner engine to show alias accession numbers in both the detail case component “tree” and in the header of the tree if alias values are used.
Hub – Case Hold Capture and Display. Added a case hold button to the main screen of the Assist hub and added functionality to remove and add case hold information.
Admin Web Site – Interface Error Summary – Created this report to provide visibility to the interface error summaries for troubleshooting the various interfaces involved in the Assist ecosystem.
Admin Web Site – Animation Type Maintenance. Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of animation types that will be used to group animations used on various modules of Assist.
Admin Web Site – Order Cancellation Report. Comments and order reason. Added the comments and order reason to the order cancellation report to make sure there is visibility to this data when an order is cancelled.
Admin Web Site – Department Maintenance. Department Code Inclusion. Added a department code to the department maintenance screen to allow for the specification of a code to go with the department information.
Admin Web Site – Product Type Maintenance. MainSalesProduct and AccessoryProduct checkboxes. Added these two checkboxes to the maintenance screen to allow for the designation of a product type to be a main sales product and/or an accessory.
Admin Web Site – MFG Order Status Maintenance. Order Cancelled Status and Cross Reference. Modified this maintenance screen to allow for the designation of a status value to be a cancelled status and to provide a cross reference value for the status to another system.
Admin Web Site – MFG Remake Reasons Maintenance. Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of remake reasons that are used inside the manufacturing section of Assist to indicate a reason that a case must be remade due to manufacturing error.
Admin Web Site – MFG Case Type Maintenance. Created this maintenance screen to allow for the maintenance of manufacturing case types. These values are typically used to note a case as a credit vs. debit and is associated with remakes and manufacturing defects.
Universal Module – Cassette POU. Clear Specimen information button and option. Added a button the screen to allow for the manual clearing of specimen information. Also added a checkbox to allow for the control of whether or not the data should clear on bottle scan.
Universal Module – Cassette POU. Measurements numeric keypad pop up. Added a pop up numeric keypad for the capture of measurements information.

4th Quarter 2024

In Progress!

1st Quarter

2nd Quarter

3rd Quarter

4th Quarter

1st Quarter 2023

January 2023

Scanner Engine – Pieces Font style pulled into configuration – Moved the settings for the pieces font into the configuration so that the font size, style, and field locations can be modified as needed by site rather than the settings being hard coded.
Universal Slide – Increased QC notes font size – Moved some of the buttons in the ribbon down to allow for an increase in font size to 16 from 12 to improve readability.
Universal Cassette – Debug Specimen Type Setting – Added a flag to the configuration to allow for message box pop ups to show the specimen type information to be used when debugging mapping issues.
Warehouse Module – Multiple Outbound Screen – Button Changes – Changed the buttons on this pop-up screen inside the warehouse module to match other buttons in Assist modules.
Warehouse – Object Filing – Utility and Void button changes – Changed the button sizes on the screen and the icons to be more consistent with the other modules of Assist.
Admin Web Site – Drawer Maintenance – No selections – If no filtering had been done to get into the appropriate warehouse structure, and the retrieve button was pressed, the screen would not load and would not send an error message. Corrected this to send an error to screen indicating that selections must be made.
Print Center – Multple Format Label Screen – Identifier on End - Added logic to have the toggle between PW and Non-PW LIS change the identifier on end check box where relevant.
Admin Web Site – Control Tissue Maintenance – Control Print Template, Control Label Description, Control CAP description
Sample Testing – Controls Warehouse – On demand ad hoc print screen – On the controls warehouse screen, added a print button to pop-up a screen to allow for the ad hoc printing of free form controls. Added multiple lines of content as well as the ability to pick the tissue.
Admin Web Site – Warehouse Destruction Picklist Report – Add From/To date criteria. Put this selection criteria on the report to allow for filtering of the data.
Admin Web Site – Material Type Maintenance – Search Description Criteria. Added a search description field to the maintenance screen to allow for the filtering of material types.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab – Sequence Generation – Modified the logic on sequencing to place a zero value in the sequence field for all material types other than unstained slides. Previously, the sequence value was a 1 which could cause sorting confusion with objects that DO legitimately use sequences.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab – Pathway LIS Add On Orders – Discovered an issue with the Pathway LIS where add on orders placed on a package from a prior calendar year would carry the location identifier of the new year instead of the original year for which the case was created.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab – Rush Selection Criteria – Added a checkbox in red font to the selection criteria section of the screen on the receiving tab to allow for the retrieval of “RUSH” cases.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab – Detail Grid Rush Designation. Modified the detailed grid to color code the material type in red font if the detail record has a rush designation.
Sample Testiing – Rush Button – Added a “Green/Red” button at the top of the screen with a RUSH designation and count to allow for visual ease in determining how many rush cases exist in the system.
Sample Testing – Inbound/Outbound Tab – Item Count Value. The count value at the top of the grid was off by one.
Sample Testing – Shipping Tab – Clear Manifest Value. Changed the settings to clear the manifest number from the screen in the header area and the detail area after saving the record and generating the manifest.
Sample Testing – Shipping Tab – Reload Inbound/Outbound. Modified the logic when a save action is performed on the shipping tab to automatically reload the inbound/outbound grid. Previously, the saved transaction on the shipping tab were not visible on the inbound/outbound tab without clicking the retrieve button again.
Sample Testing – Inbound/Outbound Tab – No Remaining Criteria. Added a checkbox to the selection criteria for “No Remaining Items”. This allows employees to filter so that they only see packages in the summary view that have had all of their child objects returned.
Sample Testing – Shipment Tab – Manifest Tracking Number Changes. Modified the manifest printing routine so that the tracking number is only shown once in the header. It was getting duplicated in the header in some circumstances. Also set the child manifest to suppress if it is a duplicate of the header to cut down on noise.
Sample Testing – Shipment Tab – Manifest Utility - Modified the manifest reprinting routine so that the tracking number is only shown once in the header. It was getting duplicated in the header in some circumstances. Also set the child manifest to suppress if it is a duplicate of the header to cut down on noise.
Sample Testing – Manifest Utility – Automatically Uncheck Unassigned – In the selection criteria of the manifest utility, there is a checkbox to allow for the filtering of objects that are unassigned to a manifest. It can be confusing if a manifest is selected, but this checkbox is still selected and does not return data. Added logic that if the manifest is selected in the dropdown box, to automatically uncheck the unassigned value.
Sample Testing – Manifest Utility – All Material Criteria with Default. Added the all materials checkbox with the ability to default by the configuration to better control the defaults on the screen.
Sample Testing – Inbound/Outbound Tab – Date Criteria. Added from/to date criteria for both the “created” and the “returned” date to the selection criteria to better enable the ability to find relevant data on the screen.
Sample Testing – Inbound/Outbound Tab – Material Returned Column. Added the material returned column to the detailed grid.
Sample Testing – Inbound/Outbound Tab – Status Connection. Corrected an issue where the grid data was mismatched from the package header to the wrong status file. This was causing incorrect status values to show in the grid.
Interface Utility – Pathway Client Load – Sometimes, the Pathway LIS interface feed is sending empty client records over. These were getting written to the exception table. Changed the robot to simply suppress these transactions to cut down on the noise.
Interface Utility – Package Automatic Close Robot. Created a new interface utility job. It looks for packages with an open status but no detail material that needs to be returned and closes them after they have been in the system for more than 48 hours.
Sample Testing – Receving Tab – Detail Grid. Changed the grid to sort by sequence and then material type sort order and then material type description.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab – Material Ordering Screen – Increased the width of this pop-up screen and several of the grids to make the information more readable.
Sample Testing – Inbound/Outbound Tab – Detail View No Loading. Found an issue involving the detail view not loading if the date criteria was specified.
Sample Testing – Shipping Tab – Save without Login. The screen was not checking to ensure an employee was logged in when a save was performed.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab – Object Conversion Tracking Data. Modified the process that creates the object conversion tracking data (i.e., unstained sides) to include the package and package detail record that generated the object records.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab – Object Conversion Deletion. Modified the delete process of a child object to clear any object conversion tracking information that was generated when the material was added to a package. Previously, the objects were not getting removed which made it appear as if more objects (ex. Unstained slides) existed for use than did.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab – Material Ordering Screen. Provided the ability to apply a singled order type against multiple objects if they are checked.
Universal Slide – Material Type Integration. Found an issue with a paraffin block material type with both unstained and stained slides that were entered via the Sample Testing module. Slide transactions were getting generated for the stained slides (i.e., client slides) when they should not have been printed.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab – Label Print – Modified the label print logic to not print the sequence number if it is zero. A change was made previously to no longer put a sequence number on material other than unstained sides. Since the sequence was printing by default on the various other material types, a zero was getting printed.
Admin Web Site – Material Type Maintenance – Description Search. Added a search field at the top of the screen to filter the material type based on description.
Sample Testing – PCR Tab – Concentraion Value Application. Modified the method used for applying concentrations to PCR Batches. Once a value is specifed, it will duplicate across ALL tests for the same extraction batch for the same accession number.
Admin Web Site – Culture Type Maintenance – Created this screen as part of the Cytogenetics feature add to the sample testing module. This screen allows for the creation of culture types or groupings that will be used to stratify and organize cultures.
Admin Web Site – Antibody Master Maintenance – Flow Flag – Added a checkbox to the maintenance screen to allow for an Antibody to be marked as a Flow specific antibody.
Admin Web Site – Culture Master Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of cultures. This is part of the sample testing module where cultures are tracked.
Admin Web Site – Doctor Order Listing – Employee Criteria Error – The logic behind the criteria for the employee was flawed. It stopped looking at the user ID once it encountered a dash. That means any user ID with a dash in it would not pull data correctly.
Universal Slide POU – Sequence Specification – Added logic to the universal POU to allow for the manual specification of sequence numbers when printing slides. In technical component scenarios, a client might submit a block that has already been cut from and want slides produced starting with a specific sequence or slide number. If Assist is tracking the first cut of this slide, the routine already worked. If it needs to start at a different sequence, the field needed to be available for specification as a starting point. Added this to the screen with the ability to show/suppress as needed by configuration.
Universal Slide POU – Duplicate Count – In order to better support the addition of manual sequence logic to the module, moved the duplicate count value (which is rarely used) to a less prominant location on the screen and reduced the size of the font to fit in better.
Universal Slide POU – Sequence Add to Specimen/Part. Allowed for the ability to print the slide sequence number as a “dash value” on the end of the specimen/part if needed (i.e., A1-1). Also provided the ability to reflect this change in the bar code. This was largely done to support client requirements to put the sequence in the bar code.
Universal Slide POU – Pieces Issue with Pathway and prior year cases. For the Pathway LIS, there was a scenario where the “Pieces” information could carry forward from a prior year. Corrected the way this retrieval is performed.
Universal Slide POU – Patient Demographics issue with Pathway and prior year cases. For the Pathway LIS, there was a scenario where patient information could carry forward from a prior year. Corrected the way this retrieval was performed.
Check In – MFG Batch Scanning – Parent/Child MFG Tasks – Added extensive logic to the check in module for manufacturing tasks. The batch logic had been previously added, but the ability to have a batch of cases/accessions that also applied to a GROUP of tasks did not exist. Added this logic to create multiple individual task transactions off the scanning of a parent task number.
Interface Utility – Order Load – Multiple parts – Found an issue where it was possible for the multi cassette identifier (i.e., part) to get truncated if more than one character and only reflect the second character (i.e., A-18 gets downloaded as A-8). Corrected this.
Admin Web Site – MFG Task Bundle Maintenance – Cleaned up the screen to be more visually appealing and consistent with the other maintenance screens.
Admin Web Site – Specimen Holdng Site Maintenance – Contact Name. Added a contact name to the maintenance screen to allow for the specification of a default employee name to reference when dealing with a holding site.
Sample Testing – Specimen Holding Site Maintenance – Contact Name. Added a contact name to the maintenance screen to allow for the specification of a default employee name to reference when dealing with a holding site. This is for the maintenance area inside the sample testing module.
Sample Testing – Specimen Ordering – Delay Reason capture and SpecimenDelayHistory. Added the abililty to write delay reasons into a history table to keep track of all the delays that have been speified over time on a specimen order. Also added the specimen delay reason information into the notes on the communication log.
Sample Testing – Specimen Ordering – Contact Name. Added the ability to capture a contact name to be associated with a specimen order to keep track of the employee that was being worked with in the processing of the order.
Admin Web Site – Attachment Form Library Maintenance – Delay Form Type. Added a checkbox for the delay form type to be able to mark an attachment form in the library as a delay form.
Sample Testing – Specimen Ordering – Print Interactive Forms – New Variables. Added variables for Holding Site Contact name, delay days, and delay reasons to the interactive form logic.
Sample Testing – Specimen Ordering – Print Form – Refresh Button. Added a refresh button to the screen to allow for changes to the data fields on the screen and to have these values refresh into the variable driven information in the interactive form.
Admin web Site – Specimen Delay Reason Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of specimen delay reasons. These reasons are used inside the sample testing module and allow for the indication of specific traceable reasons for the delay of a specimen.
Admin Web Site – Specimen Reference Type Maintenance – Default Path. Added this field to the maintenance screen to allow for a default network/computer path to be specified to be associated with a reference type. Typically used in the upload of attachments inside the specimen tracking/specimen order section of Assist.
Main Scanner Engine – Case Components Tree. Extended the screen to better accomodate the text being reflected in the case components tree area of the screen.
Main Scanner Engine – Pieces Information Positioning. The X/Y coordinates for the pieces information was getting overridden in different places on the screen. Changed the logic to consistently position to the same place regardless.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab – Part Identifier on Non-Block objects – An issue was found where the “mandatory part number logic” was getting applied to material types where a part number would not be relevant such as formalin bottles. Modified so that the logic only applies when the material type requires.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab – Location Identifier getting cleared on save. For the Pathway LIS, the location identifier was getting clear on the screen after generating notifications and was not getting loaded back correctly when the screen reloaded. Corrected this.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab – Screen not clearing on criteria selection if no data. If a package was selected, and then selection criteria was specified that returned no packages, the package drop down would reflect not specified, but the screen was not clearing of the prior case. Corrected this.
Universal Slide POU – Intentional Logout clears scan history. On the slide POU screen, put logic in place to clear the scan history if a logout transaction is performed via either the logout button click or the scanning of the logout bar code. If the logout occurs due to the automatic inactivity timeout, the history is left. This allows for history to survive a timeout but to provide the option via configuration to clear the last cases worked by an employee when leaving for the day.
Universal Slide POU – Patient Name Abbreviation Logic. Modified the patient name logic to allow for the specification of the number of digits to use when printing a patient name on a slide. The logic now allows for the specification of a number of character limits for first and last name assuming the interface into Assist carries the data in two fields.
Universal Slide POU – Free Form Checkbox and Refresh Button. An issue was identified where if the employee had clicked on the “Free Form” checkbox to type in protocols and then clicked the “refresh protocols” button, the screen would show the protocol drop down but the free form checkbox was still clicked. Modified to not display the protocol drop down after a refresh and “honor” the free form checkbox.
Unviersal Slide POU – Patient Override Disable. Added a configuration choice to allow for the disable of the patient override option for sites that do not want to have that ability provided to employees.
Universal Slide POU – Scan Classification Override Defaults based on configuration change. Added logic so that if a configuration change is performed that the scan classification override will match the default source of the configuration that was chosen. This is to help in not logging scan transactions incorrectly (i.e., Microtomy vs. IHC vs. Facing, etc.) for sites that capture the specific types of transactions.
Universal Slide POU – Login clears history if new employee. Added an additional ability to clear the scan history when a “new” employee logs into a session but to allow for the history to remain if the same employee logs back in. This supports the return of an employee that has auto logged out.
Universal POU – Send Keys – Pad Zeros Logic – The copy clipboard feature of Assist gives the ability for a site to determine if leading zeros should passed into Windows or not. The feature had a flaw where it was padding based on the size of the last accession successfully parsed rather than on the default maximum number of digits for the number wheel. Corrected this.
Universal Slide POU – Mandatory Slide Transaction Scan Only. Added the ability to place a check to require a slide (i.e., child scan) transaction after a cassette per SOP if a site wants to mandate a slide scan for a cassette
Universal Slide POU – Clear Button – Added a clear button to the slide point of use screen to provide the ability for an employee to clear the screen especially if in scan only mode with mandatory slide object scan enforcement. Otherwise, it can be difficult for an employee to keep processing if a bad cassette transaction is submitted via scanner or manual entry.
Universal Slide POU – Scan Only Manual Entry Features. Added multiple features to support the ability to use the screen in scan only mode to accomodate manual cassettes and manual slides.
Universal Slide POU – Doctor Order View. Visual Changes and sequence number. Made some cosmetic changes to the doctor order view to make the panel more visually appealing. Also modified the order listing itself to include the sequence number if one is present.
Universal Slide POU – Scan History – Sequence Number – Modified the scan history window to show the sequence number from the slide if one is present.
Admin Web Site – Culture Status Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of the status values that can be associated with a culture inside the Sample Testing, Cytogenetics tab.
Warehouse – Void Pop Up – Visual Changes – Modified this pop-up screen to include button icons to make the screen match the rest of the warehouse module. Also added select all and unselect all button to the screen.
Warehouse – Rescan Pop Up – Visual Changes. Modified this pop-up screen to include button icons to make the screen match the rest of the warehouse module.
Warehouse – Picklist Screen – Create Picklist button. Added a button to this screen to allow for a picklist to be manually generated.

February 2023

Warehouse – Warehouse/Cabinet Assignment – Multiple Changes – Rearranged the screen to be more visually appealing. Placed the cabinet scan field at the top and put the new destination warehouse information at the bottom. Modified the routine to include a logout button. Added a checkbox to allow for a choice between automatically filiing on cabinet scan or showing on the screen and allowing for a button to perform the move. Set the selection of the warehouse location drop-down values to automatically load the storage listing area.
Warehouse –Cabinet/Drawer Assignment – Multiple Changes – Rearranged the screen to be more visually appealing. Placed the drawer scan field at the top and put the new destination warehouse information at the bottom. Modified the routine to include a logout button. Added a checkbox to allow for a choice between automatically filiing on drawer scan or showing on the screen and allowing for a button to perform the move. Set the selection of the storage cabinet drop-down values to automatically load the storage listing area.
Admin Web Site – Doctor License Maintenance. Show license number. Added the license number to the default grid view on this maintenance screen.
Admin Web Site – Employee Screen Report Listing – Active Only Flag. Added logic to enforce the active only flag for both entry and as part of the selection criteria to cut down on visual clutter.
Admin Web Site – Corporate Division Maintenance – LISCrossReference Field. Added a cross reference field to allow for the integration of divisions into other systems.
Admin Web Site – Department Master Maintenance – ReportingPreference and Sort order option. Also Employee only and manfacturing only.
Interface Utility – Daily Product Count Utility – Created this utility to calculate production daily counts for reporting purposes and the use in scoreboard applications.
Admin Web Site – Division Department Maintenance. Created this screen to allow for the creation of the mapping of manufacturing departments and divisions of a company for use in sales reporting.
Universal Module – Scan Software Number Field. Modified the point of use cassette and slide routines to include the date/time of the executable and write it into the database.
Universal Slide POU – Doctor Print Algorithm. Always Cassette Identifier. Added logic to add a part identifier to the doctor orders being processed if one should always be present but it got entered “upstream” without.
Print Center – Bottle Labels Multiple – Accession Prefix/Free Form Toggle Issue. There was an issue where an employee could flip into “free form entry” mode and type in a value for the accession prefix and then toggle OUT of “free form entry” mode and the original value types would be the one that printed.
Universal Cassette POU – Purge/Clear Cassettes. Added logic to the “clear cassette” button to prompt whether ALL cassettes should be cleared or just the unscanned ones.
Universal Cassette POU – Cassette Already Scanned Enforcement. Added a check based on configuration so that if a cassette has already been scanned, an error can be thrown to warn the employee that they have previously scanned the block in case an accident was made.
Universal Cassette POU – Pieces Adjustment. Added a button to the screen to allow for a full display of all of the blocks in a case. This will be a listing of cassettes that have been scan and displays the number of pieces that were input and allows for the change of the pieces if necessary.
Universal Module – Screen Size. Increased the size of the screen to support more information being displayed in the scan history window.
Universal Cassette POU – Over 26 parts logic for alpha part identifiers. When more then 26 parts exists for sites that have alphabetic part identifiers, the routine was not handling once the part count got to “Z”. Now the logic moves back to the top of the alphabet with AA, AB, etc. Moves to BA after passing through AZ.
Universal Cassette POU – Emergency Cache Directory. Added an emergency cache button to the point of use for sites usiing drop file logic. This was done to allow for the writing of the drop file to an alternative directory in the situation where a local drop file printer is down. If this path is set to a network drive, the drop file folders can point there and be read by third party software to print to another printer in the environment. The logic can also be tweaked in the print queue history to then write an active queue record when in emergency mode.
Universal Cassette Queue – Emergency Cache Directory. Made the same changes as above for emergency mode and the point of use to also work for the queue.
Universal Cassette POU – Suffix Inside Part = “N”. There was a flaw in the formation of the bar code if the suffix inside part was set to “N”. This only impacts the Pathway LIS and is a rare configuration, but has been resolved.
Universal Cassette POU – Queue History Write. The queue history was not being updated correctly for quantities greater than 1. Only one history queue record was being written regardless of the number of cassettes that were printed.
Universal Cassette POU – Clear Button and Bottle Field. Using the clear button was clearing the bottle field even if the “no” option was taken but was leaving cassette in the list.
Universal Cassette Queue – Outlet Addition. Added the outlet drop down field to the cassette queue to allow for the printing of queue transactions to a different outlet than the point of use outlet.
Admin Web Site – Login Screen. Active User ID. The login screen was ignoring the active flag and would allow an inactive user ID to log into the web site. Applied this flag to the login logic.
Universal Cassette POU – Suppress File Drop in emergency mode. Modified the cassette print logic when in emergency mode for file drop sites. Set the emergency transaction to write to the print queue but NOT to generate a record into the emergency file drop location since nothing is monitoring that file.
Universal Cassette POU – History queue reflect emergency printer. Modified the print queue to allow for a change to emergency mode for the queue to look to the emergency file location in case the queue is not being used to pass emergency print requests instead of the queue database.
Universal Cassette POU – Emergency Mode Allowed flag. Added a configuration flag to determine whether or not the emergency mode button is enabled.
Universal Cassette POU – Emergency Mode Removal at Logout. Set logic to turn off emergency mode at logout so that the setting has to be intentionally set by the employee.
Universal Cassette POU – Emergency Mode Does not require child scans. When in emergency mode, the cassettes are more than likely being printed in batch mode. Want to show the cassettes that were sent but do not require the scan of those cassettes before being allowed to proceed to the next requisition or bottle.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Interface Protocol Routing Maintenance – Search Interface Type Drop down was not loading. Corrected this.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab. Specimen Type Not Saving. Found an issue where the specimen type was not saving for material types that did not allow sequence numbers. The seqeunce number field on the screen did not accept values of zero, but the data was being saved with a zero, which did not allow it to show when being modified.
Scoreboard – Distribution Grid – Percent of Total. Added a column to the distribution grid scoreboard view to reflect a percent of total on slide counts. Made this column visible by configuration.
Scoreboard – Birthday Board. Created a birthday board to allow for the display of “birthdays of the month” based on the Assist employee master file.
Admin Web Site – Culture Duration Maintenance. Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of culture durations. This is part of the cytogenetics feature set inside the sample testing module.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab. Specimen Type Not Saving. Found an issue where the specimen type was not saving for material types that did not allow sequence numbers. The sequence number field on the screen did not accept values of zero, but the data was being saved with a zero, which did not allow it to show when being modified.
Sample Testing - Inbound/Outbound Tab – Added a “wildcard” checkbox to allow for partial accession number vs. exact accession number retrievals. Previously the only choice was partial. Added this for both the summary and detail retrieval.
Sample Testing - Inbound/Outbound Tab – Added the accession prefix and location identifier to the selection criteria for both the summary and detail view to allow for better filtering of the data retrieved on the screen.
Sample Testing - Receiving Tab – Added the accession prefix and location identifier to the selection criteria to allow for better sorting/retrieval.
Sample Testing - Receiving Tab – Added logic to ensure that a second package cannot be created for the same accession number.
Sample Testing - Receiving Tab – added database fields to store the software version, executable date, and machine name to the database to provide better traceability as to where a record came from in the database for managing versioning.
Sample Testing – Cytogenetics Tab – Bulk Status Change Added. Provided the ability to update multiple culture status values using the +/- buttons and a separate status drop down and save button.
Sample Testing – Cytogenetics Tab – Culture Tracking Audit Log – Added an audit trail for all maintenance activity against a culture record.
Sample Testing – Cytogenetics Tab – Cell Count, Volume, Notes application. Set the routine to update all three fields for all records included in the submission master when one of the records is updated. This keeps these values in sync across all values for the accession when a single culture record is changed without having to update them all individually.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab – Detail Area Row Selection Error. Found a way to make the detail area selection not load the maintenance section of the screen correctly. Resolved this issue.
Sample Testing – Material Order Screen. Panels across order categories. Made a modification to the material order screen to support the selection of panels (i.e., kits) where the kits cross order categories. Previously, the screen only supported kit selection if all of the order types were within the same category.
Admin Web Site – Kit Detail Maintenance. Order Types across categories. Modified this maintenance screen to allow for the cross of a kit/panel across multiple order categories.
Sample Testing – Material Order Screen. Panel Selection issue. When panel selection was being performed, the first cell in the list of order types was showing as selected. It did not impact functionality but did not visually reflect the components of the panel.
Admin Web Site – Collection Point Maintenance – Duplicate check and filter by description. Put logic in place to make sure that the same collection code is not used across multiple collection points to protect data integrity.
Scanner Engine – Routing Designation – Added logic to allow for the routing designation from the LIS Interface screen to show above the scan history and for an alert to sound.
Admin Web Site – Material Type Maintenance. Modified the material type maintenance screen to allow for the specification of two new fields: SpecimenIdentifierAllowed and PartIdentifierAllowed. These will be used to ensure at receiving inside Sample Testing that specimen/part identifier information is being entered correctly.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab. Material Type Specimen/Part Allowed Logic. Added logic to the receiving tab to check the speciman/part allowed flags on the material type to enforce whether or not the data is allowed on data entry.
Universal POU Slide – Client Specimen/Part. Modified the routine that pulls the client specimen/part information to look into the sample testing material submitted area of the database to pull out any information that was entered and print it if the information was not found in the LIS Interface table first.
Sample Testing PCR Communication Log – Found an issue where the communication log entries were getting saved by default with the incorrect status defaulted which was stopping the notes from showing in the communication log.
Admin Web Site – Transaction Log Listing – Extended this report to show the date/time stamp of the software that generated the data.
Admin Web Site – Accession Slide Count Maintenance. Added a table for bar code reserved characters. Added a check to the protocol detail entry maintenance screen to not allow the usage of any values located in this table.
Admin Web Site – Culture Tracking Report. Created this report to provide visibility to the culture tracking records that are generated inside the sample testing module of Assist.
Admin Web Site – Culture Tracking Audit Log. Created this report to provide visibility to the audit log of all changes made to individual culture tracking records inside the sample testing module.
Admn Web Site – Specimen Order Step – Automatic Email Checkbox. Added a checkbox to the specimen ordering pop up screen so that specimen order steps can turn on/off the automatic email option.
Sample Testing – Specimen Order Entry – Automatic Email driven by order step. Modified the specimen order pop up screen to turn the automatic email check box on/off based on the step that is selected from the drop down box.
Admin Web Site - Bar Code Reserved Maintenance – Added a maintenance screen to allow for the maintenance of a list of characters that cannot be placed into protocol values due to their reserved keyword status inside bar codes.
Distribution Send Out. Software Time Stamp. Added the date/time stamp of the software executable to the database to capture each time a record is written to simplify knowing which version of the software generated a transaction.
Distribution Send Out. Manifest Printing. Add bar code position X/Y as configuration variables and standardized buttons on the utility screen.
Admin Web Site – Distribution Reconciliation Report – Outbound Data Fields. Added the outbound data fields to this report and also cleaned up the selection criteria layout to make the screen more visually appealing. Formatted the accession number field instead of showing in separate columns, added the object type description, and removed several empty columns from the report.
Admin Web Site – Distribution Items Note Returned. Manifest Number and Object Type. Added these two fields to the report and added the manifest number to the selection criteria.
Admin Web Site – Business Unit Maintenance. Default Specimen Business Location. Added this field to the maintenance screen to allow for defaulting.
Admin Web Site – Material Type Maintenance – Mandatory Specimen Type. Added this field to the screen to allow for the indication of whether or not a material type must have a specimen type entered during sample testing material entry.
Sample Testing – Receving Tab – Mandatory Specimen Type. Added logic in the sample testing module to enforce the mandatory specimen type flag from the material type table when entering orders.
Admin Web Site – Notification Maintenance – Expanded the notification maintenance screen to support multiple new views to ensure compatibility with SMTP servers that need more recent versions of TLS and also to support HTML email send outs.
Notifier Module – Modified this “robot” to allow for the sending of outbound SMTP message using the most up to date credential logic and security. Also expanded to allow for the send of HTML payloads for sophisticated email reports. Added logic for tying into the email library.
Inventory Module – Employee Active Check. Found several places inside the inventory module where the Active flag was not being checked when working with employees and authorizations. Modified all places that check for employee information to enforce that the employee must be active.
Sample Testing – Specimen/Block Ordering. Enforce patient name. Added a configuration flag to enforce whether or not the patient name can be left blank.
Sample Testing – Specimen/Block Ordering. Multiple Notes Show most recent. The original note text was being shown on the detail area instead of the most recent. Modified this to reflect the most recent with all of the historical entries shown in the communication log.
Sample Testing – Specimen/Block Ordering. Order Type Naming. Added a configuration flag to allow for alternative naming of the order type (ex. Test Name).
Sample Testing – Specimen/Block Ordering. Hide Order Category. Added a configuration flag to allow for the hiding of the order category to cut down on screen complexity if there is only a single order category.
Sample Testing – Specimen/Block Ordering. Order Type Duplicate Check. Added logic to not allow for the same order to be placed twice on a single case and also added a check box for a “close on save” feature to not require the clicking of the close button.
Sample Testing – Specimen/Block Ordering. Clinician naming. Added a configuration flag to tallow for alternative naming of the clinician (ex. Ordering Physician).
Sample Testing – Specimen/Block Ordering. Date of Birth Empty. Added the ability to have no date specified (“None”) with the date of birth and reflect it as such on the screen.
Sample Testing – Specimen/Block Ordering. Specimen Collection Date Empty. Added the ability to have no date specified (“None”) with the specimen collection date and reflect it as such on the screen.
Sample Testing – Specimen/Block Ordering. Default printer. Added a configuration flag for a default printer, but also added logic that if the default printer is changed to print, the screen remembers that change and it becomes the active default for that session.
Sample Testing – Specimen/Block Ordering. Save On Close with errors. Found an issue where if errors were made from a validation stand point on the entry screen that the screen was closing without indicating that there was an error and that the data was no saving. Moved the “close on save” to after the point where validation was successful and the order actually saved.
Sample Testing – Specimen/Block Ordering. Delay Reason Attachments. Found an issue where the delay reason was being requested on all attachments even if it was not a delay reason type of attachment. Resolved this to be active only on an attachment that is designated as a delay attachment.
Sample Testing – Specimen/Block Ordering. Resolved the issue where if errors were made from a validation stand point on the entry screen that the screen was indicating that the order must be saved when test ordering was clicked rather than showing the actual error that should have been shown.
Sample Testing – Specimen/Block Ordering. Attachment Fax Number. Added configuration flags to allow for flexibility in determining if the fax number should load from the client or the holding site when an automatic form attachment loads.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab. Surgical Technique. Added a drop down for the surgical technique to allow for the specification of this information on the receiving details section of the screen. Moved objects around on the screen to accommodate this new data.
Sample Testing – Flow Tab. Designed the flow tab including the grid and all of the drop down fields.
Admin Web Site – Flow Status Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of the various flow status values that are used on the Flow tab of the Sample Testing module.
Admin Web Site – Antibody Template Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of antibody templates. These templates are used to establish a one to many relationship between order types and antibody combinations or cocktails.
Admin Web Site – Order Type Maintenance – Antibody Template Dropdown. Added this dropdown to the order type maintenance screen to allow for the specification of antibody templates for order types that have associated antibody cocktails.
Admin Web Site – Antibody Master Maintenance. Selection Criteria. Added a check box for Active only, Flow only and the antibody description into the selection criteria for the screen.
Admin web Site – Antibody Template Details. Created this screen to allow for the creation of the “child” level of antibody panels that can be associated with order types.

March 2023

Distribution Module – Manifest Buttons. Changed the manifest buttons: Create, Print, Utility, Reconcile to be picture buttons of a standard size rather than “word” buttons to fit in with the architecture of Assist.
Distribution Module – Create Manifest and Require Manifest – Added configuration buttons to provide the ability to enable/disable these screen objects.
Admin Web Site – Antibody Master Maintenance. Font Color Addition. Added the font color to this maintenance screen to allow for the color coding of antibody values.
Interface Utiity Robot – LIS Electronic Requests Comments. Added logic to the robot utility to pull forward any interface comments and place them in the order master comments field.
Admin Web Site – Specimen Type Listing – Created this report to serve as a specimen type dictionary that lists the case types, specimen categories and specimen type information that is set up inside Assist.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Protocol Routing Maintenance – Active Flag. Added an active flag to this maintenance screen to allow for routing records to be inactivated rather than deleted.
Stain Queue – Equipment protocol routing – Active Flag. Added logic into the stain queue to look at the active flag off the routing maintenance screen to not include transactions into the stain queue interface to staining platforms.
Admin Web Site – Order Type Maintenance. Business Unit Criteria. Added a drop-down box for the business unit to be used as selection criteria for filtering the order types.
Admin Web Site – Distribution Reconciliation Report – Date Range Error. The to date was defaulting to 12 AM instead of 12 midnight which was causing data not to retrieve correctly for the limitation of the to date.
Distribution Module – Shipment Tracking Open Scan. The open scan logic was not working correctly. Fixed this so that it operated to send the next scan into the shipment field when the “Open” checkbox is checked.
Distribution Module – Manifest View Wide Screen. Added a “wider” version of the distribution screen that shows the manifest items being added as scans are performed when the manifest is being done.
Distribution Module – Active manifest pull back from drop down. Added the ability when in the “wider” manifest view to pull back an active manifest to add to it or see the objects that were on the manifest.
Distribution Module – Manifest/Accession duplicate check. Added logic to the manifest view to warn the employee if the same accession is scanned more than once for an open manifest to warn that a duplicate scan has been performed.
Admin Web Site – Surgical Technique Maintenance. Cassette/Slide Text. Added two new fields to the surgical technique maintenance screen for the cassette and slide text to allow for information to be appended on the human readable when printing the objects to handle things such as Frozen Sections.
Universal Cassette POU – Surgical Technique – Added a drop-down listing to the screen to allow for the specification of a surgical technique for the specimen. This is a new field in the specimen type tracking table and allows for the designation of a specimen as something like a frozen section to print seperately on cassettes/slides as needed. This drop-down is positioned by the specimen type and the override button of the specimen type will also update the technique if it is visible and specified.
Accessioning – Surgical Technique. Added a drop-down listing to the screen to allow for the specification of a surgical technique for the specimen. This is a new field in the specimen type tracking table and allows for the designation of a specimen as something like a frozen section to print seperately on cassettes/slides as needed. This drop-down is positioned by the specimen type and the override button of the specimen type will also update the technique if it is visible and specified.
Universal Cassette POU – Standardize Buttons – Several of the “alternate” views of this screen (ex. Manual login) still had “word” buttons rather than pictures. Changed this to be more standard.
Universal Cassette POU – Magazine Fall through logic. Modified the logic for the selection of the cassette magazine. It will position first by accession prefix which will be overridden by the specimen type but ONLY if the override check box is not selected.
Admin Web Site – Accession slide count maintenance. Clear slide recipe. The slide recipe section of the screen did not clear if the “header” record was clicked after first selecting a detail record. This was visually confusing.
Universal Slide POU. Scan classification override. Modified the scan classification override so that a selection will turn the position protocol by specimen on/off depending on the override (ex. IHC, SST, RCT turn it off).
Universal Slide POU. Print Template. Hide Magazine. Discovered that the print template was not loading correctly the first time into a routine to hide the magazine for sites that have choices between a printing platform without magazines (ex. Zebra) and WITH magazines (ex. Leica).
Universal Module. Template Tab. The template tab had a visual issue where the modifications area was overlapping onto the grid area. The screen worked, but looked bad. Also converted the save and delete buttons to be picture buttons instead of words to be consistent.
Admin Web Site – Scan Classifications Override. Position by protocol, show requisition, and use specimen quantity check boxes were added to allow for these fields on the screen to be marked for the universal module screen views to adjust as indicated.
Admin Web Site – Printer Prefix Override Maintenance. Specimen Type, Target printer, and object type. Added these drop downs and fields to the override maintenance screen to provide for another layer of “fall through” logic when choosing magazines.
Universal Cassette POU – Scan Classification Override. Use Specimen Quantity. Added this logic so that if the scan classification override is used, the check box for “Use Specimen Quantity” can be tied to the classification instead of the configuration.
Universal Cassette POU – Scan Classification Override. Show Requisition. Added this logic so that if the scan classification override is used, the requisition information ont he screen can be hidden. This allows things such as “More Tissue” scans to be different from manual mode.
Universal Cassette POU – Magazine Selection Fall through logic. Looks for the magazine at the prefix level first. Then looks for specimen/magazine cross reference. Then looks for a magazine from the block slide instructions. Then looks for the magazine in the prefix override with the specimen.
Sample Testing – Receiving – Unstained Slide bar code. The bar code was carrying the protocol value from the order type rather than the protocol value for the slide recipe to which the order type is married when printing the slide label from the receiving screen. Corrected this assuming it is a single value on the order tie. Otherwise, kept the order type. This was to resolve an issue with the stain queue interface where the values on the order type were not synced to the values on the slide recipe.
Admin Web Site – Specimen Type Tracking Audit Log. Surgical Technique was added to the report and also to the selection criteria.
Admin Web Site – Prefix Printer Override Maintenance -Added the specimen type and object type to the grid and made them visible. Added the specimen type, prefix, object type, and “no specimen” to the selection criteria.
Doctor Module – Activation Error. The doctor module did not have logic to show the “not activated” message at launch if not activated. Fixed this issue.
Universal Cassette – Case Rush Visual Notification. Put logic into the universal cassette POU to turn the accession section of the scree blue if there is rush against a case and sends the alert beep codes to the scanner. The routine checks on requisition scan and also reflects the text “Case Rush” in the screen header. The header and color scheme switch back to normal when a non-rush case is scanned.
Admin Web Site – Referring Physician Maintenance. New Placeholder Checkbox. Added this checkbox to the maintenance screen to allow for an indication that the physician is not “real” but is rather a placeholder to allow for entry of a new value. This is only used in the specimen order screen in the sample testing module.
Distribution – Manifest Creation. Removed the text string “Manifest” from being written into the manifest description. This is redundant since the description is in the manifest table, it IS a manifest. This allows for data to be shown more concisely in manifest drop down lists.
Distribution – Manual Login Screen Buttons. Adjusted the buttons on this panel to be picture buttons instead of word buttons to be more consistent with the rest of the module.
Distribution – Manifest Creation. Modified the manifest creation process to require a user to be logged into the module before creating a manifest and also to put a default “open” status on the manifest header record to introduce manifest status to distribution manifests.
Distribution – Manifest Contents Write. Modified the distribution module so that detailed data is written into a new manifest contents database table as scan transactions are performed. Previously, the manifest number was updated on the distribution table and that was the only way to see manifest contents. This adds a seperate manner of tracking.
Distribution – Manifest View. Added logic plus deletion. Added a “wider” version of the distribution screen where the contents of open manifests can be displayed and added to if needed. Objects can also be removed from the manifest contents without having to go to the manifest utility screen.
Admin Web Site – Specimen Category Maintenance – Specimen Priority. Added a numeric field to the maintenance screen to allow for the specification of a specimen priority. This will be added to the algorithm for automatic distribution.
Admin Web Site – Body Source Maintenance. New placeholder checkbox. Added this checkbox to the maintenance screen to allow for an indication that the body source is not “real” but is rather a placeholder to allow for entry of a new value. This is only used in the specimen order screen in the sample testing module.
Admin Web Site – Manifest Status Maintenance. Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of a status value that can be applied to a manifest. This is found inside the distribution module.
Distributon – Manifest Utility Requires Login. Added logic when the manifest utility button is clicked to require that an employee is logged into the module. Added the same logic for the reconcile button.
Distribution - Manifest Utility Scan History. Modified this screen to allow for the scan history object identifier to pull from the override abbreviation field in the configuration if it exists.
Distribution – Manifest Utility. History Details. Added the manifest status the details area.
Admin Web Site – MFG Task Maintenance. Created/Last Maintained Information. Added created and last maintained information for user/date to the table to serve as an audit log.
Check In. MFG Task Library Button. Added a button to this module for sites that perform task scanning to show the full task library.
Check In Module. MFG Task Bundle Scanning. Added logic to this module to allow for the tracking of task bundles where one task can be scanned and equate to mutiple manufacturing tasks.
Admin Web Site. Specimen Order Step Maintenance. Delay Step. Added a check box to the specimen order step maintenance screen to allow for a step to be marked as a delay step.
Sample Testing – PCR Batch Utility. Added a suppress closed check box to the selection criteria. Also modified the batch drop down to show the font color in the status color of the batch. Also added the batch status to the top of the grid to easily indicate the status of the batch visually.
Sample Testing – PCR Tab. PCR Batches Drop down. Modified to show all “non-closed” status batches and added color coding to the font on the drop down to indicate the color of the batch statuses.
Sample Testing – PCR Tab. Extraction Batches Drop down. Modified to show all “non-closed” status batches and added color coding to the font on the drop down to indicate the color of the batch statuses.
Sample Testing – PCR Tab. Free Form Order Type. Added a checkbox to the screen to allow for a free form order type description to be toggled with the drop down list to allow for the use of text in the selection criteria.
Admin Web Site – Business Unit Configuration Override. Created this screen to allow for the specification of configuration settings at the business unit level as opposed to settings for the configuration in general or personal for a user at a time.
Sample Testing. PCR Tab. Gear button. Modified the gear button with the view checkboxes to write into the personal configuration table if settings are changed so that the settings will load the next time the employee logs in.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab. Show Order Type on main screen. Added a check box to the receiving screen to allow for the toggle between material type and order type. This allows the employee to see the orders without having to go back to the entry screen pop-up.
Admin Web Site – Distribution Auto Status Maintenance. Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of distribution auto status values. These are used inside the distribution module where auto distribution is performed.
Distribution. Manifest Header Maintenance- Added a button to the manifest utility to allow for detailed changes to the manifest header information.

2nd Quarter 2023

April 2023

Print Center – Manufacturing Task Label. Added this sub-screen to allow for the printing of manufacturing task labels.
Admin Web Site – Product Category Maintenance. Manufacturing Checkbox. Added this check box to mark a product category as manufacturing.
Admin Web Site – Product Master Maintenance. Date/User maintenance timestamps and product department. Added last maintained date and user information and a product department to the maintenance screen.
Quality Module Manufacturing. Version Information. Modified the write into the transaction log table to include the date/time of the executable
Interface Utility. Auto Distribution Logic. Added a routine to the interface utility to allow for the creation of automatic distribution information for sites that “pre-distribute” cases based on an end of day process.
Admin Web Site. Distribution Auto Log. Created this report to allow for reporting on the number of times that the distribution automatic interface job has run, the timing, etc.
Admin Web Site. Multiple Piece Maintenance. Show RecordNumber. Added a check box to the top of the web page to allow for the display of the multiple piece record number to support sites that need to create multiple piece bar codes.
Admin Web Site. Distribution Auto Exceptions Report. Created this report to show the exceptions that have occurred by the auto distribution robot when this feature is used.
Admin Web Site. Distribution Auto Daily Report. Created this report to provide the detailed view of data from the auto distribution process. This data gets “rolled up” to a summary view.
Admin Web Site. Distribution Auto Summary Report. Created this report to provide visibility to the summary level of data that is generated by the auto distribution “robot”. This is the summary table indicating the actual results of the auto distribution project and is used by the distribution module to determines how cases get routed. This report provides visibility to the data set.
Admin Web Site. Distribution Auto Audit Log. Created this audit log to show exactly how the auto distribution robot created the summary table at an accession level. The report can be used to verify the operations of the process and provides detailed analysis of business rules such as specimen type exclusions and doctor licensure to better enable credentialing personnel to make better decisions about specimen/pathologist mixes in staffing.
Issue Tracking. Standard Icon buttons. Added the standard picture/icon buttons to the issue tracking (help desk) screens inside Assist to make more visually compatible with the other modules.
Issue Tracking. Description inclusion in detailed grid. Added as much of the issue tracking description into the detailed grid as would fit to give a better idea of the issue when looking at the list. Also added a free form notes field in the criteria to filter by issue description wild card matches.
Issue Tracking. Selection Criteria Priority. Added the priority to the selection criteria in the issue tracking module to allow for the filtering of specific issue priorities.
Sample Testing – Specimen Order Tab. Testing sites were not defaultiing correctly by business unit. Corrected this to have the screen default correctly.
Sample Testing – Specimen Order Tab. Holding Site Maintenance Disable Fields. Multiple fields on the holding site maintenance screen were confusing to some sites that do not use those fields. Added configuration choices to disable these fields.
Sample Testing – Specimen Order Tab. Duplication Communcation Log Notes. Found a scenario where the communcation log notes could get duplicated when notes were entered BEFORE going to the test ordering screen. Closed this loophole.
Sample Testing – Specimen Order Tab. Email Library automation. Added the ability to launch pre-formatted emails directly to the email client of choice (ex. Outlook) based on formatted emails much like the attachment library where the email has variables that fill in from the active order.
Sample Testing – Specimen Order Tab. Days left column reset. The days left column was getting reset to zero when a specimen order was saved even if the steps were not changed. It was resetting the number each time to give an artificial deadline extension. Stopped this from happening and only change the number of days left when a step changes.
Admin Web Site – Business Unit Step Email Maintenance. Created this screen to allow for the mapping of business units, specimen order steps, and email library items. This provides the ability to tie the email library into specimen order steps by business unit to customize standard email forms but to do so by BU in case an Assist instance is used by a single organization with multiple business units in the same database.
Admin Web Site – Communication Log Audit Log. Created this report to provide an audit log of all of the communication log activity that has been done during the processing of specimens and the capture of communication events.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Concentration Interface Report. Created this report to allow for reporting over the equipment concentration interface transactions that have been performed. This interface is inside the sample testing module on the PCR laboratory tab.
Admin Web Site – Distribution State Priority Maintenance – Created this maintenance screen to allow for the maintenance of state codes along with a priority value. This data is used in the auto distribution algorithm to allow for certain client states to be prioritized at a higher value when performing auto distribution in case their is limited doctor licensure to read the cases (i.e., distribution them first so that the eligible doctors are not consumed from a quota perspective on other states).

May 2023

Universal Cassette Queue – Quantity Column. Added the cassette quantity to the cassette queue grid so that the number of cassettes to be printed by an individual row is visible.
Universal Slide POU – Client Accession Tracking. Added logic to write to the client accession tracking table when processing PC/TC client private labelled slides so that a cross reference can be kept of the number of client blocks processsed along with any cross reference back to company LIS accession to be used for ensuring block counts and billing reimbursement.
Universal Cassette Queue – Hide Instructions and Quantity options. Added logic to provide for the suppression of the Instructions and quantity.
Universal Slide POU – Client Accession Tracking Logic. Added extensive logic to allow for additional parsing rules to be called and processed when working with block that originated from outside of an organization (i.e., a client block). Often the rules for these objects do not match the internal rules where the bar codes can be controlled and this new logic algorithm allows for some “out of the norm” rules when handling. This provides laboratories with greater flexibility when absorbing technical component work.
Legacy Scanner Engine – Client Accession Tracking Logic. Added logic to the legacy scanning engine (typically Microtomy) to allow for the successful scanning of client blocks utilizing the new client accession tracking logic and any matching slides that were printed under the same ruleset.
Admin Web Site – Accession Prefix Maintenance. Client Prefix Checkbox – Added this checkbox to the screen to allow for marking an an accession prefix as being a client accession prefix as opposed to an internal use. This allows for different parsing rules when processing the bar codes.
Admin Web Site – Client Accession Prefix Maintenance. Multiple fields associated with parsing a client accession number for received blocks were added to the screen.
Accessioning – Not Specified Specimen Type. If a specimen had a type associated to it, and a subsequent scan was performed with a specimen type of “not specified” the original value was left in the database and was not getting removed. Corrected this and also wrote the delete transaction to the audit log for traceability.
Universal Module – Protocol Display (Brain Button). Was suppressing from view any slide that was configured as a blank slide. Modified to show the text “No Instruction” if a blank slide is going to print as part of the protocol package.
Accessioning Module – Specimen Type Changes. MultiCassette Choice. Added logic to the Accessioning module when writing to the specimen type tracking table to include the cassette identifier (i.e., part) or not.
Accessioning Module – Specimen Type Clear on Save. Added a configuration choice to the accessioning module to allow for the specimen type to clear as each specimen is processed or to stay in place.
Distribution Module – Client Accession Tracking Logic. Added extensive logic to the distribution module to allow for the processing of client blocks/slides for PC/TC work compatibility using the new logic that was put in place at other data collection points in the Assist workflow. This allows for the customization of the parsing engine to support bar code logic that does not match the internal parsing logic of the normal lab bar codes.
Distribution Module – Sequence Addition and Manifest Inclusion. Modified the distribution module to write the sequence number into the database if relevant and also included the ability to print the sequence number on the manifest.
Main Scanner Engine – Embedded Specimen Type Scanner Capability. Added logic to allow for the scanning of specimen type bar codes when the specimen type override view is displayed. Previously, the scanner was de-activated when this view was displayed which meant selections had to be made using the mouse.
Quality Module Manufacturing – Screen Error Traps. Added detailed error traps into the manufacturing quality module to provide extended troubleshooting when an error is encountered. With all of the interfaces and image processing done by this module, it provides extended error messaging to help support personnel in determine the cause of issues.
Admin Web Site – Image Review. Delete Button Changes. The delete button did not work if the actual image was no longer at the location represented by the UNC path on the image view. If the images have been physically purged or corrupted, there was no way to remove the placeholder from Assist. Modified to still allow for deletion in the event that the file was not actually present at the location.
Quality Module Manufacturing – Login Screen. Standard Buttons. Modified the screen to use standard picture buttons instead of words to be compatible with other modules.
Admin Web Site – Client Accession Tracking Report. Created this report to provide visibility to the client accession tracking information that is part of the technical component/professional component logic built into Assist to support laboratories that product slides for outside entities. It provides tracking of the objects received and what objects (typically slides) that got produced for the client.
Sample Testing. Receiving Tab. Slide label print with client accession. If the client accession (i.e., alias) had part information specified that needed to print, it was set to print on seperate x/y coordinates from the alias/client accession which made it challenging to line up correctly. Added a configuration flag to append the specimen/part to the accession number to make the data more visually appealing.
Sample Testing – Cytogenetics Tab. Cell Count settings apply all. Changed the logic on the feature where the cell count and volume settings apply across all cultures on an accession. Changed the logic so that this is still true but only if the culture type is not an enrichment culture type.
Admin Web Site – Culture Type Maintenance. Drop Prep and Enrichment type checkboxes. Added these two checkboxes to the maintenance screen to allow for the specification of what kind of culture type is being created/maintained so that different algorithms can be processed based on the culture type.
Admin Web Site – Client Accession Print Log. Created this report to provide visibility to the client accession objects that have been printed. This is part of the Processional/Technical component logic built into Assist. This is a listing of the slides (typically) that are printed based on client blocks.
Doctor Module – Tab Order Logic. Changed the way that tabs are called from a hot key perspective. The actual tab names are used to identify the correct tab page number rather than calling based on the numbers which could cause issues if tab order was changed around.
Admin Web Site – Doctor Maintenance. Doctor Schedule Maintenance. Capacity Percentage. Added this field to the doctor schedule screen to allow for an indication of a doctor not working a full load for a day (i.e., taking a half day) as part of the new auto distribution logic.
Admin Web Site – MFG Case Status Maintenance – Created this screen as part of the manufacturing section of Assist. This allows for the status of a case to be tracked and have values mapped to multiple LIS platforms to tie status values together.
QC Module Out. LIS Status Check Interface. Added logic to the manufacturing quality module to check for a status inside the LIS using the status cross reference table. This was done to provide visibility to the fact that a case that is actively being worked on in the faciity may have been cancelled or held in the underlying LIS or ERP system.
Admin Web Site – Distribution Auto Summary Maintenance. Created this screen to allow for direct maintenance/intervention over the data created by the auto distribution robot. This allows for overrides of data when a situation has changed from when the AI processed what doctor should get what cases for processing.
Admin Web Site – On Call List Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of on call lists. This is part of the feature set that allows for the various Assist screens to provide visibiity of on call information to reduce the amount of printing of call lists for the facility.
Admin Web Site – Interface Type Maintenance. Add Last Record, Last Date, and LIS. Added the last record number, last date value, and LIS fields to the interface type maintenance screen to allow for improved functionality with some of the interface jobs controlled by the various Assist interface robots. By providing both record number and date, the data migration/replication jobs can process data based on either methodology.
Admin Web Site – Interface Transaction Type Maintenance – Created this screen to provide the ability filter/categorize the interface records into transaction types (i.e., A – Add, P – Purge, etc) as needed by the various interface engines.
Admin Web Site – On Call Area Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of on call areas. This is part of the new feature in the Assist modules to show call lists for employees. Call areas represent an area of company (ex. Maintenance, Security) for which contact information needs to be made available to staff.
Admin Web Site – On Call List Details Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of on call detail information. This is part of the new feature in the Assist modules to show contact information for whom to contact when there are problems. This is the lowest level of data and includes names, phone numbers, email addresses, etc.
Robot – Distribution Auto Interface. Modified to include doctor percentage capacity logic. Modified the AI engine for the automatic distribution robot to include doctor filtering by percentage of capacity. Added functionality to allow this to be done by standard percentage all the time for a doctor vs. a percentage override for a specific calendar day (ex. Working a half day).
Admin Web Site – Distribution Auto Audit Log. Case totals and percentage. Add the case totals, percentages and total cases to the audit log for the automatic distribution AI robot to make the data more meaningful.
Admin Web Site – Distribution Location Maintenance. Default Case Percentage. Added this field to the maintenance screen to allow for the specification of a default case percentage to assign for a doctor. This value is used by the automatic distribution AI robot when determining how to assign cases to doctors.
Admin Web Site – Doctor Schedule Maintenance. Default Schedule Percentage. Added this field to the maintenance screen to allow for the specification of an override percentage to be used for a doctor on a specific day. This value is used by the automatic distribution AI robot when determining how to assign cases to doctors.
Admin Web Site – Distribution Auto Doctor Report – Created this report to provide summary level visibility to the automatic distribution assignment of cases to doctors by the AI robot.
Admin Web Site - Equipment Interface Maintenance – Acknowledgement File Suffix. Modified this maintenance screen to allow for the entry of a seperate file suffix filter just for acknowledgements. This allows the interface return files to be in the same directory as the send files without there being an issue.
Sample Testing – FISH Tab. Batch Status. Added the batch status to the grid and added color coding to make them easy to stand out. Also added the FISH batch status to the selection criteria in order to filter the data being displayed.
Sample Testing – FISH Tab. Batch Dropdown. Added color coding to the drop down to indicate open vs. pending. Added all “non-closed” values to the drop down. Added functionality to the status drop down in the change area to be used as either criteria or the save status.
Admin Web Site – Distribution Auto Detail Maintenance. Created this screen to allow for direct maintenance/intervention over the data created by the auto distribution robot. This allows for overrides of data when a situation has changed from when the AI processed what doctor should get what cases for processing. This is at the detail level before case summarization has been performed.
Admin Web Site – Distribution Auto Exception Summary. Created this report to provide summary level counts of the exceptions that were generated by the auto distribution AI robot so that management decisions can be made regarding licensure, case type/specimen mixes, etc.
Admin Web Site – Distribution Auto Not Assigned. Created this report to provide visibility to the accession number records that have been generated by the AI distribution robot but that have not been distributed.
Stain Queue – Assist Activation Error. The stain queue did not have a message indicating a warning if an activation record was not found. Added a message to better troubleshoot when a configuration is not set correctly.

June 2023

Universal Slide POU. Upper Case Protocols. Added logic to allow for two configuration flags to print the human readable in upper case only for the protocol and also for the value that goes into the bar code.
Admin Web Site. Distribution Auto Summary Report. Added Distribution date, active flag, and distributed doctor to this report.
Admin Web Site – MFG Task Bundle Maintenance. Modified this screen to allow for a retrieve of all bundles without having to know an existing one. Previously, you had to specify a task before clicking retrieve instead of being able to see all of them.
Universal Cassette POU – On Call Information. Added a on call button to the cassette POU screen that will show all of the “on call” phone numbers defined for a site. This can be used to eliminate the need for on call lists of paper printed out in the laboratory.
Universal Slide POU – On Call Information. Added a on call button to the slide POU screen that will show all of the “on call” phone numbers defined for a site. This can be used to eliminate the need for on call lists of paper printed out in the laboratory.
Sample Testing. PCR Tab Concentration Entry. There were issues with the concentration values when performing manual overrides/saves. Modified the logic to allow for specification of which value is being manually updated and added logic to handle overrides.
Sample Testing. Receiving Tab. Doctor Order Review (magnifying glass). When this button was clicked to display the doctor order listing, the sequence number was not visible for either the doctor orders or the sample testing orders (before doctor order generation). Added the sequence to both grids.
Sample Testing. Receiving Tab. Order Generation Audit trail. The order master audit trail was not getting created when a “doctor order” was created using the sample testing module. The audit data is generated when orders are submitted from the interfaces, doctor module, or closeout screen, but there was an exclusion from Sample Testing which made research challenging if all of these modules are in use in a facility. Added this auditing step.
Universal Slide POU. Doctor Order Grid. Sequence Number visibility. The sequence number was loaded into the doctor order grid, but was not visible. Modified the screen load to show this “S” column.
Sample Testing. Receiving Tab. When a template is specified, it was assuming that the sequence should start at 1. If individual material had been specified before the template or if two or more templates were utilized, the sequences would be duplicated on the same specimen. Modified the template addition to look for the last selected sequenece number to start the next number.
Sample Testing. Receiving Tab. Default Printers. The configurations settings for the default block and unstained slide were the same. Created a new configuration value of “DefaultBlockPrinter” so that the block printer default can be specified without impacting the unstained slide value.
Sample Testing. Receiving Tab. Material Order Pop Up Screen. Modified the deletion button press to verify that doctor orders have not already been generated. If orders have been generated, throw an error to the screen to notify that the orders need to be cancelled for verification that the specimen is not already being worked in a different part of the lab.
Sample Testing. Receiving Tab. Delete All Option. Modified this check box associated with the delete button to allow for a full delete of all material against a sample. This can only be done if no orders have been generated against the material order. If orders have been placed, the steps must be taken to ensure no one is working on the order and it is cleared using the order modification pop up screen.
Sample Testing. PCR Tab. Vial Label Printing. The notation values specified against an existing PCR extraction order was causing the notation portion of the bar code to repeat if the label count was greater than one, which made the bar code size increase. Fixed this issue to only reflect the notation once in the bar code.
Sample Testing. PCR Tab. Extraction View order type duplication. When notations were used against a single PCR order, the data in the grid was repeating for each extra notation (i.e., N1, T1, etc.) This was causing a many to many join situation and was causing odd behavior when listing the order type and printing.
Sample Testing. Specimen Ordering. Email Library. When the email prompts were being passed into the email program of choice (ex. Outlook), the preformatted email messages were getting set as all upper case regardless of how the data was entered into Assist. Corrected this issue.
Sample Testing. Specimen Ordering. Attachments Library. When using the interactive forms logic, the various variables were getting set as all upper case regardless of how the data was entered into Assist. Corrected this issue.
Sample Testing. Specimen Ordering. Holding Site Maintenance. Added red asterisk values that can be controlled via the configuration to mark various fields on the screen as mandatory.
Sample Testing. Specimen Ordering. Email Library Functionality. Modified the email library to include a feature to filter form emails by business unit or an “always available” flag.
Admin Web Site – Case Hold Reason Maintenance. Production Hold checkbox. Added this checkbox to the maintenance screen to provide the ability to note a case hold reason as one that would halt production.
Admin Web Site – Email Library Maintenance. Always available and default business unit. Added these two fields to the maintenance screen to allow for filtering of the email library by business unit and to allow for always present members of the library.
Sample Testing – Shipping Tab. Not all objects showing. Found an issue where if there was a duplicated object (i.e. same block twice) that the routine to load the details available for return was getting exited without displaying all of the details. Fixed this issue to ignore the duplicates and keep loading subsequent information.
Admin Web Site – Tissue Size Maintenance. Case Hold Reason. Added a drop down for the specification of a case hold reason to be associated with a tissue size value. This can be used to automatically put cases on hold based on the tissue run they are on.
Admin Web Site – Tissue Size Maintenance. Moved this maintenance screen into the equipment category of the maintenance area to logically group the screen with the function.
Admin Web Site – Accession Usage Report. Detail View. Most Recent Date. Added a “most recent” date field to this report to show the last scan date/time for an accession number.
Sample Testing. Receiving Tab. Order Generation. Added two new fields when creating doctor order records to capture the configuration number of the sample testing module (in case there are more than one) and the configuration code to allow for discernment of the sample testing module vs. other methods of generating a doctor order (i.e., doctor module, closeout, universal, etc.) to provide more advanced audit trails.
Universal Slide POU. Loading Submitted Testing Routine. Modified this routine to write to the doctor order audit table when a record is pulled directly from the submitted testing database and added the fields for where the data came from and the configuration.
Admin Web Site. Doctor Order Audit Report. Sequence Number. Added the sequence number to this audit report.
Admin Web Site. Order Master Audit Report. Sequence Number. Added the sequence number to this audit report.
Admin Web Site. Doctor Order Listing. Added the sequence number to this report. Also combined the various accession number related fields into the single “full accession” field. Cleaned up the selection criteria section of the screen to be more visually appealing. Changed the sort order to show by date, then accession.
Admin Web Site. Material Submission Report. Created this report to provide visibility to the high level information regarding material submissions. The report includes the date/time of the “package” header, the material records and any testing assigned to the materials.
Universal Slide POU. Auto Generate Doctor Orders. Modified this routine to write to the doctor order audit table when a record is pulled directly from the submitted testing database and added the fields for where the data came from and the configuration.
Sample Testing. Receiving Tab. Material detail save and specimen type. The screen was writing “empty” specimen type tracking transactions if no specimen type was specified. This was not really causing any issue but was generating unneccessary data. Elimintated the transaction if no specification has been made.
Universal Slide POU. Generate doctor orders from material submission issue. There is a routine in the universal slide that looks at the material submission testing for any orders that should be processed but were not generated in the sample testing module. This was intended to be a “failsafe” for forgetting to press the “generate orders” button in the sample testing module. BUT, the routine did not factor in the material types that have the “suppress orders” check box set and were pulling forward orders for materials that should be skipped. Resolved this to work as expected and factor in this flag.
Sample Testing. Object Conversion Tracking Logic. Found a flaw in the object conversion tracking logic. The check to see if an object was already in existance was not operating correctly causing the number of objects to become higher than it should. Resolved this issue.
Sample Testing. Fish tab. Screen reload button. Added a button to the screen to allows for wiping out changes to the selection criteria and take them back to screen load.
Check In Module. Day End Status Button. Added a visual button to the screen to reflect the last day end transaction (based on day end type) to provide visibility for check in operators of the status of day end.
Check In Module. Tissue Run Auto Case Hold. Added logic to pull into the tissue size drop down the indication of whether or not a tissue run should put the accessions placed on the run into automatic case hold based on the reason specified on the tissue size maintenance screen.
Check In Module. Case Hold Automatic Addition. Added logic to the check in process to automatically put all cases on a tissue run onto case hold if the tissue run selected was an automatic case hold run. If a case hold is already in place for the same reason, it will be removed before a new one is put back (to establish an accurate timeline). A write will be done to the active case hold table as well as the history audit log.
Check In Module – Automatic Timer Countdown Close. The only vehicle for marking a tissue processor run as complete has historically been the scoreboard countdown timer. Not all sites use this module. Added functionality to the main module when the processor history checkbox is loaded to close all runs that are beyond their end time. This does NOT mark them as unloaded, just as finished. It will come up to two days past to get historical OR the actively selected batch.
Check In Module – Automatic case hold removal. Added logic to automatically remove any case holds that were placed on the accessions in a tissue run by the process of loading the tissue run discussed above.
Check In Module – Case Hold Button. Added the “standard” case hold button to this module. Provided the ability to turn case holds on and off via the screen. Set the case hold reasons up to respond to scanned codes instead of pure drop down.
Check In Module – Existing Case Hold Processing. Modified the logic of this module to check for case holds at object scan (ex. cassette). If hold is found, turn the case hold button red, make a beeper error sound and launch the case hold screen view with the existing case hold shown in the drop down (and disabled) with the “delete” as the only choice. These settings are all in the configuration for change as needed.
Scanner Module – Case Components Screen Size. Widened the screen to allow for less horizontal scrolling of the case components area.
Scanner Module – Case Components Information Changes. Modified the case components logic to allow for the tissue processor run information to be broken down into the various components and added as child “nodes” to the tree and collapsed them to the parent level. Processor batch, tissue run, equipment, run count were added as children.
Scanner Module – Case Components Information Additions. Modified to add pieces to the tree. This was also available underneath the main section of the screen but included it into the tree so that the piece counts of all specimens in the accession could be seen at the same time if needed.
Scanner Module – Login Screen Buttons. Modified the buttons to be the standard size and to be icon buttons instead of text buttons to be standard with the rest of the module.
Scanner Module – Case Components Information Additions. Case Hold Information. Added case hold transactions to the tree so that visibility would be provided to show why a portion of a case might not be available with the other components. All case hold transactions are visible.
Scanner Module – Case Components Information Case Hold Headers. Placed the literal values for the case hold “tree” into the configuration for simply tweaking. Also added color coding to the release vs. hold on the case details.
Scanner Module – Standard Image buttons. Continued the process of converting more “text buttons” to be the standard image buttons to increase consistency.
Scanner Module – Case Hold Screen. Include Cassette Checkbox default. There was no setting to allow for the defaulting of the checkbox for including the cassette identifier on the case hold screen. Added this.
Scanner Module – Case Components Information Changes. Added the ability to include embedding information in the “tree” as well.
Admin Web Site – Recipe BOM Listing. Created this report as part of the inventory functional area to provide visibility to the list of “recipes” and their bill of materials. These can be finished goods recipes or sub assemblies.
Admin Web Site – Material Type Maintenance. Lock Material After Hours. Added this checkbox to allow for “locking” a material type to not allow delete at the point that it has had orders placed against it. This prevents the deleting of a paraffin block after hours have been submitted to the lab.
Sample Testing Module. Receiving Tab. Material Submission Audit Log. Added a new audit log table to the database and put write transactions in place for every add, update, or delete to a submission so that a data “chain of custody” audit trail exists.
Admin Web Site – Material Type Group Maintenance. Created this screen to provide for maintenance over material type groups. These groups are used to categorize material types by the “sub labs” they may go into for filtering purposes (Ex. PCR, FISH, etc.)
Admin Web Site – Material Type Grouping. Created this screen to provide for the association of material type groups with material types. This allows for better filtering of material types to reflect only the items that should be in use inside specific functional areas of a facility.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab. Detail Delete. Modified the delete routine to not allow the deleting of material types with the lock value checked (#2) if doctor orders have been generated even if not for the individual object being deleted.
Sample Testing – FISH Tab. Material Type Grouping Criteria. Added the material type grouping to the selection criteria and added logic to use this in retrieving specimen orders.
Stain Queue – Manual Entry. Found an issue with the location identifier for sites using the Pathway LIS where the year was getting left off the location identifier on a manually typed entry. Correct this issue.
Interface Utility – Case Components Robot. Previously, the case components robot only looked at “transaction” data (i.e., Grossing, Embedding, Microtomy, etc.). Modified the routine to also consider distribution and equipment tracking (check in) to give a better view of objects.
Doctor Closeout – New Fields. Added new fields to the closeout including the source of the orders and the configuration number of how the screen was built when the order was written. Also standardized the screen buttons to be icon buttons instead of words to be consistent with the other Assist modules.
Doctor Module – New Fields. Added new fields to the doctor module ordering including the source of the orders and the configuration number of how the screen was built when the order was written. Also standardized the screen buttons to be icon buttons instead of words to be consistent with the other Assist modules.
Sample Testing – FISH Tab. Batch Type/Order Type Filter. Added a checkbox to the screen (based on configuration) to allow for a filter of FISH orders based on the batch type/order type grouping maintenance screen. This can be used in conjunction or instead of the material type grouping to derive the needed list of FISH orders.
Admin Web Site – On Call Report – Created this report to provide visiblity to the on call information (i.e. call lists, after hours, etc.) that can be entered into Assist and be viewed in the various module.
Check In Module. Case Components Logic. Added case component tracking logic to the check in module. This is logic that keeps track of the last touch point for a specimen/object and was previously only written by a robot job.
Admin Web Site. Case Hold Reason Maintenance. Show Record Number option. Added this check box to the screen to allow for display of the database record number to help with making custom bar codes.
Admin Web Site. Timer Countdown Report. Case Hold Reason. Added the case hold reason to the report to reflect automatic case holds that exist on timer countdown data.
Admin Web Site. Case Components Tracking Report. New Fields. Added the sequence number, deactivated by record, and DBTableCode fields to the report.
Quality Module Extended. Auto Update Feature. Made some fixes to the quality module auto update feature to ensure functionality and also to capture the prior and current date/time stamps of the executable into the installation history reporting.
Admin Web Site. Software Installation History Report. Added fields for the original and updated software executable to this report and also added the installation message (i.e., success or failure).
QC Module Extra – End Task Button. Added this button to the screen to allow for the explicit ending of an open task without requiring the existence of the end task bar code.

3rd Quarter 2023

July 2023

Sample Testing. Cytogenetics tab. The “Suppress” closed checkbox in the selection criteria was not working correctly. This was fixed.
Sample Testing. Cytogenetics tab. Grid default view. The status value for specimens that have not been worked yet were showing with a blank status column. Changed the “no status” value to be “None” rather than an empty cell in the grid for better clarity. Did the same thing for the culture date if there is no date because the culture has not been created yet.
Sample Testing. Cytogenetics tab. Selection criteria changes. Added a “suppress closed” checkbox for the culture status (order status already existed) to add more flexibility. Set this checkbox to “off” by default.
Sample Testing. Cytogenetics tab. Culture Tracking and Audit Log Changes. Added several fields to the culture tracking and audit log tables to make the audits more meaningful in regard to where data came from with the new data specifically being the computer name and the software version.
Sample Testing. Cytogenetics Tab. Audit log clearing. Noticed when working with the cyto tab that when switching accession numbers that the audit log was not clearing on the click of the retrieve button which could make the screen confusing as the audit trail from a prior record was being displayed. Now the grid clears on retrieval.
Admin Web Site – Culture Tracking Audit Log. Modified the report to include the machine name and software version that made the changes.
Admin Web Site – Culture Tracking Report. Modified the report to include the machine name and software version that made the last change to the data.
Sample Testing – PCR Tab. Vial label print with multi part information. The specimen letter was not printing in either the human readable OR bar code. Added configuration options to print or suppress these values as needed.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Tracking Analysis Report – Batch Number Criteria. Added the batch number to the selection criteria to allow for improved data filtering.
Admin Web Site – Timer Countdown Report – Batch Number Criteria. Added the batch number to the selection criteria to allow for improved data filtering.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Tracking Report – Batch Number Criteria. Added the batch number to the selection criteria to allow for improved data filtering on both the summary and detail version of this report. Also added the batch number to the report. Added formatting to the full accession number to add dashes to make the report data more visually appealing.
Check In Module – Auto Batch Close. Added logic to the check in routine to determine whether or not a check should be performed for open processor batches. If any are found with an end date less than the current date, they are closed. This feature should only be activated if the “unload process” is not being used to indicate when a processor run batch should be closed.
Admin Web Site – Specimen Category Maintenance. Category Metric Value. Added this value to the specimen category maintenance screen to make the information available in automatic distribution. This value can be used instead of or as an adjunct to the metric values that can be specified at the specimen type level.
Universal Cassette POU. Case Hold Changes. Modified the case hold entry screen to include comments and reorganized the screen to be more logical.
Universal Cassette POU. Case Hold Reason Scanning. Added logic to allow for the scanning of case hold reasons. If this is scanned from the main grossing screen, it immediately presents the case hold screen as if the button were pressed and positions the case hold reason drop down to the bar code value scanned.
Universal Cassette POU. Requisition Switch with no bottle. Found a couple of visual changes that needed to be made with how the error condition is handled when a second requisition is scanned after the first with no child scan. Modified the error reset on no error inside requisition to clear the screen.
QA Out Module. Task Being rejected error. There was a problem inside the routine for loading rework data to the screen that was causing an erroneous message of “Taks does not exist for the selected MSP”. Fixed this issue.
QA Out Module. Clear rework data on new case. Found an issue where the rework tab was still showing information from a prior case if there was no rework data on the current case. Set the retrieval routine to clear the screen before attempting to load new data.
QA Out Module. Rework Audit Log Capture. Added logic to the rework request process to introduce an audit trail capturing all of the rework request transactions to see all of the changes over time.
QA Out Module. Rework Audit Log Toggle. Added a toggle choice to the rework screen to provide for display of rework request active data as well as providing visibility to the new audit log data to see all of the transactions associated with the rework request.
Admin Web Site – Doctor Schedule Override Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the specification of schedule override information for doctors in terms of workload quotas and such for sites that take advantage of distribution limitations.
Admin Web Site – Rework Reason Audit Log. Created this report to provide visibility to the newly created rework reason audit log.
Admin Web Site – Client Accession Prefix Maintenance. Sample bar code and comments fields have been added to this maintenance screen to allow for entry of the bar code that the prefix is designed to handle. Comments are also provided to allow for a detailed description.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Tracking Analysis Report. Run Start/Run End columns. Added these two columns to the report to provide additional information.
Admin Web Site – Material Submission Audit Log. Created this report to provide visibility to the detailed audit log that is written to any time a material submission record is modified.
Universal Slide POU – Order Master Update Changes. With the routine that automatically prints doctor orders at cassette scan, it was discovered that the status was changing but the last changed user/date fields were not getting modified and no record was getting written to the audit log to reflect the status change. Corrected this to record both.
Sample Testing - FISH Detail Audit Log. Modified the FISH tab so that the transactions adding accession to and removing from batches go into an audit log for more detailed tracking.
Sample Testing – FISH Tab Audit Log. Added an audit log tab to the FISH batch details area to show full audit trail information in regard to FISH batches.
Admin Web Site – Doctor Schedule Defaults Maintenance. Created this screen to allow for the specification of default values of case capacity and case metrics for a doctor with an effective start and end date. While capacity values can be specified at the distribution location level, this allows for an effective start/end of default changes from the values for the doctor in general.
Check In Module. Software Time Stamp. Modified the check in write to the equipment tracking table to include the executable date/time stamp to help in determining version information.
Universal Cassette POU. Case Hold Functionality Changes. Added logic to how the case hold functionality works. Added the ability to look at the production hold vs. “information only” case hold information. Also provided detailed ability to view all of the case hold information on the case hold view rather than just the description (ex. WHO put the case on hold and WHEN).
Accessioning Module. Software Time Stamp. Software Time Stamp. Modified the check in write to the equipment tracking table to include the executable date/time stamp to help in determining version information.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Tracking Analysis. Modified this report to sort by tracking start date if “include date” is selected rather than just by the date without the time stamp to make the data show in true chronilogical order.
Accessioning/Opening Module. Login Panel standard buttons. Modified the login and cancel buttons to be standard picture buttons.
Admin Web Site. Client Accession Prefix Maintenance. Delimiter Package Drop down. Added this drop down to the maintenance screen so that delimiter packages can be specified for specific client prefixes to handle technical component work.
Admin Web Site. Delimiter Package Maintenance. Comments field addition. Added a free form comments field to the screen to allow for a detailed description to be entered to explain the purpose of the delimiter package.
Distribution Module. View Options Grouping. Added a view options group box to the upper right-hand corner of the screen. This view option will provide additional choices between manifest view, auto distribution views, etc. to meet the increased demand for viewing options.
Distribution Module. Manifest Printing Area. Reorganized the manifest printer choices to make them more visually appealing and decreased the font size to allow for more information to be displayed on the screen. This was also done in anticipation of adding alternate printer choices to the screen.
Distribution Module. Alternate Printer Logic. Added a second printer and checkbox to the manifest printing area. This allows for the specification of an “alternate” printer. This was done to simplify the transactions for users that wanted to print a physical copy of a manifest to a paper printer as well as an electronic copy to a fax printer and/or PDF printer without having to go through a reprint process.
Sample Testing. Tracking Tab. Reorganized several cosmetic items on the tracking tab to have the screen make more visual sense. Added defaults to the view choice between transactions and zone scan information. Added accession information to the selection criteria to allow for better filtering. Added a check to make sure an employee is logged in before allowing data retrieval.
Sample Testing. Tracking Tab. The zone scan side of the tracking tab was already operational and working fine but the transactional side of the inquiry was not in place. Added the ability to display transactions from a chain of custody standpoint over the main transactional audit log.
Sample Testing. Tracking Tab. Extended the transactional scanning data stream to include equipment tracking (ex. tissue processors and other equipment loading touchpoints) to provide more in depth information on the chain of custody information on a specimen and/or accession.
Sample Testing. Tracking Tab. Extended the transactional scanning data stream to include distribution data (ex. doctor slide distribution, send outs) to provide more in depth information on the chain of custody information on a specimen and/or accession.
Sample Testing. Tracking Tab. Extended the transactional scanning data stream to include warehouse data (ex. banking) to provide more in depth information on the chain of custody information on a specimen and/or accession.
Accessioning Module. Default cassette identifier specimen type tracking. Found an issue where the “type” of cassette identifier flag “A/N” was getting written into the specimen type tracking table, which was not valid. Corrected this to be the value “A” or “1” if data is written and implied values are in play.
Admin Web Site – Block Slide Instructions Maintenance. Description criteria. Added a description criteria field to allow for the filtering of data ont he screen by wildcard character matching.
Accessioning Module – Case Hold Functionality Changes. Added logic to how the case hold functionality works. Added the ability to look at the production hold vs. “information only” case hold information. Also provided detailed ability to view all of the case hold information on the case hold view rather than just the description (ex. WHO put the case on hold and WHEN). Brought this feature set up to the same standard as the universal module for grossing to be consistent.
Accessioning Module – Case Hold Reason Scanning. Added the ability to scan case hold bar codes to select the appropriate case hold reason from the dropdown listing when the case hold panel is visible.
Scanner Engine – Case Hold Functionality Changes. Added logic to how the case hold functionality works. Added the ability to look at the production hold vs. “information only” case hold information. Also provided detailed ability to view all of the case hold information on the case hold view rather than just the description (ex. WHO put the case on hold and WHEN). Brought this feature set up to the same standard as the universal module for grossing to be consistent.
Universal Slide POU. Case Hold Functionality Changes. Added logic to how the case hold functionality works. Added the ability to look at the production hold vs. “information only” case hold information. Also provided detailed ability to view all of the case hold information on the case hold view rather than just the description (ex. WHO put the case on hold and WHEN). Brought this feature set up to the same standard as the universal module for grossing to be consistent.

August 2023

Admin Web Site – Accession Slide Count Maintenance. Special Stain Filter. Added a checkbox to the selection criteria to allow for filtering of special stains to allow for finding stains vs. recuts, deepers, etc. in a more timely manner.
Distribution Module – Inbound Manifest Logic. Modified the logic of the inbound process to remove the manifest selection. Previously, if a manifest were active and inbound scans were performed, they got added to the manifest which was incorrect processing.
Admin Web Site – Employee Scan Rate Report. Clear Employees Button. Added a “Clear” button to this screen to allow for the removal of all employee filters from the list box on the screen.
Admin Web Site – Block Slide Instructions Maintenance. Protocol Magazine Override checkbox. Added this checkbox to allow for the specification of whether the block slide instructions record should override the protocol magazine for sites that have complicated slide magazine selection logic.
Admin Web Site – Object Storage Report. Date of service and sort order. Added the date of service column to the report and provided the ability to sort based on this date of service field OR the transaction date (i.e., scan date) via a selection area.
Admin Web Site – Order Type Maintenance. Order type deactivation check. Modified the order type maintenance screen to check to ensure that there are no active orders against an order type before allowing it to be deactivated.
Warehouse Module – Warehouse Inquiry. Included the date of service field on the details section of the inquiry.
Warehouse Module – Warehouse Inquiry. Free Form Accession Prefix Criteria. Added a checkbox to the inquiry to allow for the entry of free form prefix criteria instead on only having the choice of choosing from the drop down list.
Warehouse Module – Warehouse Inquiry. Date of Service Criteria. Added the from/to date of service as a criteria option on the inquiry screen. Also added the field to main grid view and changed the accession number field to display as a formatted accession number rather than listing in each of the component parts.
Main Scanner Engine – Block Request Screen. Standard Buttons. The batch block request screen did not make use of standard buttons for the print and cancel. Added the standard picture buttons to make the screen consistent.
Distribution Module – Manifest Utility – Reworked this pop up screen to clean up the functionality of how to modify manifest data. The screen was simplified and changes were made to make the screen more visually appealing.
Distribution Module – Manifest Print Changes. Modified the manifest print routines both from the utility screen and the main screen to include the protocol value for slides and to move around the layout in both summary and landscape mode to make the reports more visually appealing.
Distribution Module – Overdue Warning Button. Added a “green/red” button to the top right hand section of the screen to reflect a count of objects that are overdue based on a configuration value for number of days. This reflects items send OUTBOUND with “RETURN EXPECTED” that have not been scanned back in via distribution or warehouse.
Scoreboard Module – Case Hold Scoreboard – Created a scoreboard to show outstanding case hold records. Shows the total in the header and the most recent “X” active case holds with the “X” deteremined by configuration.
Scoreboard Module – Case Rush Scoreboard. Created a scoreboard to show outstanding case hold records. Shows the total in the header and the most recent “X” active case holds with the “X” deteremined by configuration.
Admin Web Site – Distribution Location Maintenance. Overdue Days. Added an overdue days text box to the distribution location maintenance screen to allow for the customization of the definition of an overdue case by distribution location.
Warehouse Module - Overdue Warning Button. Added a “green/red” button to the top right hand section of the screen to reflect a count of objects that are overdue based on a configuration value for number of days. This reflects items send OUTBOUND with “RETURN EXPECTED” that have not been scanned back in via distribution or warehouse.
Sample Testing – Inbound/Outbound Tab. Max Rows Addition. Added a row count box to the screen to add a “maximum” number of rows that can be returned to prevent a huge amount of data being requested and locking up the screen.
Admin Web Site – Object Storage Transactions Report. Date Of Service. Added the date of service column to this report. Also modified the layout of the report to remove the component parts of the accession as showing seperately and added a single “full accession” column to the report.
Warehouse Module – Date of Service Capture on scan. Added logic to the warehouse module to determine the date of service of an accession when it is scanned. This is determined by looking for the first scan transaction in Assist against the object being scanned to provide a date/time different from the time the object was scanned into the warehouse to determine when an object can be purged.
Warehouse Module – Object Type/Drawer Object Type Error Check. Added logic on the main filing screen to make sure that when the object type is changed that the object type for the active filing drawer is the same as the object type of the object scanned.
Sample Testing – Case Rush Functionality. Added logic inside the sample testing receiving tab to write case rush transactions into the database for case rush tracking and scoreboard functionality rather than just capturing in the material submission workflow.
Scoreboard – Order Cancellation Scoreboard. Build a new scoreboard view for cancelled orders that can be displayed for other portions of the laboratory until the cancellation order is acknowledged to inactivate the cancellation transaction.
Admin Web Site. Order Status Maintenance. Cancel Status Checkbox. Added this checkbox to allow for the stratification of an order status as being a cancellation. This will allow for the routing of order changes into the cancellation table.
Admin Web Site. Case Rush Report. Last Maintained Information. Added the last maintained date and employee to the case rush report to provide a better audit trail and consolidated the accession number into a single column.
Admin Web Site. Case Rush Maintenance. Last Maintained Information. Added the audit trail last maintained date and user to this screen. Also added the bottle/cassette identifier to allow for rush data to be specified at the specimen/part level.
Sample Testing – Receiving Header Save. Chain of Custody. Modified the save routine for the header receiving package creation to write a record into the main Assist transactional table for chain of custody/Audit trail purposes.
Sample Testing – Receiving Detail Save. Chain of Custody. Modified the save routine for the detail receiving package creation to write a record into the main Assist transactional table for chain of custody/Audit trail purposes.
Sample Testing – Flow Save. Chain of Custody. Modified the save routine for the Flow package saves to write a record into the main Assist transactional table for chain of custody/Audit trail purposes.
Accessioning Module – Case Rush. Added the last maintained date and user to the case rush database write routine to provide better chain of custody information.
Universal Module – Cassette/Slide POU. Logout Logic. Modified the logout logic for sites that are using employee time tracking. If there are open time buckets, on logout, close the most recent abandoned bucket to keep from having odd time tracking issues.
Distribution Module. Case Hold Functionality. Added logic to how the case hold functionality works. Added the ability to look at the production hold vs. “information only” case hold information. Also provided detailed ability to view all of the case hold information on the case hold view rather than just the description (ex. WHO put the case on hold and WHEN). Brought this feature set up to the same standard as the universal module for grossing to be consistent.
Distribution Module. Protocol History. Modified the scan history information that is shown on the screen. When protocols and slide tracking numbers are displayed, the screen was not big enough to hold all of the information. Placed the protocol and tracking information on a seperate line in the scan history list.
Distribution Module. Case Component History Choice. Added a configuration choice to the module to allow for printing history based on case components as opposed to being limited to just microtomy history.
Distribution Module. Case Component History. Sequence Number. Added the sequence number and tracking number to the history on a seperate line to provide more information on the history.
Admin Web Site – Case Component Acknowledgement Report. Tracking Number. Added the tracking number to this report to provide more information about case component acknowledgements.
Admin web Site – Case Component Tracking Report. Sequence number and full accession. Reformatted the full accession number instead of showing each portion in a seperate column and added the sequence number/tracking number to provide more data.
Warehouse Module – Drawer Utility Screen. Accession number formatting. Changed the formatting of the accession number to make it more visually appealing.
Universal Module. Cassette Queue. Arrival sequence printing. Added a configuration choice to print by accession number order OR arrival sequence. Previously, the screen only printed in accession number order.
Admin Web Site – Service Provider Type Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of service provider types. This is part of new functionality being introduced into Assist to allow for the tracking of “outsourced” work being performed.
Admin Web Site – Service Provider Maintenance. Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of service providers. This is part of new functionality to support outsourcing service providers in mulitple sections of Assist.
Admin Web Site – Distribution Location Maintenance. Service Provider Drop down. Added the service provider as a value that can be associated with a distribution location. This allows for the specification that distribution locations might be outsourcing partners inbound and outbound and for automated distribution.
Print Center. Slide Label Print Screen. Print Template. Added the print template drop down box to the slide label print screen to allow for “standard” template customization of label printing for sites that use this screen.
Sample Testing - Shipping Tab – Manifest/Printing Area. Rearranged this section of the screen to clean it up. Changed a couple of the options to make more accurate as to what they do. Specifically renamed the “Close Package” check box since it was not named as accurately as it could be. Made the manifest number larger.
Sample Testing - Shipping Tab Auto Close Utility – Added the accession number to the criteria so that a single case could be retrieved if needed.
Sample Testing - Shipping Tab Auto Close Utility – Row count. Added the row count to the screen when many rows are retrieved.
Sample Testing - Shipping Tab – Inbound/Outbound Refresh Option – Added a checkbox to the shipping area to allow for the choice of reloading the inbound/outbound screen at the point of save on the shipping tab.
Sample Testing - Shipping Tab - Auto Close Utility – Added configuration choice to enable/disable the auto open choice due to the risk of accidentally opening up all closed packages.
Sample Testing - Shipping Tab - Auto Close Utility – Status Choice. Added a filtered status drop down to this utility that only shows “closed” status values to allow for the assignment of a specific status when auto closing packages.
Sample Testing – Top of Screen - Close Pending Button – Added a large status button to the top of the screen that lists a count of packages that SHOULD be eligible for closure. The logic produces a count of packages where all materials that are flagged for return are returned. Clicking this button launches the auto close utility just like from the shipping tab (box with wrench button).
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab – Detail/Header Accession check. Added logic on the detail save to ensure that the accession number of the active package matches the accession number of the detail object.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab – Accession Across Multiple packages. Modified the logic to limit an accession number from existing on multiple packages. If the same accession is submitted more than once, the logic prevented the accession number from being entered against more than one package. Since over the lifetime of the accession, it could come back into the lab, adjusted the rule to be that the accession can only exist on one OPEN package at a time to allow for appropriate tracking of a “resubmitted” specimen to be able to have separate received/returned timelines.
Admin Web Site - FISH Batch Details Audit Log – Created this report to provide visibility to the FISH batch details audit log.
Sample Testing. Receiving Tab. Order Modification (Magnifying Glass Button). Under the order modification pop up screen, added a checkbox to indicate an intentional deletion of a “non-open” order. There is a checkbox that drives this behavior and it can be enabled or not based on configuration choices. Also added a comments box which can be enforced to require an explanation for the deletion of a “non-open” status order.
Sample Testing. Receiving Tab. Order Modification (Magnifying Glass Button). When an open status order was deleted, no audit trail record was being written into the doctor order audit log because the order never “really” existed. This has been changed to now record the deletion especially since all status orders can now be deleted.
Sample Testing. Receiving Tab. Order Modification (Magnifying Glass Button). Order Cancellation Logic. If an order is deleted, a cancellation transaction can now be written (based on checkbox) to drive the cancellation scoreboard to let other sections of the lab know not to process the order. It is an “opt out” transaction since the order may have never left accessioning before needing to be deleted.
Sample Testing. Receiving Tab. Order Modification (Magnifying Glass Button). Full Reset button (Test Tube button). Do not allow a full order flag reset if there are any orders. Must process the order screen and delete before resetting the flag.
Distribution Module. Auto Distribution View. Modified the distribution module to include the auto distribution view that can be toggled to from the manifest view section of teh screen. The default between the two can be chosed inside the configuration.
Distribution Module. Doctor Name/Abbreviation Toggle. Added a checkbox inside the auto distribution area to allow for control of whether the full distribution location name is displayed or the doctor abbreviation.
Distribution Module. Day End Display Button. Added a button on the auto distribution view that shows the date/time of the last day end that has been completed. This allows distribution personnel to see what the date/time is being used to drive the auto distribution data.
Distribution Module. Write Auto Doctor Inactivation Data. If a distribution location is marked as “inactive” and the target is removed from auto distribution, a record is written to the inactive table for analysis.
Admin Web Site. Distribution Auto Inactivation Report. Created this report to provide visibility to the inactivation transactions that were made during automatic distribution where doctors were taken out of the active list of targets for object distribution.
Admin Web Site – Security Maintenance. Service Provider. Added a dropdown for the specification of a service provider on the security maintenance screen. This allows for the specification of an external vendor, outsourcer, etc. as a user badge.
Stain Queue – Automatic Order close using Sequence number. The on demand scan routine did not make use of the sequence number when applying the automatic status value which was causing problems when an entire case did not hit the stain queue at the same time.
Stain Queue – Sequence number inclusion in grid. Added the sequence number to the stain queue grid view.
Stain Queue – Scan On Demand. Scan History and Sequence number. Added scan history information to the stain queue on demand scanning so that transactions can be viewed and also added the sequence numbers.
Stain Queue – Queue Modification. Sequence Number Inclusion. The queue modification (right-hand section) of the screen did not include the sequence number to allow for changes. This was added.
Sample Testing – Cytogenetics tab. Chain of custody capture. Added the chain of custody information for the cytogenetics save to write into the main Assist transaction log table for reporting.
Sample Testing – FISH tab. Chain of custody capture. Added the chain of custody information for the Fish save to write into the main Assist transaction log table for reporting.
Admin Web Site. Material Type Maintenance. Default Print On checkbox. Added this checkbox to the maintenance screen so that at receiving, the material label print choice can default on or off to save the clicks.
Sample Testing – PCR tab. Chain of custody capture for PCR extraction. Added the chain of custody information for the PCR extraction save to write into the main Assist transaction log table for reporting.
Sample Testing – PCR tab. Chain of custody capture for PCR order. Added the chain of custody information for the PCR order save to write into the main Assist transaction log table for reporting.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab. Material Type Default Print On. Added the logic to the “default print” setting for the material type so that the items will be pre-selected to print when added.
Admin Web Site – Distribution Auto Inactivation Report – Specimen Category and Type. Added these two fields to the report.
Distribution Module – Auto Distribution – Day End Details Display – On the section of the distribution module that handles automatic distribution, the status of the day end transaction is critical for the functioning of pre-distribution. While the “last day end” value is already visible on the screen, there was no visibility to historical day end transactions without running a report on the admiinistrative web site. Added a button to pop up a screen to see historical day end transactions.
Distribution Module – Auto Distribution – Doctor Inactivation Detailed Logic. Added detailed logic to the automatic distribution functional area to mark a doctor as inactive at the specimen category and type level rather than simply at a doctor level. This allows for taking a doctor out of the mix for auto distribution by “product lines” if they need an ad hoc different mix of products.

September 2023

Admin Web Site – FISH Batch Details Audit Report. Inclusion of active data. The audit report was modified to add a checkbox to allow for the display of both active FISH batch data as well as the historical audit log information to provide one report for all data.
Admin Web Site – Business Brand Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for maintenance of business brands. Brands represent different lines of business that an organization can utilize and allows for the assignment of brands with clients to keep track of which section of the business the client works with (one to many).
Order Closeout – Doctor Orders. Order Cancellation logic. Added the ability to write to the order cancellation table if an order is cancelled.
Universal Slide POU – Doctor Order Printing. Order Only No Print Order Types. The doctor order print routine was ignoring this flag. Corrected this to suppress order types that have this setting active.
Distribution Module – Auto Distribution Unassignment. Added logic to allow for the removal of distribution data or back out of distribution to put records back into the mix if they were done via error. This was done using the pop up screen for the visual of assignment.
Distribution Module – Auto Distribution Show Rules. Added a checkbox to the auto distribution area to show the rules for an accession. The client demographics are displayed along with the specimen types for the case with a list of doctors that are eligible to read the case from a licensure standpoint.
Admin Web Site – Client Brand Maintenance. Created this maintenance screen to allow for the assignment of clients to business brands in a many to many fashion. If there are multiple business brands for a company and each brand does business with a client, this allows for the capture of under which brand an individual case was being worked or sold.
Admin Web Site – Service Provider Maintenance. Maximum Case Workload and Allow Maximum Overload. Added the maximum case workload field to the service provider to keep track of the maximum cases that are allowed to be worked (ex. outsourced) to a service provider. This will throttle the assignment screens in Assist UNLESS the allow override checkbox is selected which provides the ability to override the maximum value.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab. Material Submitted Save/Audit Trail. Added the original record number from the original material submitted record number to allow for the audit trail of submitted testing to tie to the detailed audit trail.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab. Template audit trail. Discovered that the use of the template to add material submitted details did not write to the audit trail. Added this functionality to close the loophole on auditing.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab. Package Drop down Auto Load. Modified the logic on the receiving tab to sort the data in the package drop down by created date in descending order (i.e., most recent at the top) and added a configuration flag to preload the most recent if configured.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab. Package drop down logic. Modified the package drop down load to change the color of the package label to green if there are multiple values to help distinguish from no data found in which case the label will be black.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab. Client Details Display Button icon. The icon on this button was the magnifying glass which was the same as the order details section and was therefore confusing. Changed the icon to be unique (File Folder picture).
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab. Client Details Pop up Screen. The pop up screen to show client related details from the interface was not loading correctly. Fixed this issue.
Distribution Module – Auto Distribution – Day End Selection – Added the ability based on a configuration flag setting to change the active day end value. This feature would typically only be used by an Assist administrator during testing, but COULD be used to back date automatic distribution if this was needed.
Distribution Module – Auto Distribution – Unassigned Display. Modified the automatic distribution inquiry screen to give the ability to see any accessions that did not get assignment done successfully to a doctor for troubleshooting purposes without having to go to the administrative web site.
Admin Web Site – Material Submitted Report and Audit Log. Created this report to provide visibility to the material submitted data that is part of the sample testing module in Assist. There is a toggle choice to go between the “live” data and the audit log data for research purposes.
Admin Web Site – Service Provider Workflow Maintenance – Created this screen as part of the service provider logic (i.e., outsourcing) to be able to create specific specimen workflows that an be assigned to a service provider.
Admin Web Site – Service Provider Workflow Status Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for maintenance of the service provider workflow status values. These are used as part of the service provider (i.e., outsource vendors) tracking.
Sample Testing – PCR Tab. Order Notation pop up screen. Show Copy concentration value, PCR Repeat, and Extraction repeat choices. Added three new fields to the notation specification and display them on the screen as values for the order notation is changed.
Sample Testing – PCR Tab. Order Notation pop up screen. Concentration Value display. Added the three concentration values to the pop up screen (C1, C2, Cavg) but ONLY if the screen is displayed coming from the Order Type view of the PCR tab as opposed to the extraction side where the values are suppressed.
Admin Web Site – Order Type Maintenance. Reflex Type. Added a checkbox to the screen to allow for the specification of an order type as a reflext order type for use in the sample testing module of Assist in the PCR functional area.
Admin Web Site – Order Notation Maintenance. New field additions. Four new checkboxes were added to this screen: Copy Concentration Value, PCR Repeat, PCR Reflex, and Extraction Repeat. Each one of these determines how the order notations behave inside the sample testing module/pcr tab area.
Sample Testing – PCR Tab. Order Notation pop up screen. Order types for reflex notations. Modified the pop up notation screen to allow for the entry of reflex orders if the notation indicates a reflex order is being generated.
Check In Module – Case Hold Functionality. Modified the case hold logic to provide the ability to scan repetitively into case hold mode. Previously, the case hold screen would toggle forward to case hold and back to the main screen, but the screen could not be effectively used as a pure case hold screen. This repetitive hold scanning is now allowed.
Distribution Module – Auto Distribution Manual Login. When the manual login option was used, the auto distribution data was showing on the login screen, which was odd. Hid this section of the screen to cut down on confusion.
Interface Utility – Auto Distribution Exceptions. The write into the auto distribution exceptions table did not capture the auto distribution job run date/time that generated the exception which made it difficult to see the specific reason an accession did not get distributed if it has passed through the auto distribution logic more than once.
Admin Web Site. Distribution Auto Exceptions Report. Auto Distribution Run Date. Added this column to the report to better indicate the “run” to which the exception belongs.
Distribution Module. Auto Distribution Exceptions Screen. Inside the auto distribution section of the distribution module, added a pop up screen to allow for the display of any/all exceptions that might exist for objects that did not qualify for automatic distribution.
Admin Web Site. Service Provider File Type Maintenance. Created this screen as part of the distribution area of Assist factoring in service providers and outsourcing. This is specifically geared toward digital objects and this maintenance screen allows for the specifications of which Windows file types should be considered for distribution when working with digital objects and service providers.
QC Module Manufacturing. MFG Task Tab. Multiple sources of employee. Modified the QC module plus manufacturing task tab to handle situations where an employee is known only to Assist, only to the LIS, or to both to better handle sources of task scans and display.
QC Module Manufacturing. Rework Tab. Multiple sources of employee. Modified the QC module plus manufacturing task tab to handle situations where an employee is known only to Assist, only to the LIS, or to both to better handle sources of task scans and display on the rework tab area.
Admin Web Site. Service Provider Workflow Reference Maintenance. Created this maintenance screen to add more flexibility to oursourcing operations. This screen allows for the specification of which workflows can be assigned to a service provider (i.e., outsourcer) and how many cases and specimens can be assigned.
Admin Web Site. Service Provider Workflow Status Reference Maintenance. This screen was created as part of the outsourcing/service provider logic inside Assist. This status data is where the various workflow status values that are “eligible” for a service provider are mapped. This supports the idea that different providers can perform different workflow steps and/or status values.
Admin Web Site. Distribution Auto Daily Summary Report. Override On, Manual Creation, Manual Creation Date, Manual Creation user. Added the above fields to this report to provide visibility to additional data that has been added to the auto distribution process.
Distribution Module. Auto Distribution Grid. Remaining Cases column and Addition/Subtraction column.
Distribution Module. Auto Distribution Process. Unplanned accession addition logic. Added logic to the distribution module to allow for the scanning of objects (i.e., slides) that were not part of the auto distribution “pool” of objects that are supposed to be distributed. This allows for ad hoc scanning with tracking added to keep a + value to show how many cases were distributed above the planned number from the auto distribution artificial intelligence routine.
Interface Utility. Auto Distribution. Manual Creation Field defaults. Multiple fields were added to the auto distribution database tables to keep track of records that are generated manually. Changed the AI to put blank default values into these fields rather than leaving them as null values.
Interface Utility. Auto Distribution. Original Day End Data and Rollover Count. Added fields for the original day end information to the table that is created by the artificial intelligent distribution robot to capture the original data and also a count of the number of times data has been processed by the robot.
Admin Web Site. Distribution Auto Daily Summary Report. Original Day End Year, Month, Day and Override Count fields. Added these fields to the report to report on the new information that has been added to the database.
Scoreboard. Multiple Shipment Board. Adjusted cell/font size and color/data keys at top of screen. Added a header line to the top of this “board” to show the key of what grid colors and calculations mean and adjusted the contents of the grid cells.
Admin Web Site. Outsource Work Tracking Report. Created this report to provide visibility to the outsource work tracking information for sites that use service providers to outsource work.

4th Quarter 2023

October 2023

Sample Testing – Receiving Tab. Added a warning to the receiving tab if changes are made on the details of a package that has a closed status. The warning it telling the employee to “reopen” the package so that it will show correctly on the various screens if it has been changed. This is controlled by configuration whether or not the check is made.
Admin Web Site – Assist Licensing Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of the Assist licensing logic that is being introduced into mulitple modules of Assist to allow for the purchase of license packs for the various modules.
Clinical Module. License Activation Logic - Modified the clinical module of Assist to check for available license pack quantities for the usage of the software to better facilitate large scale application roll outs for clients.
Sample Testing – Shipping Tab - Modified the logic on the shipping tab to sort the data in the package drop down by created date in descending order (i.e., most recent at the top) and added a configuration flag to preload the most recent if configured.
Admin Web Site – LIS Interface Detail Inquiry – Specimen Type/Order use location identifier. The location identifier was not being applied in the critieria for the specimen type and order retrieval which was showing prior year data in the inquiry for sites that use the Pathway LIS. Corrected this inquiry lookup.
Admin Web Site – Material Type Maintenance – Sequence Zero Only. Added this field to the maintenance screen to allow for the specification that the material type in question cannot have sequence numbers. This will be applicable inside the Sample Testing module of Assist.
Warehouse Module – Cabinet Template – Drawer Creation extra fields. There have been several new fields added to the cabinet and drawer tables over the years that have not been included in the template creation. The field values would not be known at template creation time, but Nulls were getting written into the database. Added the fields with blank placeholders instead.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab - Package Number Criteria. Added the package number to the selection criteria to allow for the pull back of a specific package when one is known.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab – Package Accession number update logic. Discovered that the update of the parent record did not perform a check to make sure that all previously entered detailed accession records matched the parent. This was allowing the end users to mismatch the parent package record from the children. Added an error check for this scenario when performing a package parent update.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab – Resequence Button. Found an issue where the resequence button did not work correctly when multiple specimen/part records were on a single package. The numbering did not consider the change in specimen/part and also did not consider the “always zero sequence” value. Corrected both of these issues.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab – Delete All button hourglass. The “wait” hourglass was not being used when the delete all button was clicked which could cause confusion as to whether or not the screen was still processing the command. Added the hourglass.
Admin Web Site – Multiple Pieces Maintenance – Show Record Number Checkbox. This toggle button was not working correctly. This has been fixed.
MFG Module – LIS Scheduled Field. Added this field to the screen to allow for the capture of whether or not the task scanned was scheduled inside the LIS. This is assuming the “enforce” is turned off and an LIS interface check exists.
Admin Web Site – MFG Task Transaction Report – LIS Scheduled Field. Added this field to the report to show task transactions and whether or not they were scheduled tasks in the LIS.
Admin Web Site – Service Provider File Type Maintenance. Sent file path and credentials. Added fields to the database to allow for the capture of the file path and credentials for sending outsourced digital files by file type/service provider.
Doctor Closeout – First Display Employee/Time Stamp and display count. Added logic into the doctor closeout screen to capture the first date/time that a record is displayed on the screen. Also capture the employee that is logged into the screen the first time the record is displayed. Additionally added a counter value that increments by one every time a record is displayed on the screen to provide line of sight to how often an order is displayed and the original time.
Admin Web Site – Doctor Order Listing – First Closeout Display Information and display count. Added the first displayed date/time stamp, employee and display count to this report to provide visibility to these new data fields that are being captured as explained above. This can be valuable when looking at TAT with orders.
Admin Web Site – Material Type Maintenance – Histology Suppress Print check box. Added this checkbox to the screen to allow for the specification of material type that should never print when encountered at microtomy. This is helpful in facilities where blocks/orders are receiving that need to go to histology but only SOME of the object need to have labels/slides printed.
Universal Slide POU. Histology Suppress Print choice. Added logic to the slide point of use routine to not print orders if they are associated with material types (i.e., from the Sample Testing module) that have the Histology Suppress Print option selected.
Admin Web Site. Doctor Order Type Listing. Multiple new fields. Modified the doctor order type listing to include lots of new fields that have been added to the order type table.
Admin Web Site. Material Type Listing. Created this report to provide a “dictionary” of all of the material types created in Assist and the various settings associated with them.
Sample Testing – PCR Tab. Extraction View. Grid row count. Added a count value to the screen to show the number of rows of data that were included in a retrieval.
Admin Web Site – Doctor License Report. Active Only Checkbox. Added this checkbox to the screen to allow for the filtering out of only active licenses with active being defined as the current date between the effective start and expiration dates.
Admin Web Site – Doctor License Summary – Created this report to provide summary counts of how many doctors are licensed by state to provide management with meaningful data as to clients and state coverage.
Admin Web Site – State Accession Summary – Created this report to provide summary information to show the volume of accessions that are coming into the laboratory by state.
Admin Web Site – Distribution Auto Doctor Daily Summary – Created this report to show an alternative view of the automatic distribution data to show accession volumes by doctor according to the automatic distribution logic with additional data to show ACTUAL distribution so that overrides and discrepancies can be analysed.
Admin Web Site – Order Workflow Maintenance. Generate notifications checkbox. Added a generate notifications checkbox to this maintenance screen to allow for the suppression of notifications if a facility is using workflow tracking but not notifications.
Sample Testing – Receiving tab. Generate notifications logic. Modified the sample testing order generation process to consider the new generate notifications option and suppress the notifications if indicated.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab. Order Deletion Logic. Tweaked the logic associated with deleting detailed orders against materials. Made sure that the deletion is allowed if there are no orders associated with a specimen/material or the order master generation process has not been performed.
Sample Testing – All tabs. Use Business Unit logic. The loading of several drop down boxes on this screen is driven by membership in different business units. Added a flag to allow for this attempt to filter to be removed if business units are not being used.
LIS Interface Utility – Client Master Addition. New Fields. Added several new fields as placeholders when writing into the client master file to not have “null” additions.
Admin Web Site – Sample Missing Client Report. Created this report to provide visibility to the material submission packages that have no associated client. This report can be run with counts/date and also as an accession listing.
Interface Utilty – Auto Image Hold Robot. Created a new unattended robot job inside the interface utility for sites that capture images and then close them after processing. The robot auto closes images after they have been open for X days after the creation. This greatly improves the performance of the image capture screen by not loading multiple thumbnail images of active pictures on the screen.

November 2023

Interface Utility – Auto Distribution. Assignment audit log purge. Added logic to the auto distribution artificial intelligence robot to purge data from the assignment audit log table based on configuration flag and days back configuration value to prevent database bloat.
Interface Utility – Auto Distribution. Exceptions audit log purge. Added logic to the auto distribution artificial intelligence robot to purge data from the exceptions audit log table based on configuration flag and days back configuration value to prevent database bloat.
Interface Utility – Auto Distribution. Doctor Capacity check. Moved the capacity check for doctors to the top of the auto distribution algorithm so that all of the subsequent testing is not done which wastes time if over capacity distribution is not allowed.
Universal POU. Show Suppress Print Option. Recently, in the doctor order view, a column was added to indicate whether or not suppressed orders should be visible in the list. A check box was added to the grid to allow for the control of this behavior by site. This will also prevent the loading of the records to the grid if they should be suppressed.
Admin Web Site – Inventory Master Maintenance. UDI Label 2 Field. Modified the inventory maintenance screen to allow for the inclusion of a second line of UDI description for sites that use UDI labels and need more space than the original 60 characters of description.
Universal Slide POU. Business Unit Logic. Add the ability on doctor orders when printing slides to pull the business unit code for the doctor that placed the order and put in parameters to print the business unit code for sites that need to do this.
Sample Testing – PCR Tab. Extraction Repeat orders. These orders were not displaying correctly. Were coming through with no order type. Found the issue and corrected.
Sample Testing – PCR Tab. Extraction Notation Deletion. There was no ability to delete notation records (repeat, etc.) so added a delete button but can only remove extraction records if they have not already been started. It was added to allow for the removal of true mistaken additions.
Sample Testing – Shipping Tab and Manifest Utility. Added the ability to print the patient name to the manifests on the line below the accession number.
Interface Utility – Auto Distribution. Run Start/End date/time stamps. Added a run start and run end date/time stamp to the utility to capture the exact time for the robot job to complete and also to allow for determination of whether or not the job is currently active.
Admin Web Site – Distribution Auto Log. Extended this report to include the run start and run end date/time stamps that have been added to provide visibillity to this information.
Scoreboard – Auto Distribution Board. Created this scoreboard view to provide a count of the outstanding accessions by day end year, month, day that have not been distributed. This is a valuable “count down” for sites that use the auto distribution artificial intelligence robot.
Interface Utility – Auto Distribution. Auto Close Run Date/Time. Added logic to the robot to look for audit log transactions with a missing end date/time. If the “missing” audit records are outside of a threshold specified in the configuration, add an end date to close out an “aborted” run. This is needed due to the logic being added to ensure that the robot is not running concurrently.
Interface Utility – Auto Distribution. Concurrency Check. Added logic to the auto distribution robot to check for a job that has been started but not completed to allow for the prevention of a redundant job run. The “auto close” that was added will close any abandoned jobs.
Admin Web Site – MFG Tasks Maintenance – Batch Task flag. Added this checkbox to the maintenance screen to allow for marking of a manufacturing task as eligible for use on batch screens such as the check in module.
Admin Web Site – MFG Task Transaction Report – Cancelled By and Cancelled Date/Time fields. Added these fields to the report to provide visibility to the information.
Admin Web Site – LIS Interface Detail Inquiry. Screen redesign and addition of specimen type source. Modified the inquiry to better display information and show the source in the specimen type area of the inquiry.
Doctor Module – Workload Detail/Summary Tab – Added an entire tab to the doctor module to handle the display of auto distribution information. This provides line of sight to what information has been/will be sent to a doctor for reading. Has selection criteria for filtering the data and can also be displayed as detail and summary information.
Doctor Module – Diagnostic Tab. Alt-B toggle fast key for fast code category enforcement. Added logic so that the alt-b key press or dictation will toggle the fast code category enforcement checkbox on the screen.
Admin Web Site – LIS Interface Detail Inquiry. Accession wildcard lookup. Modified the selection criteria logic to use a wildcard on the accession number instead of an exact match. This was needed to handle a leading zero issue on some accession numbers.
Scoreboard – Auto Distribution Unread Board. Created this scoreboard view to provide a count of the outstanding accessions by day end year, month, day that have not been distributed but do not have a “doctor read” timestamp. This is a valuable “count down” for sites that use the auto distribution artificial intelligence robot and doctor module to indicate processed.
Doctor Module – Information Tab. About Box Button. Added a “?” button to the information tab to launch an about box pop up screen to show information about the executable such as date, version, etc.
Check In Module – MFG Task Version. Write Transaction Log. Added logic to the check in module when using the new manufacturing task scan tab view to have the option to also write transactions to the main Assist transaction log based on configuration flag.
Admin Web Site – MFG Task Employee Summary. From/To Time drop down. Added from/to time drop down boxes to allow for specific hours of the day to be included in the reports.
Universal Module – Slide POU. T Number calculation. There was an issue with the “T” number on the latest update in some scenarios with the first slide not getting the value. Resolved this issue.
Admin Web Site – Manufacturing Employee Task Entry. Created this screen to provide a method of entering and/or updating employee/manufacturing task transactions. This data is typically creating using the various Assist manufacturing modules, but this web option allows for overrides or entry for sites/employees that do not have access to the desktop modules.
Admin Web Site – Employee Scan Time Report. Speed Enhancements. Made modifications to this report to try and speed up the detail version data retrieval.
Main Scanner Engine – Slide Scanning Section. Protocol Alternates and slide tracking. Added the slide tracking variables in case they are encountered in a slide bar code and also added handling for protocol wildcard alternatives.
Doctor Module – Workload Tab. Double Click on workload row to show details. Added logic to the workload tab so that a double click on a workload record will show all of the auto distribution information associated with the record.
Doctor Module – Transaction Log on Retrieve button. Added logic to write a transaction log record to the database when the retrieve button is pressed for a manual accession number entry to capture the fact that the accession was accessed via the doctor module.
Doctor Module – Transaction Log routine. Modified the write routine to capture the date/time stamp of the module into the scan software number as is done with the other modules of Assist.
Doctor Module – Auto Distribution Update. Modified the accession retrieval routine, whether via button or scan to update the auto distribution database table with the doctor read timestamp and doctor that read the case to close the loop back to distribution on the timeline of when the case was read by a doctor.

December 2023

Check In Module – LIS Integration Database name from control data. Added logic to the module to pull the LIS database information from the control data table in the Assist database and removed the values from the various SQL strings to ease portability.
Check In Module – LIS Integration Database name from config file as override. Added logic to the module to pull the LIS database information from the config text file as an override at the individual computer level from the value that was added in the Assist database.
Manufacturing Module – LIS Integration Database name from control data. Added logic to the module to pull the LIS database information from the control data table in the Assist database and removed the values from the various SQL strings to ease portability.
Manufacturing Module – LIS Integration Database name from config file as override. Added logic to the module to pull the LIS database information from the config text file as an override at the individual computer level from the value that was added in the Assist database.
QA Out Module – LIS Integration Database name from control data. Added logic to the module to pull the LIS database information from the control data table in the Assist database and removed the values from the various SQL strings to ease portability.
QA Out Module – LIS Integration Database name from config file as override. Added logic to the module to pull the LIS database information from the config text file as an override at the individual computer level from the value that was added in the Assist database.
Universal Slide POU – IHC Print variables. In order to handle the scenario where a different printer is used for IHC labels than from “regular” slides a full set of IHC variables has been added to allow for a completely different set of X/Y coordinates for “regular” vs. IHC label templates. Ex. a true slide printer (i.e., Leica) for regular slides and a Zebra label printer for IHC.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab. Material Order sort order. The material order pop up screen was showing the detailed data in arrival sequence instead of full accession sequence. Added logic to allow for sort order routing of either arrival OR full accession with sequence number.
Sample Testiing – PCR Tab. Extraction batch number automatically unchecks unassigned. If an extraction batch number is specified on retrieve but the check box for “unassigned only” was selected, no data would be returned which could be confusing. Modified the logic to automatically uncheck the unassigned checkbox if a valid number was entered into the batch number field.
Universal Slide POU – Doctor Order View. Selection column hidden. A previous change to the suppress print option column being hidden caused the selection column to be hidden. This was corrected.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab. Order Delete process was changed to reset the order master flag on the material submitted record if the data was cleared from the sample testing grid.
Main Scanner Engine – Patient Retrieve/Encryption Logic. Added logic into the main scanner engine when patient names are retrieved from the LIS Interface table. If names are retrieved and have not been encrypted, they will be done now.
Warehouse Module. Warehouse Inquiry. Modified the logic associated with pathway retrievals to include the location identifier and the accession prefix if the free form field was used.
Admin Web Site – Employee Scan Time Report. A new field was added to the report to show a “Y/N” value for auto logout in the detail view to reflect whether the employee logout transaction was from inactivity or an intentional logout.
Admin Web Site – Accession Prefix Summary Report. Specimen Count column. There were already columns on this report for case count, cassette count (i.e., part) and slide count, but there was no column for specimen count (i.e., bottle). This was added.
Universal Slide POU. Protocol drop down list size. Added a variable to the configuration to allow for customization of the size of the protocol/stain drop down on the screen. For sites with a large listing of protocols and a small screen resolution, this allows for the drop down to be customized so that it does not go off the screen.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab. Order delete with comments. Added logic on the comments specification on an order delete to add the comments to the communications log.
Sample Testing – FISH tab. Batch details select all/unselect all button functionality. Added these two buttons to the fish batch detail area to eliminate the need to click each check box individually.
Sample Testing – Flow Tab. Communications Log. Modified the flow tab so that any comments entered into the flow tab get added to the communications log with a prefix on them to indicate that they came from flow.
Interface Utility - Auto Distribution Algorithm Changes. Modified the auto distribution algorithm to work based on doctor capacity value. This used to be the specimen metric but was changed. Added a configuration flag to allow the value to be derived from either the doctor schedule case value or case test value field.
Admin Web Site – Distribution Auto Daily Report – Specimen Metric converted to Doctor capacity value. To reflect changes that have been made in auto distribution.
Admin Web Site – Distribution Auto Daily Maintenance - Specimen Metric converted to Doctor capacity value. To reflect changes that have been made in auto distribution.
Admin Web Site – Distribution Auto Doctor Daily Summary. Added the summarized doctor capacity value to this report. Previously, only the case count values were shown.
Admin Web Site – Distribution Auto Doctor Report. Modified this report to include the summarized doctor capacity value.
Admin Web Site – Doctor Auto Not Assigned Report. Modified this report to also show the doctor capacity value.
Admin Web Site – Distribution Auto Summary Maintenance. Modified this screen to include the doctor capacity value instead of the specimen metric to reflect changes that were made to auto distribution.
Admin Web Site – Distribution Auto Summary Report. Modified this screen to include the doctor capacity value to reflect changes to the auto distribution robot.
Case/MFG Task Entry Module – Created this brand new module to handle the capture of case/accession number and manufacturing task completed. This module will be used typically for remote workers to indicate completed tasks where scanning infrastructure will not be present.
Distribution Module – Invalid default distribution location. Discovered an issue where if the configuration value for the default distribution location did not exist in the distribution location table in the database, that the screen did not load correctly. Modified the screen load routine to survive this situation.
Admin Web Site – Collection Points Maintenance. Include Auto Distribution check box. Added a check box to this screen to allow the auto distribution robot to key off the box for determining the inclusion of accession numbers. Previously, this key was done based on collection point grouping which could cause some odd “naming” for collection points. This makes the inclusion more logical and intentional.
Admin Web Site – Specimen Type Maintenance. CPT Code information including price and cost fields. Added a CPT code drop down to the specimen type maintenance screen to allow for mapping of billing codes to tissue types. Also included histology cost and price fields and test cost and test price fields to be used in analyzing price/cost increase/decrease decisions.
Admin Web Site – CPT Category Maintenance. Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of CPT code categories which
Admin Web Site – Accession Slide Count Maintenance. CPT Code drop down. Added the CPT code drop down to the individual slide recipe section of the screen so that CPT codes can be associated with the detail stain area of the screen.
Admin Web Site – Accession Slide Count Maintenance. Header section CPT code drop down. Added the CPT code as a choice on the screen header section of the screen. This provides for the ability to collect CPT information at the “panel” level with override ability at the individual stain level.
Sample Testing – Cytogenetics Tab. Communications Log. Modified the Cytogenetics tab so that any comments entered into the Cytogenetics tab get added to the communications log with a prefix on them to indicate that they came from Cytogenetics.
Sample Testing – Flow Tab. Communications Log View. The notes asterisk button was not launching the communications log screen. Modified this to work correctly.
Sample Testing – Cytogenetics Tab. Communications Log View. The notes asterisk button was not launching the communications log screen. Modified this to work correctly.
Sample Testing – Receiving Details Tab. Workflow Defaulting. If there is only workflow listed in the drop down box, make it the default instead of “not specified”.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab. Specimen Type Tracking information. Several new fields have been added to the specimen type tracking table but were not in the write routine. Corrected this and also added a write transaction to the specimen type tracking audit log which was not being done.
Universal Module. Specimen Type Tracking Logic. CPT Code information. Modified the routines that write to specimen type tracking table and audit log to also capture the CPT code number from the library and the actual code.
Admin Web Site – Client Master Maintenance. Client Code selection criteria. Added the client code as part of the selection criteria to allow for lookup based on the code or LIS cross reference field with a wildcard search.
Accessioning Module. Specimen Type Tracking Logic. CPT Code information. Modified the routines that write to specimen type tracking table and audit log to also capture the CPT code number from the library and the actual code.
Main Scanner Engine. Specimen Type Tracking Logic. CPT Code information. Modified the routines that write to specimen type tracking table and audit log to also capture the CPT code number from the library and the actual code.
Sample Testing. Material Order Pop Up Screen. Order type text alignment. Added a Y/N flag to determine whether or not the order type description is listed in the grid left justified or centered.
Sample Testing. Material Order Pop Up Screen. Added logic to use the order type short description in the ordering grid instead of the full description if the text length is larger than can be effectively displayed in the grid.
Admin Web Site – Specimen Type Information Report. CPT Code Column. Added the CPT code field to this report.
Admin Web Site – Specimen Type Tracking Audit Log. CPT Code Column. Added the CPT code field to this report.
Admin Web Site – CPT Code Library Maintenance. Created this screen to provide for maintenance of the CPT code library.
Admin Web Site – Queue Loader Settings. Machine Name Criteria. Added the machine name to the criteria on this maintenance screen to allow for filtering of data.
Universal Module – Universal Cassette POU. 3 New Hot keys. On the grossing information pop up screen, three new hot keys have been added. ALT-D clears the clinical information area. ALT-M clears the grossing notes area. ALT-Q clears the patient history area.
Universal Module – Universal Slide POU. IHC Variable addition for data matrix bar code size to allow for a different variable value for an IHC vs. a “regular” bar code.
Admin Web Site – Service Provider Workflow Status Maintenance. Overdue Days. Added this field to the maintenance screen to allow for the capture of a number of days that would indicate that an accession/case stayed in a status too long.
Admin Web Site – Service Provider Eligible Status Maintenance. Created this screen as part of the service provider/outsourcing section of Assist. It allows for the capture of which status values are valid for the outsourcing/routing of work at the service provider level.
Admin Web Site – LIS Electronic Connections Maintenance. Inbound/Outbound and Outbound Designation Fields. Added fields to allow for the marking of mainframe interface connections as inbound vs. outbound and to carry a designation of where the data originated.
Admin Web Site – Status Cross Reference Maintenance. Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of status values for the service provider outsourcing section of Assist to match status values in Assist to status values inside an LIS/ERP.
Distribution Module. Scan History Checkbox Inaccuracy. Resolved a report issue where scan history was not being “check off” correctly in the scenario that an accession was partially distributed. The screen was then reopened and the accession was scanned again. The slides were checked off in order rather than by specimen/part causing objects to reflect as processed when they had not. This was ONLY an issue is a void transaction was not done the first time through the process.
Admin Web Site – Order Cancellation Report. Created this report to provide visibility to order cancellation transactions. An order cancellation can be performed on a doctor order with required acknowledgement in an attempt to stop special cuts and stains to be performed that are not necessary.
Sample Testing – Multiple Tabs. Require employee login. It was discovered that there were several retrieval transactions that could be performed without an employee being logged into the application. Added this edit check to all of the tabs retrieval buttons.
Stain Queue – On Demand Scanning. Write to transaction log. When using the on demand scanning feature on the stain queue, added a write into the main Assist transaction log for the scan transaction for chain of custody tracking.
Stain Queue – Configuration Button Feature. Added the standard Assist configuration change button to support multiple LIS formats when performing on demand scanning into the stain queue.
Sample Testing – Pickup Tab – Selection criteria changes for accession number. Row count inclusion. Wait hourglass on retrieve and save. On the pickup tab added selection criteria to the screen for the accesson number and prefix. Also added a row count of data that was retrieved and added the wait hourglass on the retrieve and save button click events.
Sample Testing – Pickup Tab - Auto Pickup Routine. Added an automatic pickup button to roll through all of the various sub labs and look for transactions against a sample testing package and mark it as picked up in case the pickup process does not happen.

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1st Quarter 2022

January 2022

Simple Print – Created the slide printing version of the simple print module to allow for direct printing as well as printing via a drop file.
Universal Slide Queue – The routine did not factor in the quantity to circle through bulk print requests with a quantity. Modified this to work correctly.
Admin Web Site – Protocol Antibody Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the connection of slide protocol records (accession slide count) to antibody records to allow for multiple antibodies to be used in establishing control protocols for a protocol.
Admin Web Site – Control Tissue Maintenance – Full Description – Added a full description field to allow for a different human readable description as opposed to the printed value for control tissue when printing controls.
Admin Web Site – Control Prefix Maintenance – Full Description and Suppress Description – Added the full description field to allow for a different human readable description as opposed to the printed value for control prefixes when printing controls. The suppress description choice allows for no description at all to print.
Sample Testing Module – Inbound//Outbound Tab – Added a check box for “All Material” in the detail view to allow for the suppression of material types that do not need to be returned vs. All material that was received on a package.
Admin Web Site – Specimen Holding Site Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of specimen holding sites. These are the locations where a specimen could be held when a specimen needs to be requested for a client. This is part of the sample testing and customer service modules of Assist.
Admin Web Site – Request Rework Report – Task Scan Totals – Added external task scan totals to this report so that there is visibility to the total number of task scans that were performed by an employee on the same day as a rework was logged against the employee.
Admin Web Site – Recipe Ingredient Step Maintenance – Ingredient Code Lookup – Added the ingredient code to the screen to simplify the selection from the drop down list to keep from having to scroll through all of the ingredients if codes are used. This is part of the recipe maintenance area inside the inventory module.
Admin Web Site – ESL Tag Data Staging Maintenance – Added the MAC address, Trash tag check box, the User ID field, and the Warn flag check box to this maintenance screen to support extended functionality with the ESL tag functionality.
Universal Slide Module – Slide Queue/Number wheel protocol defaults – There was an issue with the logic where a number wheel (i.e. accession prefix) can be set to always call a specific protocol when batch printing is performed. The protocol was not pulling in all cases. Corrected the logic flaw.
Admin Web Site – Drawer Maintenance – Controls Allowed Flag – Added this flag to the maintenance screen for the warehouse drawer maintenance. This flag allows a drawer to be marked as whether or not it allows control objects to be stored (i.e. control slide and blocks).
Admin Web Site – Client Specimen Holding Site Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of client specimen holding site relationships. This is part of the sample testing module of Assist and allows for specimen holding sites to be filtered by the clients/Facilities that are relevant to cut down on the opportunity for mistaken entry.
Admin Web Site – Tissue Micro Array Maintenance – Full Description – Added this field to allow for an expanded human readable descripton for a TMA that is different from the value that will print on a control object.
Admin Web Site – ESL Tag Batch Report – Created the ESL tag batch report to provide visibility to the batch transactions that can be performed to set ESL tags. For example, if an ERP is blasting out multiple transactions to multiple electronic tags, this report shows the batches of tags that were impacted together.
LIS Interface – Truncate Right If – Added logic to the LIS Interface module when the USB scanner field is being used to input accession numbers. This modification allows for the removal of characters from the right of the input field before attempting to parse the information.
Admin Web Site – Antibody Control Mapping Report – Created this report to provide a full mapping of the antibody controls that have been set up inside Assist. This serves as the dictionary of control tissue, antbodies, pretreatments and detection kits that have been mapped into Assist.
Universal Grossing – Trash Bin Data View – Added a button to the cassette point of use screen to provide visibility to the trash bins and the data that they contain. This screen also holds the transmission button for sites that have implemented electronic tags in conjunction with trash tracking.
Universal Slide – Serial Number Matching – Created a new “flavor” of matching inside the universal slide module to support client submitted bar codes that cannot be controlled by the lab. Some clients submit cassettes and slides in a “serial number” marking paradigm and this alternate configuration allows for matching of these serial numbers to support in positive patient ID initiatives for bar codes that are outside of the ability of the lab to control or modify.
Admin Web Site – Case Rush Type Maintenance – Short Code – Added this field to allow for the entry of a “printable” code to be associated with case rush specifications to take into the cassette/slide print routines as necessary.
Admin Web Site – Case Rush Maintenance – Short Code – Modified this screen to allow for the inclusion of a short description or code to print on objects when a rush is placed on a case. This value will default from the rush type.
Universal Module – Added the bulk control entry section under the warehouse to provide the ability to create “placeholders” for bulk control entry and automatic filing into the warehouse.
Universal Module – Warehouse Tab – Added a view for controls to allow for display of any control objects that have been placed in the warehouse. Provided double click ability to see all of the details associated with the control record.
Universal Module – Warehouse Tab – Added the ability to double click the warehouse record to see all of the details associated with the warehouse record.

February 2022

Inventory Module – Label Print – Added expiration date as a choice to print on the label.
Universal Module – Doctor Order Print – Print Only Option – This was not working correctly and was making users scan the slides after printing even in print only mode.
Quality Module Plus – Rework Product Filter – Added a checkbox to the screen to allow for the filtering of the product drop down box to only reflect products that have a task scheduled against the accession number.
Admin Web Site – Rework Request Report – Cleaned up this report to reduce double records against MFG cases that have been scanned more than once for rework and then the subsequent scan to indicate successful completion of the rework transaction.
Admin Web Site – LIS Interface Replication Maintenance – Client Code – Modified this screen to include a client code to provide a more discreet method of replication LIS interface data between sites.
Admin Web Site – Test Plan Type Maintenance – Created this screen to provide for the maintenance of test plan types. These are part of the change control/validation process inside Assist and allows for the grouping of test plans.
Admin Web Site – Test Plan Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of test plans. These are the actual test plans that are part of the change control/validation process inside Assist and allows for the creation of mulitple test plans that can then be applied to the change control components that are tested/validated.
Admin Web Site – Batch Order Type Grouping Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of this cross reference grouping of batch types and order types. This allows for aggregation of the types of tests that would be included in a batch and is typically relevant to the PCR section of the sample testing module.
Universal Cassette Queue – Client Template Support – Made changes to the universal cassette queue to allow for client print templates. Previously, alternative templates were pulling at the prefix level OR if there was an alias record entered into the LIS Interface table. This did not work if mulitple clients have interfaces, but different cassette templates need to be available based on client. Also added an “override template” checkbox to the screen to allow the employee to de-activate the automation and always stay with a single template.
LIS Replication Robot – Client Code Filter – Added the client code to the LIS Interface Replication process to allow for the filtering of what accession numbers are replicated at the client level from inside the number wheel process. This is entered via the change made to the LIS Interface Replication maintained outlined earlier in this document.
LIS Replication Robot – Days Back Unusued Purge – Put logic into the replication robot to allow for the concept of a “days back” purge. The robot calculates the number of days back from this value, then looks for any LIS Interface records that have been replicated into the database that has not been scanned against in the days back threshhold. If it finds any, it purges them from the replication database to keep database size from growing from records that are not active.
Accessioning Module – Patient ID LIS Interface – Exposed the patient ID number on the LIS pop up screen. This allows for the entry of a patient identifier when needed.
Universal Cassette Queue – Modified to allow for the extraction of the patient ID number from the LIS interface table. This value can be appended to the patient initials if needed and this has been exposed as a choice.
Admin Web Site – Extraction Batch Status – Completed Status Flag – Added a checkbox to the screen to allow for an extraction batch status to be indicated as completed as opposed to closed to provide more detailed information about what happened to a specimen.
Admin Web Site – Batch Type Equipment Filter – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance and assignment of equipment to batch run types for filtering and to prevent accidents when assigned specific equipment to a specimen batch run for various lab processes.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Maintenance – Added status description to the grid and include serial number in the search criteria. Also added check boxes to allow for the suppression of the manufacturer and equipment type from the grid view to increase readabiity.
Admin Web Site – Change Control Project Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of change control projects. These are part of the change control/test plan monitoring section of Assist and tracks roll out projects.
Admin Web Site – Test Plan Step Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of test plan steps. This is part of the change control/test plan logic for tracking changes. These steps are the granular, detailed steps that are to be performed as part of a test plan.
Inventory Module – Issue Tab – Inventory Location – Modified the inventory issue process. If inventory items are recieving without specifying warehouse information, the issue process did not like it. Modified the process to show the inventory on hand quantities correctly even if the information was received against a placeholder inventory location.
Accessioning Module – LIS Interface Pop Up – The pop up screen for LIS Interface manual entry and/or overrides was not loading the patient ID number to the screen at launch. Changed this to pull correctly.
Universal Slide – Free Form Protocol Entry – When in manual mode and free form entry of stains is being performed, the stain was actually not printing on the slide. Corrected this so that free form entry passes through to the print routine as it should.
Admin Web Site – UDI Label Maintenance – Suppress Label Header – Modified this screen to include the ability to suppress the top portion of a UDI label to make the label more of a generic “manufactured by” label when UDI is not a requirement but the various disclaimers and manufactured by information needs to be printed.
Print Center – Manufacturing Labels – Created a new screen that allows for the printing of a simple manufactured by label that is based on the UDI template process.
Admin Web Site – Inventory Transactions Report – Storage Location Criteria – Modified this report to provide the storage location as a selection criteria option.
Universal Cassette – Manual Entry with object identifiers on the end of the bar code. Modified the universal cassette module to handle manual entry when the object identifiers for the objects (ex. Requisitions, bottles, etc.) are on the end of the bar code when scanned. Manual entry emulated bar code scans for parsing and the logic did not hold up correctly when using object identifiers on the end of the bar code.
Universal Slide – Free Form protocol in the bar code. When free form protocol entry was done instead of making selections from the protocol bar code AND stain tracking was turned on, the free form protocol value was not getting placed in the bar code. Fixed this logic flaw.
Accessioning – LIS Interface – Client Alias Prefix drop down logic – Added a new database table named Client Alias prefix and added a drop down list to the LIS Interface pop up screen inside the accessioning screen. This box loads based on the data associated with the client when the client is changed.
Admin Web Site – Client Master Maintenance – Requires Alias checkbox. – Added this checkbox to the client master maintenance screen to allow for indication of whether or not the specified client should ALWAYS have an alias specified.
Accessioning – LIS Interface – Requires Alias Logic. Modified the LIS Interface entry pop up window to consider the requires alias checkbox that was added to the client master maintenance (discussed above) and makes sure that an alias accession number is entered for any client with that flag set.
Admin Web Site – Client Alias Prefix Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of the list of alias accession prefixes for clients that require them.
Universal Slide – Serial Number Scanning – LIS Interface – Modified the cassette scan to write an identifier to the LIS interface table if there is a pattern match of the serial sequence for the bar code scanned from the Client Alias Prefix table.
Universal Slide – Cassette/Slide Font Size customization – Added values for the cassette and slide so that the font size of those two fields on the screen can shrink or grow to hold more characters if needed based on configuration. This became an issue with serial number scanning where the contents of the bar code might be quite large instead of holding a traditional accession number format.
Universal Cassette POU – When in manual mode and printing multiple quantities of cassettes, the routine in some situations could print the correct human readable, but would duplicate the bar code over and over (growing) but only in “drop file” modes.
Admin Web Site – Batch Type Maintenance – ThermoCycler and Analyzer Checkboxes. Added these two checkboxes to allow for the specification as to whether or not the batch type is a batch that will be processed by a thermocycler or analyzer. This is typically encountered inside the PCR area of the laboratory.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Type maintenance – ThermoCycler and Analyzer Checkboxes. Added these two checkboxes to the equipment type maintenance screen to allow for the designation of equipment type as a ThermoCycler or Analyzer.
Universal Cassette – Enforce Pieces Logic – Added logic to the universal cassette module to enforce the capture of pieces. Some labs want to default the pieces count to zero and then force entry by the grosser. This modification allows for the enforcement and also clears after the scan of the cassette.
Admin Web Site – Order Type Maintenance – Description Search – Modified the order type maintenance screen to provide the order type description as selection criteria.
Admin Web Site – Business Unit Maintenance – Unit Code – Added a field for a unit code to allow for abbreviations of business unit values. This is going to become part of the expansion of business unit logic inside Assist across multiple modules.
Admin Web Site – Security Maintenance – Default Business Unit – Modified the security maintenance screen to allow for the capture of a default business unit for an employee. These will also be the ability to authorize an employee for data access to other business units, but this value will serve as their default unit.
Universal Slide – Suppress Print/Position By Protocol/Specimen Type Issue – Discovered a bizarre scenario where if a cassette was scanned with the suppress print feature, the protocol/stain drop down would position for the block. Since no print was performed, the “clear after print” is never triggered to clear the protocol. If the “suppress print” was then removed, and a block was scanned that had no specimen type, the original protocol would pull. Fixed this behavior.
Admin Web Site – Specimen Holding Site Maintenance – Default Business Unit – Added the default business unit to this maintenance screen to allow for the specification of a default business unit to be assigned to a specimen holding site.
Admin Web Site – Special Handling Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of special handling values. These are used to hold any rules associated with the handling of specimens.
Admin Web Site – Batch Type Equipment Filter Maintenance – Equipment Type Criteria and Grid. Modified this screen to add the equipment type as a choice to the selection criteria of the maintenance screen and to also show the equipment type in the data grid.
Admin Web Site – Order Type Maintenance – PCR Extraction Only – Modified this screen to allow for the specification of a flag on an order type to mark the order as PCR extraction only.
Admin Web Site – QA Error Master Maintenance – Error Code – Added an error code to the maintenance screen to allow for quick capture of a code that can be referenced to retrieve quality error messages.
Admin Web Site – Specimen Holding Site Maintenance – Default Cost and Special Handling

March 2022

Doctor Module – Speed Code Entry – Added a speed code entry field to the top of the screen. This field can be used for the capture of diction codes that can be used to load data on the various tabs.
Doctor Module – Speed Code – Error Code Capture – Added the ability to scan error codes into the speed code entry screen.
Doctor Module – Lab Operations Tab – Refresh button and source drop down. Moved the refresh button and the source drop down to the lab operations tab. This data is used to filter the lab operations information and it was wasted space to have it displayed at the top of the main screen instead of inside the tab where it was relevant.
Doctor Module – QA Information Tab – Error Scan – Added logic to support the scanning of error code bar codes into the QA information tab rather than requiring the selection from a drop down box.
Admin Web Site – Rework Request Report – Date Created – Added the date created to the rework request report to see the date/time of when a rework request was actually created. This is especially relevant when using the rework robot.
Admin Web Site – Specimen Order Type Maintenance – Default Cost – Added a default cost field to the specimen order type screen so that a default cost can be associated with the order of specific types of specimens.
Admin Web Site – Client Master Maintenance – Default Specimen Cost – Added a default specimen cost to the client master table. This is used as part of the specimen receiving process to allow for labs to track the cost of a specimen order at the client level if relevant.
Admin Web Site – Client Facility Maintenance – Default Specimen Cost – Added a default specimen cost to the client faciity table. This is used as part of the specimen receiving process to allow for labs to track the cost of a specimen order at the facility level if relevant.
Simple Print – Activation Key Logic – Added a key to the underlying configuration file. This is an encrypted value of the machine name. If a valid key does not exist that is the encrypted machine name, the software will not launch.
Key Generator Module – Created this module to generate computer name encryption keys to be used in controlling access to the simple print module as discussed above.
Admin Web Site - Specimen Holding Site Maintenance – Address Information – Added address lines, city, state, phone number, etc. To the specimen holding site maintanence screen. Previously, this data lived in the address master.
Admin Web Site – Order Notation Reasons Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of the reasons for a repeat order. This is part of the sample testing module where a client specimen order might be repeated and this provides the ability to track the reason for the reorder.
Admin Web Site – Order Notation Master Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of the report orders that might be placed against a specimen order. Multiple values can be input each with a different human readable value to support any necessary tracking needs.
Admin Web Site – Block Slide Instructions – The printer magazines for both block and slide was not working correctly on updates when more than one printing platform was available in a site. The display was not positioning the equipment type before then displaying the magazine. Fixed this.
Admin Web Site – Material Status Maintenance – Return Available – Added a new checkbox to the screen to allow for the marking of a status as return available to indicate that some material can be returned, it is back in the holding area awaiting shipping. This is at the detail material submitted level.
Admin Web Site – Material Submission Status Maintenance - Return Available – Added a new checkbox to the screen to allow for the marking of a status as return available to indicate that some material can be returned, it is back in the holding area awaiting shipping. This is at the header level.
Admin Web Site – Material Submission Template Details – Sort Order – Added this field to the template details to allow for a sort order to be established inside the template details.
Sample Testing Module – Material Submission Template Addition – Changed the routine to add submission details by template to use the sort order for template details that was added.
Admin Web Site – Digital Quality Score Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the tracking of digital quality scores. These are the values that will be associated with the quality of digital images. By default, an image starts at a 100 and defects will reduce from this number.
Admin Web Site – Digital Quality Reasons Maintenance – Created this screen to allow fhte maintenance of digital quality reasons. These reasons have quality score reductions associated with them and are part of the digital image quality QC process.
Admin Web Site – Inventory Stock Status Report – Created this report as part of the inventory module to give a quick snapshot of the quantity on hand, on order, and awaiting inspection (i.e. in quarantine) to give a quick snapshot view of all of the inventory available for a product.
Inventory Module – Validation Tab – Show Inventory Code Choice – Modified the module to include a check box to load the drop down of the product master with the inventory code at the start and without the inventory code.
Inventory Module – Validation Tab – Inventory Details – Zero Suppression – Modified the inventory module to suppress any inventory detail records in the drop down if there is a zero quantity. These would not be eligible for inspection/validation.
Inventory Module – Validation Tab – Product Drop Down Key Ahead – Modified this drop down box to allow for the key ahead positioning of the drop down box.
Admin Web Site – Site Name Maintenance – Print Code Slide – Modified the site name maintenance screen to allow for the capture of a print code for the slide as opposed to the original print code that is used for cassettes.
Admin Web Site – Specimen Holding Site Maintenance – RequiresPrepayment – Added this checkbox to the screen to allow for the designation of a specimen holding site as requiring prepayment.
Admin Web Site – Employee Daily Work Statistics – From/To Date Criteria Issue – If the from and to date were the same in the criteria of this report, no data would be returned. Fixed this issue.
Universal Cassette – Verification Enforcement – Added the ability to enforce the need for verification transactions before allowing an employee to scan. At employee log in, if verification has not been performed, the screen can now warn to force validation tasks to be done before beginning work.
Admin Web Site – Accession Usage Count Report – Created this report to provide visibility to accession, specimen, and cassette counts by number wheel for the criteria specified. This report was created to try and help with bill back charges to client and “sister” labs for whom work is being performed. It is a simple count and detail view of the work performed. A toggle button provides for the display of all of the detailed data.
Admin Web Site – Employee Interface Type Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of employee interface types. These types represent an attempt to create “single signon” logic inside Assist to tie all of the user identification values together. There is an LIS Cross reference value on the security maintenance screen, but it limited the mapping to a single value. For sites that have more than one LIS or other systems, this was not good enough.
Admin Web Site – Employee Interface Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of multiple cross reference values for employees. Discussed above under the “types”, these are the values that represent the different user ID “alias” values for an employee.
Admin Web Site – System Task Log Details – Created this report to provide visibility to the system task log details that can be captured by the system. System task log transactions represent things such as backups and this report shows all of the detailed child steps inside the task and can be valuable when troubleshooting failures or validating success.
Warehouse Module – Screen Maximized Flag – Added a configuration option to the warehouse module to allow for the screen to be maximized at launch.
Warehouse Module – Filing Utility Screen – Room Flag Throttle – On the main warehouse filing screen, modified the utility button to only show the most recent 1,000 cases filed when the “drawer” is really a room scan. If a site was doing room scans, clicking the utility button would attempt to show all objects in the room and it could be millions of rows of data.
Admin Web Site – Drawer Maintenance – Room Flag – Modified the maintenance screen to allow for the designation of a warehouse drawer as a “room” instead of an actual drawer.
Admin Web Site – Digital File Location Maintenance – Equipment Original Location flag. Modified the digital file location maintenance screen to indicate if a site is an equipment original location when parsing objects as opposed to a location where objects that were digitized could be moved.

Admin Web Site – Rework Request Listing – Task List Grouping – Modified this report to provide the ability to specify a group of manufacturing tasks to be used as selection criteria rather than single tasks to provide more reporting flexibility.

2nd Quarter 2022

April 2022

Doctor Module – Fast Code Order Category Enforcement – Added a check box to the doctor module/diagnosis tab to allow for the employee to specify whether or not fast codes should be verified to make sure that the fast code if valid inside the order category. This is especially relevant for use with dictation systems to ensure that a code is not spoken incorrectly and gets added to an order accidentally.
Doctor Module – Code Reorder Arrow Buttons Rebuild Choice – Added a check box to the doctor module/diagnosis tab to allow for the medical report to be automatically rebuilt if the Up/Down arrows are used to modify the order of the diagnosis medical codes. This reduces the likelihood of the medical report being incorrectly.
Simple Print – Modified this routine to provide the ability to produced an Accession number with the number wheel on the end instead of in the front.
Universal Slide Queue – Doctor Initials – The doctor initials were not printing correctly on the slides via the universal slide queue. This was fixed.
Admin Web Site – Referring Physician Maintenance – SpecimenOrdering Checkbox – Added a checkbox to the referring physician maintenance screen to denote a referring physician as a participant in the specimen ordering functional areas of Assist.
Admin Web Site – Order Type Maintenance – Specimen Order Type Checkbox – Added a checkbox to the order type maintenance screen to denote an order type as a participant in the specimen ordering functional areas of Assist.
Universal Slide – Queue Starting Cassette – Issue with the “non 1” cassette not pulling correctly. The starting cassette numbering logic was not operating correctly for implied 1 logic. Corrected this issue.
Admin Web Site – Accession Prefix Maintenance – Cassette Start Wildcard, Slide Start Wildcard – Added these two fields to better handle the idea of cassettes and slides that had no starting object identifier. These changes allowed for a wildcard to denote the difference between a cassette and a slide.
Universal Slide – Cassette/Slide Start Wildcards – Modified the universal modules of Assist to handle the cassette and slide wildcards as explained above.
Admin Web Site – Extraction Type Maintenance – Concentration Required Checkbox – Added this checkbox to the extraction type maintenance screen. This value allows for the policing of the concentration and whether or not it should be enforced against an extraction type. This is part of the PCR functional area of the sample testing module.
Admin Web Site – Extraction Order Type Mapping – Created this screen to allow for the combined mapping of the Extraction Type, Order Type, and Material Type. This is useful inside the PCR functional area of the sample testing module and can be used to default the extraction type on PCR order types.
Universal Grossing – “Truncate after logic” – There was no ability to truncate the bottle bar code after a specific value. This caused issues with sites that had additional data in the bottle bar code (such as patient name) after a delimiter. This change allows for that to be truncated for “normal” processing of the bottle bar code.
Doctor Module – Digital Pathology - \ check on path – The path + file name did not have a slash in it which was causing an incorrectly formed “full path” to the file for loading.
Universal Grossing – Grossing Information – When body source, site, or technique as specified, clear the text field on the screen before loading from the drop down closed event. This provides the ability clear the fields on the selection of “Not Specified”. Previously, the values would “stick”.
Sample Testing - Returns – Added “Remaining” column to the summary view grid to indicate the number of detail material types that have not been returned but that are return required.
Sample Testing - Fixed the summary grid to not show header level records if there were not material detail records with a material return required on them.
Sample Testing - Fixed the overdue count total to not include the records if there were not material detail records with a material return required on them.
Sample Testing - Returns – Manifest Utility – Added header comments separate from detail line item comments.
Sample Testing - Returns – Manifest Utility – Added a check box to allow for the closure of the manifest header.
Sample Testing - Returns – Manifest Utility – Set the save button click to reload all of the manifest drop down boxes to reflect changes.
Sample Testing - Returns – Manifest Utility – Added a check box to opt in/out of changing the detail comments.
Sample Testing - Returns – Manifest Utility – Modified the manifest print routine to include comments in the header.
Sample Testing - Returns – Manifest Utility – Modified the manifest print routine to include the detailed comments underneath the detail line item if relevant.
Sample Testing - Returns – Shipping Tab – Modified the manifest print to include the comments in the header and detail lines as noted above for the utility.
Sample Testing - Returns – Shipping Tab – moved the header comments area down into the same area as the rest of the manifest information to make it clear that the comments text box is relevant for the manifest.
Sample Testing - Inbound/Outbound Tab – Added the “testing” column to show what tests have been ordered against a detailed material type when in detail view.
Sample Testing - Inbound/Outbound Tab – Detail Grid – Added a “selection” checkbox to allow for the selection of individual detail records to be sent to the shipping grid. Removed the grouping logic so that each individual row of data is displayed. Made sure that the +/- button works for either the summary or detail grid depending on the view.
Sample Testing - Inbound/Outbound Tab – Grid Counts – The counts at the top of the grids (summary/detail) were not working correctly as the radio buttons were used to toggle between views. Corrected this.
Sample Testing - Inbound/Outbound Tab – Selection Button for Details – Previously, the ability to send shipping records from the inbound/outbound grid to the shipping grid only worked at the summary level for the entire submission package. Modified so that the detail level records could be sent using the selection checkbox column with the button for submitting.
Sample Testing - Shipping Tab – Detailed Grid – Modified this grid to show the testing in the detail grid. Previously, this was not shown and only the material type was visible.
Sample Testing - Shipping Tab – Detailed Grid – Selection Column Move – Moved the checkbox column to the beginning of the grid to be consistent will all of the other grids in the module.
Sample Testing - Inbound/Outbound Tab – Detail Grid – The status of the detail data was not being shown, it was the status of the material submission. Corrected this.
Sample Testing – Admin Web Site – Extraction Type maintenance – Added the “Concentration Required” checkbox to allow for the marking of which extraction types need a concentration value to better lock in data integrity.
Sample Testing – Inbound/Outbound tab – Set logic so that the click of a summary grid row header loads the data for that master submission records into the detail grid and auto flips to display that grid.
Universal Grossing – Grossing Information Capture – Modified the grossing notes capture screen to allow for configurations flags to require the body source, body site, surgical technique, and measurements (if visible) fields. This enhances the rules already in place to enforce grossing notes and clinical information.
Warehouse Module – Digital Dashboard – Robot Screen – Modified the launch button to include a wait cursor to make it clear when the software is still running.
Warehouse Module – Digital Dashboard – Digital Utility – Created this screen to allow for the processing of records that might have been inserted into the dashboard queue without having an accession number matched to them. The utility pulls all records from the queue with no accession and attempts to use the digitized bar code to find matching data in Assist.
Warehouse Module – Digital Dashboard – Rearranged the update area to include an option for “bulk changes” that will apply the modifications values to ALL of the selected items. If the check box is NOT set, an individual save of the selected record (row header) will be done. Also added a check box for “assignment” to assign the digital queue records to an employee to read them.
Admin Web Site – Distribution Location Maintenance – Allow Digital Checkbox – Added this checkbox to the distribution location maintenance screen to allow a distribution location (i.e. doctor) to be marked as eligible to receive digital objects (ex. Slides).
Doctor Module – Digital Pathology Tab – Digital Queue Selection Criteria – Added the digital queue drop down to allow for filtering from within the tab by queue if relevant.
Admin Web Site – Change Control Component Maintenance – Full Description, End of Life and End of Life Date – Added these fields to the change control component maintenance screen to better capture the status of software products and their change control status.
Sample Testing – Inbound/Outbound Tab - Set logic so that the click of a summary grid row header loads the data for that master submission records into the detail grid and auto flips to display that grid.
Sample Testing – Screen Header – Turned on the concept of business unit defaults for employees. The ability to specify a business unit for an employee has always existed, just showing the business unit to which, the employee belongs at the top of the screen with a button to allow for the switching of the active business unit.
Sample Testing – Client drop downs – Added the logic to filter the display of clients to include the business unit that is active for the employee. This is shown in the communications log and is used to filter the various esoteric labs and how they will impact the sample testing module going forward.
Sample Testing – PCR Grid – Modified the method used for determining the default extraction type. Previously, it was defaulting based on the set value for the extraction coming from the order type file. This has not been changed to allow for an override from the ExtractionOrderTypeMapping table which represents the alternatives to the extraction mapping based on the material type (ex. Block vs. Slide) along with the order type. This now loads into the grid unless there are no mappings, in which case the default order type will hold.
Sample Testing – PCR Cap Label Printing – Changed the logic on the cap label for both extractions and PCR vial labels to print the order in which the specimens are “built” in the grids rather than representing the sequence of the specimen which is what was being done previously. This is now a choice driven by the configuration.
Universal Cassette – Cassette Color Count – Some locations have a color indicator (cassette/slide magazine indicator) in their bar code. The Assist universal module for cassette printing did not have logic to handle/process this extra character on the tail of the bar code. Fixed this by adding functionality to handle the processing.
Sample Testing – Holding Site Maintenance/Hamburger Button – From inside the specimen ordering tab of the sample testing module, there is a button to allow for the maintenance of specimen holding sites. The pop up screen for this maintenance was completed.
Sample Testing – Holding Site Maintenance – Clipboard Address Button – Added a small button with the letter “C” on it to the holding site maintenance pop up window. When clicked, this pops up a screen with a large text box. The box builds the full address using all of the address lines, the city, state, and zip code. This can be automatically copied to the Windows clipboard to provide simplicity for copying/pasting the address into other documents (i.e. shipping documents).
Print Center – Multiple Bottle Label Print – Direct Print Changes to not use label templates – The form for “Multiple Bottle Label” had not been modified to cease using NiceLabel for the printing of the labels. Made this change for it to native print and also added logic for the printing of single extra bottle labels instead of needing to use the full batch print logic flow of printing the combination of requisition and bottle labels.
Admin Web Site – Business Unit Authorization Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of the business unit authorization data. This is part of the sample testing module and allows for specification of which business units an employee is authorized to access data. This impacts the sample orders that can be seen (i.e. order, clients, etc.) but allows for toggling to other business units if necessary and authorized.
Admin Web Site – Specimen Business Location Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of specimen business locations. These locations are part of the sample testing module of Assist and are found specifically on the specimen ordering tab. They represent the business locations where specimens are intended to be routed.
Admin Web Site – Change Control Maintenance – Component Area – Added this field to the screen to allow for more accurate capture of what area of a module was changed.
QC Module Extra – Image List – ImageScanSource Inclusion - Modified the image list capture routine to include a field in the database to indicate the module of Assist that captured an image that makes analysis easier.
Manufacturing Module – Image List – ImageScanSource Inclusion - Modified the image list capture routine to include a field in the database to indicate the module of Assist that captured an image that makes analysis easier.
Manufacturing Module – Milling Machine Interface – Blanks to underscore – To better handle a limitation with the equipment manufacturer, modified the routine that prints the product bar codes to remove any blanks and replace them with underscores since this is what the application does in the cloud that creates the milling machine instruction file.

May 2022

Sample Testing – Specimen Ordering – Client Maintenance – Added a hamburger button to the specimen ordering tab to allow for the maintenance (add, update, delete) of clients without having to go the Assist administrative web site.
Sample Testing – Specimen Ordering – Specimen Holding Site Maintenance - Added a hamburger button to the specimen ordering tab to allow for the maintenance (add, update, delete) of specimen holding sites without having to go the Assist administrative web site.
Simple Print – Scan Field – Clear the text field on tab – When this field was used to scan into the field, it was not clearing the field when a tab was performed which resulted in the old scan value remaining. Set the routine to clear the field after processing.
Doctor Module – Digital Pathology – Auto load cases at user login. Modified the digital pathology routine to go ahead and load any cases/slides assigned to an employee as soon as they log in. This removes the clicking of the retrieve button to load.
Doctor Module – Digital Pathology – Diagnosis column move to after the accession number and protocol. The diagnosis column was moved to the right to improve screen readabiity especially since AI diagnosis is less common and the case number/accession is always present.
Doctor Module – Digital Pathology – Double click on the digital pathology grid loads the case/slides to the right hand side of the screen and launches the viewer for all slides represented by the row in the grid.
Sample Testing – Specimen Ordering – Added a configuration flag to allow for hiding the order cost derived from the holding site from which a specimen was ordered.
Sample Testing – Specimen Ordering – Added a configuration flag to allow for hiding the accession prefix drop down, showing a free form accession prefix text box, or having the value not show up at all.
Sample Testing – PCR Tab – The concentration column was not always working correctly when clicked. Fixed this to pop up the concentration screen.
Sample Testing – PCR Tab – The file name that was loaded via the equipment concentration interface was not showing correctly on the screen. The sample ID was showing instead of file name. Corrected this to show the data appropriately.
Sample Testing – PCR Tab – Concentration Column on Order grid – Turned this background color to red if a concentration value is required based on the extraction type and there is no value.
Simple Print – Suppress Part – Cassette and Slide – Added a check box to the cassette and slide versions of the simple print screen to allow for the part identifier to be suppressed. This can be especially valuable for clinical research scenarios.
Doctor Module – Digital Pathology Tab – Changed the grid to include the display of rush cases to include a priority rush value and sort the data by priority value and then distribution date and then full accession number. Made this change for both the case level view and the slide level view.
Doctor Module – Digital Pathology – The open cases button at the top of the screen was modified. The informational screen now shows a format of “Case Count / Slide Count” that are assigned to the employee to make the information more meaningful.
Doctor Module – Digital Pathology Tab – Modified the selection of the detailed grid row to show the rush type description to the right of the grid with the other case/slide detailed information.
Doctor Module – Digital Pathology Tab – Double Click To Diagnostics – Logic was added previously to allow for the double click of a digital queue record to automatically open up the case/slide that was double clicked. Further expanded this logic to allow for this double click transaction to also send the employee automatically to the diagnostics tab to process the case.
Admin Web Site – Case Rush Type Maintenance – Priority Value and Font Color – Added a priority value to the maintenance screen and also the ability to set the font color.
Doctor Module – Digital Pathology/Diagnosis – Set logic so that when a report is signed by the doctor from the diagnosis tab that the digital record can be moved to a “Signed Out” status and the digital queue is automatically refreshed to reflect the change.
Sample Testing – Client Facility Maintenance – Added the “C” copy clipboard buttons for both the separated address lines and the full address line.
Sample Testing – Client and Client Facility Maintenance – Added the ability to double click on any of the instructions or notes fields and have a pop up screen appear to display all of the information in an easier to read format to reduce screen scrolling in case of copious notes.
Sample Testing – Client/Facility and Holding Site Pop Up Maintenance Screens – Auto Load – Added the ability for any client and/or holding site information active in the specimen order screen to go forward to the maintenance screens to pre-load with the active client or holding site.
Sample Testing – Client/Facility and Holding Site Pop Up Maintenance Screens – Provided a configuration flag to allow for whether or not address and phone master buttons are enabled.
Sample Testing – Client/Facility Pop Up Maintenance Screens – Added the ability to delete either entity (with lots of edit checks) that is driven by configuration so that this ability can be disabled or enabled.
Admin Web Site – Change Control Component Maintenance – Control Code Prefix and ProductName. Added the control code prefix and product name to the change control component maintenance screen. This will make it possible for the change control update utility to update a remote database with change control transactions.
Admin Web Site – Rework Request Report – Criteria visual change and addition of Task scanned by to criteria. Modified the rework request report to clean up the selection criteria visually and also add the task scanned by criteria.
Admin web Site – Change Control Maintenance – Control code and product name. Added the control code and product name to the change control maintenance screen. This will make it possible for the change control update utility to update a remote database with change control transactions.
Admin web Site – Scan History Report – The “source” filter criteria did not work correctly. This report is an original Assist report and the source values were hard coded and did not account for the various alias values for data collection points that would evolve. Fixed this so that the filter works correctly.
Admin Web Site – Change Control Type Maintenance – TypeCode – Added the type code to the change control type maintenance screen to allow the change control utility to add control types when relevant.
Configuration Utility – Change Control Copy – Modified the configuration utility to include the ability to send change control transactions to a remote database. Previously, the utility only support the copy of screens, reports, and configuration changes.
Sample Testing – Specimen Ordering – Collection Site Text – Added a configuration setting to allow for the human readable tag on the “Collection Site” to be customized to support “Body Site” if that is the value being captured.
Sample Testing – Specimen Ordering – Order Date in order grid – Added the order date to the specimen order grid.
Universal POU – Grossing Notes Entry/Timeout – Discovered an issue with the way the enforce timeout configuration option is enacted. If the option is turned off, and a grosser is using the grossing notes pop up capture, on closure of the screen, the timeout option was turned back on regardless of the configuration option. Changed the routine to look at the configuration flag on screen close rather than blindly turning the timeout timer back active.
Sample Testing – Specimen Ordering – Specimen Order Testing Capture/Display – Modified the specimen ordering section of the sample testing module to include the ability to specify the order types (testing) that should be performed on the specimen for which the order is being placed. Also show the existing orders via a list box on the screen.

June 2022

Admin Web Site - ESL Tag Product Notation – Created this maintenance screen to allow for the maintenance of ESL tag product notations. These are used to pass specific extra notation values to an electronic tag based on a product master record.
Admin Web Site - Specimen Type Size Override Maintenance – Created this table to provide for protocol automation/overrides associated with tissue mold sizes. If a specific specimen type is encountered, the size of the mold (specimen) can then bump the specimen type to a different value which would launch a different slide protocol.
Accessioning Module – Maximum Requisition Length on scan – Added logic to prevent a double scan of a requisition and also better tailor that a value requisition was scanned by policing the raw length of the data field.
Universal Cassette POU – Printer Magazine Alias Logic – Added logic to the cassette point of use to tie magazines against different hardware profiles to one another. This allows magazines to be equal across hardware. For example, the Magazine 1 of a Leica can be mapped to the “Hopper 1” of an Epredia Printmate.
Admin Web Site – Printer Magazine Alias Maintenance – Created this maintenance screen to allow for the mapping of magazines to one another across hardware profiles.
Main Scanner Engine – Specimen Size Scanning and Font Color – Added the ability to the main scanner engine (i.e. Embedding, microtomy, etc.) to scan the specimen size (i.e. tissue mold) and also display it on the screen with different colors.
Main Scanner Engine – Specimen Type Size Override Functionality – Added the ability to the main scanner engine to have the specimen size + specimen type move to a new specimen type to more accurately plan for protocol mapping where an embedder discovers a larger mold size is needed which will impact the number of slides to be used.
Admin Web Site – Specimen Size Maintenance – Font Color – Modified the maintenance screen to allow for the specification of font color for each specimen size.
Admin Web Site – Gender Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of genders. This can be used to specify a gender outside of the tradtional radio button choices of “M/F” when the gender might not be known.
Accession Prefix Maintenance – LIS Master Criteria – Added the LIS as a criteria choice at the top of the maintenance screen so that prefixes can be filtered by prefix for better ease of maintenance/management.
Universal Slide POU – Manual Specimen/Part – Removal of dash after print – There has always been a dash placed between the specimen and part identifiers after printing a slide in manual mode. Removed this since there was no value add and it looks odd.
Universal Cassette POU – Drop File Alias Accession Overrides Specimen – Added logic to allow for an alias accession to go into the drop file in the same position as the specimen type. This allows for the client labelling of the cassette (at the cost of the tissue type) without needing multiple print template layouts.
Doctor Closeout – Selection Criteria – Main Closeout and Status Closeout – LIS Master – Added the LIS platform as a selection criteria choice for facilities that use more than one LIS and need to pull doctor orders by platform.
Admin Web Site – Specimen Order Step Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of specimen order steps. This data represents the various steps in the specimen ordering process.
Admin Web Site – MFG Task Maintenance – Final Inspection Task – Added this check box to the maintenance screen to allow a manufacturing task to be marked as the final inspection task. This is part of the Assist manufacturing module.
Admin Web Site – Medical Billing Code Maintenance – CPT Code addition with selection criteria additions for billing code, description, ICD code, and CPT code. Added the CPT code field to the medical billing code maintenance screen and also added multiple fields to the selection criteria as noted.
Admin Web Site – Accession Slide Count Maintenance – Slide Recipe – Medical Billing Code. Added the medical billing code drop down to the slide recipe area of this screen so that the CPT codes and such can be mapped to the slides that are being printed.
Sample Testing – Specimen Order Tab – Business Unit Order Filter – Added logic to only display specimen orders for the business unti to which an employee is attached.
Sample Testing – Specimen Order Tab – Gender drop down – Added the gender drop down to the specimen order area to allow for a gender value to be specified outside of the hard coded “M/F” logic.
Sample Testing – Specimen Order Tab – Step changes status. – Added the logic to allow for the selection of specimen order steps to automatically change the overall order status since this status is part of the order step. Also added the step to the order selection criteria.
Sample Testing – Specimen Order Tab – Added a configuration flag to allow for the suppression visually of the last maintained and order created values.
Sample Testing – Specimen Order Tab – Added a configuration flag to allow for the suppression visually of the “copy of results” checkbox.
Sample Testing – Specimen Order Tab – Added a configuration flag to allow for the suppression visually of the handling drop down.
Sample Testing – Inbound/Outbound Tab – Summary Grid – Added a configuration flag to allow for the suppression of the cross reference column in the grid.
Object Filing – Digital Dashboard – Digital Pathology Queue – Case Rush Type and Priority Value – Added these fields to the digital queue for the tracking of rush cases through the digital process. Also added a priority value so that the rush values can be prioritized.
Doctor Module – Digital Pathology Tab – Meta Data Visibility – Modified the digital pathology queue grid to include a “M” button column on the far right. Clicking this button causes a pop up screen to appear to show all of the meta data associated with the digital pathology record.
Doctor Module – Login Button – Added the ability to log in manually to the doctor module in the same manner as the other modules. Previously, either auto login or scanner were the only ways to log in.
Doctor Module – Digital Pathology Tab – Case Level status change was not working to change the status to all of the slides in the case. It was only updating the FIRST digital pathology queue record (i.e. the first slide) on save. Corrected this.
Doctor Module – Auto Launch Next Case Choice – Added a checkbox to the screen (depending on configuration) to determine whether or not the “launch next case on report submission” is active to allow a doctor to opt in/out of the feature.
Doctor Module – Auto Launch Next Case Feature – Added logic to the module to allow for the auto launch of the next case from the digital queue as soon as the case is submitted.
Doctor Module – Auto Close write to the digital queue audit log – Added the logic to write a value to the digital queue audit log when the auto close transaction is performed.
Interface Module – LIS Order Request Robot – If the “ordered by” doctor is missing, added logic to write it to the exception table. Previously, no exception was generated, the data just got loaded as the automated robot account.
Sample Testing – PCR Tab – Use Extraction Defaults Checkbox – Added a configuration flag to allow this value to be toggled on/off as needed by the installation.
Admin Web Site – Extraction Type Maintenance – Concentration Quantity – Added the concentration quantity field to the extraction type maintenance screen. This is used to indicate how many concentration values (PCR) are allowed for the concentration type and determines the screen handling of the PCR tab of the sample testing module.
Admin Web Site – Order Type Maintenance – PCR Extraction Code – Added this field to the order type maintenance screen. This is used to allow for entry of an extraction code that can be used for a PCR equipment interface back into Assist and represents the code to tie to the order type coming from the equipment.
Admin Web Site – Accession Slide Count Maintenance – Slide Recipe Maintenance – Sequence Quantity – Added this value to the maintenance screen to allow for the specification of the sequence quantity associated with a slide recipe record. For example, an L1-3 slide would potentially represent a sequence quantity of 3 to reflect the number of tissue ribbons that are tied to the slide.
Admin Web Site – Client Facility Maintenance – Address fields delimited – With the duplication of the address fields at the facility header level, a change needed to be made to allow the client facility web screen to continue to function correctly.
Doctor Module – Slide Scan – Modified the routine to allow for an alternate protocol wildcard inside the bar code. This allows for changes to how the bar code holds protocols or to address multiple wildcard delimiters if relevant.
Doctor Module – Slide Scan – Tracking Number Delimiter – Added a slide tracking start/end delimiter to provide the ability for the doctor module to scan slides that have slide tracking values in the bar code. Also added this value to the scan history window on the scanning tab.
Distribution Module – Slide Scan – Modified the routine to allow for an alternate protocol wildcard inside the bar code. This allows for changes to how the bar code holds protocols or to address multiple wildcard delimiters if relevant.
Distribution Module – Slide Scan – Tracking Number Delimiter – Added a slide tracking start/end delimiter to provide the ability for the Distribution module to scan slides that have slide tracking values in the bar code. Also added this value to the scan history window on the scanning tab.
Interface Utility – Patient Demographic File Drop – Added a patient demographic file drop option to load patients into the Assist database from a simple CSV file.
Interface Utility – Magic Touch Manufacturing Task Load – Added an interface option to load manufacturing tasks from the Magic Touch LIS into Assist. Previously, there had only been an interface that was not bidirectional and did not pull data back into Assist.
Sample Testing – Shipping Tab – Clear Button – Added this button, which can be hidden by configuration to allow for the clearing of both the header and detail information on the screen. Previously, this would happen when a new package was chosen or a save transaction was completed.
Sample Testing – Shipping Tab – Manifest Print – Modified the print routine to include the order types for the material types. This was also added to the manifest reprint inside the utility pop up screen.
Universal Cassette/Slide – On Screen Keyboard – Added a button to both the cassette and the slide tabs to allow for the launch of the Windows on screen keyboard to better support touch screens. This button is visible or not based on configuration.
Warehouse Module – Main Filing Screen - Slide Scan – Tracking Number Delimiter – Added a slide tracking start/end delimiter to provide the ability for the Distribution module to scan slides that have slide tracking values in the bar code. Also added this value to the scan history window on the scanning tab.
Sample Testing – PCR Tab – Double Concentration Values – Made changes to support double concentration values and an average.
Sample Testing – PCR Tab – Concentration Interface History Inquiry – Built this pop up screen to provide visibility to concentration files that have been loaded into Assist from the PCR instruments.
Sample Testing – Communication Tab – Communication Log Audit Log – Modified the communication log to also generate an audit log every time a communication log record is modified or added to provide more detailed traceability.

3rd Quarter 2022

July 2022

Admin Web Site – Specimen Order Step Maintenance – Warning Font Color – Added a warning font color to the maintenance screen to determine what color the order step should appear in if the date has been excedded to make it easier to show the outliers.
Sample Testing – Specimen Order – Specimen Processing Order Active Step Date – Added a field to the specimen order capture data routine to capture the date/time stamp each time an order step is entered or changed.
Admin Web Site – Attachment Type Maintenance – Client Image Type Checkbox, Patient Report Type Checkbox, Release Form Type checkbox, Test Request Form Type checkbox – Added the above check boxes to the maintenance screen to allow for the categorization of attachment types.
Sample Testing – Shipping Tab – “By Shipment vs. By Manifest” choice on Manifest print. Added two radio buttons to allow for the choice between shipment or manifest filters on the printing of manifests.
Sample Testing – Shipping Tab – Group box header bolding – Modified the shipping tab to make the group box titles bold on all groups on the screen. If the visual changes are liked, this same change will be applied to the other tabs.
Sample Testing – Shipping Tab – Client and Address missing on manifest print. On a first print, the logic did not match the changes that were made to the reprint and there was a way for the client/facility names and the street address to not print.
Sample Testing – Shipping Tab – Context Help – Tool Tips – Comments text boxes. Added tool tips to the comment text boxes on this tab to help in learning screen operations. If this works effectively, the same data will be added to the other fields on the screens.
Sample Testing – Inbound/Outbound Tab – All Materials Visibility – There was confusion about the option for suppressing packages that had no materials needing return at the header level where data would show under the detail area. Let the choice be visible regardless of the view.
Sample Testing – Specimen Order Tab – Changed the description for the holding site to read as “Holding Site” instead of “Description”.
Sample Testing – Holding Site Maintenance Screen – The underlying holding site master and search drop downs were not reloading after maintenance was performed.
Sample Testing – Specimen Order – Ordered Tests – The order category filtering check box was not operating correctly on this pop up screen.
Sample Testing – Specimen Order – Changed the screen to auto load the specimen orders at employee login.
Sample Testing – Specimen Order Grid – Added a column to the grid for days left based on the warning days and the current date. This is based on the date/time being captured when the order step is changed.
Sample Testing – Specimen Order Grid – Days Left font color – Changed the days left font color to be set to the warning days font color if the days left are overdue.
Main Scanner Engine – Write Active Last Case – Set up the ability for configuration flags to write to the Active Last Case table for a requisition, bottle, cassette, or slide scan to feed the active last case scoreboard view.
Universal Cassette/Slide - Write Active Last Case – Set up the ability for configuration flags to write to the Active Last Case table for a requisition, bottle, cassette, or slide scan to feed the active last case scoreboard view.
Admin Web Site – Client Configuration Maintenance – Baud Rate Override Value – Added this value to the maintenance screen to allow for an individual machine to have a scanner baud rate entered that differs from the main scanner speed used with all other machines in an environment. This better supports mismatched equipment in a facility without having to reprogram scanners (if possible to reprogram). The baud rate is filled from a drop down of choices that is configured by the Assist administrator to cut down on random and incorrect data.
Main Scanner Engine – Baud Rate Override Logic – Added logic to the main scanner engine to support the new baud rate override by configuration feature.
Check In Module – Baud Rate Override Logic - Added logic to the check in module to support the new baud rate override by configuration feature.
Universal Cassette/Slide – Baud Rate Override Logic - Added logic to both the universal cassette and slide module to support the new baud rate override by configuration feature.
Accessioning Module – Baud Rate Override Logic - Added logic to the accessioning module to support the new baud rate override by configuration feature
Admin Web Site – Assist Equipment Interface Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance and creation of the various scanner speed settings used in the new equipment baud rate override feature. This screen controls the drop down list used on the client configuration maintenance screen.
Universal Slide POU – Pieces in History – Modified the slide POU screen to allow for writing the pieces data into the scan history instead of just showing it in a small font at the bottom of the screen.
Universal Slide POU – Position Protocol by specimen check box not sticking when configuration changes – Modified this setting so that it will stay as the configuration is changed to better support sites with multiple LIS installations and configurations.
Universal Cassette/Slide – Scan Classification Scan Ability to change. The scan classification drop down (i.e. Recuts vs. IHC vs. Special Stains, etc.) was only available for change via a mouse click. Gave the ability to put out scan sheets to change this value via scanner to reduce the need to touch the mouse.
Universal Module – Tab Handling – Fixed issue where some of the information tabs could get wiped out. – The logic for suppressing tabs had an issue where the tabs could possibly continue to disappear as the employee bounced from one configuration to another. Cleaned up the way tabs are hidden to eliminate this possibility.
Admin Web Site – LIS Master Maintenance – Accession Number Length – Added this field to the LIS master maintenance screen so that an override of the accession number length can be done at the LIS level instead of by accession prefix. This is part of the sample testing area where multiple inbound accession number formats are being tracked.
Admin Web Site – Business Unit Maintenance – LIS Master drop down – Added the default LIS value via drop down so that the default LIS for a business unit can be specified.
Sample Testing Module – Help Button – Added a help button to the top of this module to allow for the display of the various help text that is available explaining what the fields and columns are on the reports.
Sample Testing – PCR Tab – Extraction Selection criteria – Unassigned to an extraction checkbox setting to allow it to default on or off.
Admin Web Site – Order Category Maintenance – Clinical Research Checkbox – Added this checkbox to the maintenance screen to allow order categories to be specified as belonging to clinical research projects.
Admin Web Site – Order Type Maintenance – Business Unit and All Business Units check box. Added a checkbox to the maintenance screen to all an order type to be associated to all business units and a drop down for the owning business unit for sites that have more than one business unit.
Scoreboard – Multiple Shipment Grid – Upper left cell is the color blue – When the multiple shipment grid graph went above 144 cells, the screen was shown with the mouse cursor in the upper lefthand cell and it had the default color of blue. Research the clear selection to stop this from happening.
Admin Web Site – Assist Help Details Maintenance – Added a help section number to more specifically outline the area that is referenced by the help text. Previously, the most specific the data could be was at the software module level.
Admin Web Site – Assist Help Section Maintenance – Created this maintenance screen to allow for the maintenance of the newly created help sections. Previously, help text was maintained at the module level but this lack of further categorization made a bit of a disorganized mess in some modules. By added a section, the help data can be organized by tab (for example) to make it easier to find meaningful information.

August 2022

Admin Web Site – Assist Formula Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the entry of the various mathmatical formulas that might be in use in the various screens of Assist. Some regulartory organizations require that the math being performed be explained to employees and this maintenance gives the ability to capture all of these formulas with a detailed description area along with an area for custom (i.e. not Assist explaining) so that an individual facility can explain in terms that might make more sense for their employes.
Sample Testing – PCR Tab – Formula Display – Added a button to the PCR batch grid to allow for the display of the formula screen based on the entry of a formula (discussed above) for the concentration calculations being performed.
Sample Testing – PCR Tab – Concentration value cleanup – The three concentration values on the PCR grid had differing appearences with rounding, number of decimals, etc. Added the ability to indicate the number of decimals in the configuration and then formatted all three columns to look the same to make more visually pleasing.
Sample Testing – Specimen Order Entry screen – Created this screen to serve as a full specimen order processing screen. Previously, this feature was available via the “standard” method of selecting the grid value on the left and having the maintenance performed on the right hand side of the screen. There was so much data associated with a specimen order that this caused a “cramped” screen, so made the screen full sized.
Sample Testing – Specimen Order Entry – Pathologist capture – Added a + button to the specimen order entry screen to allow for the quick addition of a pathologist to the pathologist master file (referring pathologist). Full maintenance (changes, etc.) still need to be done via the main referring physician maintenance screen.
Sample Testing – Specimen Order Entry – Clinician capture - Added a + button to the specimen order entry screen to allow for the quick addition of a clinician to the clinician master file (referring pathologist). Full maintenance (changes, etc.) still need to be done via the main referring physician maintenance screen.
Admin Web Site – Department Maintenance – Font Color and Employee Department Checkbox. Added the font color so that departments can be color coded on different screens and also added a checkbox to allow for a department to be categorized as an employee department. There were already category checkboxes for inventory, manufacturing, and chemicals.
Admin Web Site – Employee Group Maintenance – Font Color. Added the font color so that employee groups can be color coded on different screens.
Admin Web Site – Stored Comment Type Maintenance – Available in Communication Log Checkbox. Added this check box to the maintenance screen so that stored comments can be filtered on screens that allow for the use of stored comment types.
Admin Web Site – Security Maintenance – Department Drop Down – Employee Department Filter. Modified the security maintenance screen to only show departments in the drop down list that are classified as employee departments.
Admin Web Site – Research Project Status Maintenance. Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of status values used inside the clinical research project areas of Assist.
Simple Print – Pad Zeros Bar Code Option – Added an option to allow the padding of the accession number to be controlled by an option in the config file.
Admin Web Site – Research Project Type Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of the research project type.
Admin Web Site – Extraction Type Maintenance –Modified this screen to include a field for Extraction Code. This will be used to enforce interface files against extraction types.
Sample Testing - PCR Concentration Interface – Unassignment – Completely changed the method of unassigning a file from a concentration assignment to make the screen perform better.
Sample Testing - PCR Concentration Interface – Modified this screen to show the extraction type at the top of the screen along with the number of concentrations required (1 or 2).
Sample Testing - PCR Concentration Interface – Auto Close – Changed the settings to allow for an auto close when it is a single concentration extraction and the data is provided. Do NOT auto close on a double unless two concentrations are provided. On a single, go ahead and close.
Sample Testing - To Do Status Button – Rearranged the top of the main screen. Changed the overdue button to be longer but narrow. Added a “to do” button underneath that will be green/red based on the ticker and checking for communication log messages that are targeted to a department to which the employee logged into Assist belongs.
Sample Testing - PCR – Object Assignment Pop up window (the x / x/ x button). If there were multiple order types for the accession, they could stretch across the header of the window and jumble things. Moved the display into a list box and now display them vertically instead of horizontally.
Sample Testing - PCR Concentration Interface – Added logic to consider the extraction code for the type and make sure that the file indicator is the same reflecting a match between the equipment interface file and the extraction type.
Sample Testing - PCR – Extraction Grid – “T” Button – This button reflects the count of order types against the aggregated accession number even though the grid shows the data at the order type level. Clicking on the button will show all of the orders on an order along with who entered those orders.
Admin Web Site – Research Project Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of research projects. These are part of the research tracking part of Assist and represent different projects such as clinical research projects, drug studies, etc.
Admin Web Site – Research Project Number Wheel Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of research project number wheels. These are part of the clinical research functional area of Assist and represent seperate number wheels that are used as “spin offs” of “regular” number wheels to be used for research projects.
Interface Utility – CADFlow Interface Robot – Added a CADFlow AI robot to the interface utility to support the inbound receipt of STL and PTS (tooling files) for milling machine robots.
Print Center – Full Accession Label – Print values into configuration – Modified this label routine so that the values for where to print objects can be placed in the configuration and are not hard coded into the screen.
Sample Testing - Shipping Tab – Manifest Utility – The bold fonts were not present on the various group headings on the utility screen. Corrected this.
Sample Testing - Shipping Tab – Manifest Utility – The shipment type and tracking fields were not named the same on utility screen vs. the underlying shipping tab. Made the two the same for the sake of consistency.
Sample Testing - Manifest Printing – Added a setting to the configuration to allow for defaulting of the manifest to be either portrait or landscape. Placed the setting to portrait.
Sample Testing - Manifest Printing – Moved the header down slightly to address reports that the page was not within margins.
Sample Testing - Manifest Printing – Widened out the order type column to allow for longer type values to fit.
Sample Testing - Manifest Printing – Added the ability to display the client part on the manifest based on the choice in the manifest. Set this choice to be on.
Sample Testing - Manifest Printing – Added the outbound tracking number to the header of the manifest.
Admin Web Site – Specimen Order Step Maintenance - Added a communication log note field to the specimen order step maintenance screen to provide a default note that will be inserted into the communication log when a specimen order is moved to a different order step.
Admin Web Site – Extraction Type Maintenance – Allowed Concentration Variance – Added this field to the screen to support a numerical variance that is allowed for extractions that have more than one concentration value. This will be used for editing/error checking of concentration data capture inside the PCR tab of the sample testing module.
Admin Web Site – Body Source Maintenance – Specimen Order Flag – Added a check box to this screen to allow for body source values to be coded as visible in the specimen ordering area of Assist as opposed to standard histology.
Admin Web Site – Communication Log Type Maintenance – Added drop down boxes for default employee group assignment, stored comment types, and default stored comments. This will all allows for better defaulting as communication log functionality migrates toward “to do” assignment of communication records to employees and groups.
Sample Testing – PCR Tab – Concentration Entry – Modified the entry of concentrations to pull the allowed concentration variance from the extraction type table rather than applying a single variance value across all extraction types to allow for better functionality.
Admin Web Site – Business Area Maintenance – Added multiple checkbox to represent different areas of the business so that different data elements can be customized to only apply to the appropriate business area. The communication log messages will be the first area to have business area filters applied to them.
Admin Web Site – Communication Log Source Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of communication log sources. This data element will become a manner of segmenting communication log entries by the business area to which the log items apply. A log source is assigned to a business area.
Sample Testing – PCR Extraction Grid – Communication Log Indicator – Added an “*” column to the grid to capture whether or not there are communication log records for an extraction (PCR) record. An asterisk will be displayed if there are communication log entries in general. The back color will be green if the log entries are for the PCR business area. The back color will be red it the log entries are for the PCR business area AND they require acknowledgement but it has not been acknowledged.
Admin Web Site – Research Project Tracking Status Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of tracking status values to be applied to individual resesearch project objects.
Universal Cassette – Clinicial Research Window – Added a reprint button to allow for printing without needing to save an object. Also introduced a tracking status to allow for the delete button to move the status of an object to deleted rather than actually deleting it to allow for improved tracking.
Admin Web Site – Research Project Tracking Report – Created this report to allow for full reporting over the clinical research project data.
Admin Web Site – Order Type Maintenance – Research Order Type Checkbox – Added a checkbox to the order type maintenance screen to allow for an order type to be categorized as available to the clinical research screens.
Admin Web Site – Research Order Type Maintenance – Created this maintenance screen to allow for the maintenance of research order type data. This data represents the order types cross referenced to the research projects for which they are relevant.
Admin Web Site – Research Project Summary Report - Create this report to provide visibility to summary counts of the number of objects that were processed as part of research project tracking.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Interface Protocol Listing. Created this report to show a listing of the mapping of equipment to the protocols that are processed by that equipment. An example would a listing of stain protocols by staining equipment (i.e. Omnis, Bond, Ventana, etc.).
Manufacturing Module – Start/End Task Logic – Modified the manufacturing module to allow for the capture of a start and end time stamp associated with the manufacturing tasks. Tasks are scanned after the case/accession and represent a work task. This provides the ability to get TAT by task.
Manufacturing Module – Specimen Complexity Addition – Added the choice of specimen complexity to the main manufacturing screen. This allows for piece rate additions to assign appropriate work values to the types of specimens processed.
Manufacturing Module – Task Scan cancellation – Added a button the screen to allow for the cancellation of a task once it has begun. This accounts for situations where a technician begins work on a specimen before realizing the task cannot be completed for a variety of reasons.
Check In Module – Robot/Bulk Scanner Interface Capability – Modified the check in module to allow for two “scanners” to interact with the screen at the same time. The first scanner would be a traditional hand held scanner with the second being a “bulk” scanner or scanning robot. The screen will handle the inbound feed however data is fed into the screen.
Universal Grossing – Clinical Research – Default label quantity in configuration – For the clinical research pop up screen, modified to allow for the default label quantity to be set in the configuration for additional flexibility instead of defaulting to 1.
Universal Grossing – Clinical Research – Suppress Linear/2D Bar code choices. Added two checkboxes to the clinical research pop up screen to allow for the suppression of either the 1D or 2D bar codes on the label print routine if needed with the ability to default from the configuration.
Universal Slide – QC Notes Too Small – There have been a few comments about the size of the font on the QC notes being too small. Reorganized a couple of the buttons in the button ribbon to provide more space for the notes label and increase the font size from 8.25 to 12. Specifically moved the employee time button so that the elapsed time tag could be placed underneath the ribbon bar to allow the notes label to stretch farther without running into other data.
Check In module – Robot scanner auto flipping – Added the ability for the robot scanner to mix/match bar codes from multiple LIS platforms in a single bulk scanner feed.
Check In Module – Robot Scanner Connection message – Added a message to the bottom of the screen to indicate the connection status (baud rate/port).
Check In Module – Robot Feed Tab – Added a seperate listing of the robot feed on a seperate tab in the history area of the screen to show the bar codes received in order (and numbered) along with Red/Green color coding to indicate if bar code parsing was processed successfully or not.
Admin Web Site – Research Clinical Participation Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of research clinical participation data. This is where a research project is enabled for specific clients to elminate the potential risk of specimens for the wrong client being included in a research project.
Admin Web Site – Research Project Tracking Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of the raw research project tracking information. This is the most granular level where accession numbers are assigned to a project.
Universal Grossing – Clinical Research – Client Participation Enforcement – Modified the clinical research area of the grossing module to consider client participation when assigning specimens to a clinical research project.
Admin Web Site – LIS Master Maintenance – Database Connectivity Information – Added connection data to support the ability to make alternative connections for interface connectivity at the LIS platform level.
Admin Web Site – Collection Point Maintenance – Child Object. Added a drop-down list of the object types to indicate which object (i.e. Cassette, bottle, slide, etc.) is the “child” or lowest level matching object for each data collection point.
Admin Web Site – Object Type Maintenance – Scan Type. Added this field to the object type maintenance screen to allow for a value that matches the object type or source of the items scanned into the transaction log. This allows for reporting of specific object types.
Admin Web Site – Scan Transactions Hourly Report – Created this report to provide visibility to the number of objects scanned by hour for the various data collection points.
Admin Web Site – Expiration Type Maintenance – Created this maintenance screen to allow for the categorization of the types of expiration/licenses that can be tracked in Assist. For example, a Doctor Medical License would be an expiration type.
Admin Web Site – Expiration Item Maintenance – Created this maintenance screen to allow for the maintenance of expiration items. An expiration item is a child of an expirate type. For example, and expiration item might be a doctor license for the state of Louisiana.
Admin Web Site – Doctor License Maintenance – Added the expiration item drop down to the screen. Changed the screen around visually to improve the appearance. Added drop-down criteria for the expiration type and items. Added checkboxes to suppress inactive doctors and to hide expired license data. Also added a from/to date range to the expiration date to look for items that might be expiring in the near future.
Doctor Module – Tab Suppression Cleanup – Modified the way that tabs are suppressed via code. An older method of disposing of unneeded tabs was being used. Cleaned this up for better future usage. Also changed the method for determining the tab to receive focus.
Doctor Module – License Notification – Added a license button to the top of the screen. As the doctor logs into the module, it checks all licensure in Assist and displays a count of the licenses found. If any of them have an expiration date in the next X days (default of 30 but configurable), the button is displayed in red. If the button is clicked, also added routing to a newly added license tab where the licensure information is displayed. Additionally, the ability to display the cost of renewal and the web link to perform the renewal is provided (assuming someone has entered the data).

September 2022

Stain Queue – Stain Drop Down Positioning – Changed the logic for the on demand scanning of slides. The protocol in the bar code was not positioning the stain drop down due to case sensitivity. Changed the screen to work regardless when pull up a stain value.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Type Maintenance – Show Record Number – Added this check box to the screen to allow for the equipment type record number to be provided as needed. Also added a check box for “Active Only” and a wild card description to the selection criteria.
Universal Slide – Stain Queue Write – Modified the routine that writes to the stain queue to include fields to allow for the tracking whether or not a stain queue record came from microtomy or directly from the stain queue by adding an on demand field to the table and the history audit trail.
Stain Queue – Robot Logic – Added logic to the stain queue to allow for the creation of stain files that are dumped on a “pending” file location to be picked up and sent to the staining platform by a robot program. Added fields to the stain request tracking table to track the file name, path, date/time stamp, etc. When this process is done to provide tracking of when the file is created and is ready to go to the equipment network. These time stamps can then be updated when the robot actually picks the files up and processes them.
Stain Queue – On demand scanning – Modified this routine to include a Y/N flag to indicate if this screen/methodology was used to pass an IHC into the staining platform rather than the pass-through directly from Microtomy/Stain Queue to indicate when manual processing is being done instead of automated workflow processes.
Stain Queue – On Demand Scanning – The scanned transactions that were being sent to the stain queue were not writing an audit trail entry. Changed this to provide full history audit trail tracking.
Interface Utility – Stain Queue Interface – Created a new robot routine to read through the stain request tracking records and send files that have been created via the stain queue to a staining platform interface. This handles scenarios where the stain queue is used on computers that have no routing or connectivity to the various staining platform servers.
Admin Web Site – Stain Queue Accession Maintenance – Modified this maintenance screen to set the “OnDemandEntry” field to “Y” if maintenance is performed on a stain queue entry to make sure to have the notification indicate that a web based override was performed on the stain queue record.
Admin Web Site – Stain Request Tracking Report – Modified this report to include the new fields associated with transmission of the files via robot instead of on demand directly from the stain queue.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Processing Run Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of equipment processing runs. This data reflects the time and capacity of equipment type runs of specimens and/or products. It is similar to the tissue size maintenance process but is being seperated to account for differences for ALL types of equipment and not just tissue processors. It is being seperated to allow for future equipment specific development without putting tissue processors at risk.
Quality Module – Modified the logic to suppress tabs and added the ability for each of the tabs contained inside the quality module. Also added the ability to default to any of the tabs at screen launch.
Manufacturing Module – Screen Handling Change – On logout scan, the user name was not getting cleared. Corrected this. On a new case scan, the start/end task scan were not getting set back to N/A. Corrected this.
Check In Module – Added the employee totals button to the screen to provide the employee with visibility to their scan totals.
Admin Web Site – Active Last Case Maintenance – Created this maintenance screen to provide maintenance over this table which controls the scoreboard module view of active last cases.
Accessioning Module – Interface Notification Button – This button to update the last LIS interface update did not work for PathQuest interface items. Extended the logic to allow for branching to different interface paths based on LIS/Interface.
Universal Cassette Queue – Drop File Accession Length Check – When using the universal cassette queue in a drop file scenario, with multiple LIS platforms with different accession lengths.......the length was not toggling on each print. This caused leading zeros to be padded onto the base accession number with the length of the initial LIS rather than toggling to the correct size when the LIS changed.
Main Scanner Engine – On a print queue automation scan, there were a few fields that were not getting propagated. Added them to the write routine even with simple placeholder values.
Main Scanner Engine – Specimen Type History – Modified the routine where the specimen types are retrieved to load them into the scan history in addition to showing on the screen. This allows the employee to historically see what specimen types got captured for each block to better ensure accurate data.
Main Scanner Engine – Alternate cassette identifier – Added logic to allow for different cassette identifiers for use with the same matching requisition and bottle. This is very useful for grossing deployments where the cassette identifier is changed at a later date and both “types” of cassettes need to scan during transition.
Admin Web Site – Client Configuration Detail Maintenance – Print Template Value Checkbox – Added this checkbox to the screen so that individual detail values could be marked as a portion of the print template logic.
Admin Web Site – Manufacturing Task Transaction Report – End Task Date Inclusion. Added the end task date to the manufacturing task transaction report.
Print Center – Class 1 Label – Seperate external data pull to filter product listing. Provided the ability for the class 1 label routine to pull from a seperate external data source. Previously, this screen shared the same logic as the UDI label.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Listing Report – Cross Reference Bar Code. Added the cross reference bar code to the equipment listing report and also added the Asset number to the selection criteria.
Manufacturing Module – Inventory Requests Issues – When an inventory request was entered with the “close on save” enabled, the request would get entered and the screen would close correctly. If the button was clicked a second time, the screen would load with a filtered inventory product screen that did not work correctly. This was fixed.
Sample Testing - Manifest Utility – Modified the reprint routine to show tracking numbers at the detail level if they were specified at the detail level. FedEx number can be either at the header or the detail level. If at the header, they appear in the header of the manifest. If at the detail, they appear in the detail. Previously the detailed level Fedex numbers were getting ignored on the manifest.
Sample Testing - Manifest Utility – From/To History date range – Previously, there was a hardcoded “30 days back” logic that was applied when the drop-down boxes were pulled for history. By providing an actual from/to selection criteria, this data can be modified as needed.
Sample Testing – Manifest Utility – Manifest Number Reprint – Added a value to the screen for the manifest number. This will load if a value is clicked in the manifest drop down list, but can be keyed directly if the employee knows which manifest they want to reprint.
Sample Testing – Manifest Utility – Consolidated Tracking Numbers – Added logic to concatenate the tracking numbers at the header and detail submission levels (based on configuration flag) to allow for all carrier shipment tracking numbers to be displayed on the header of the manifest (if there are multiple). The individual tracking numbers can be show on the detail lines for clarification if there are multiple.
Sample Testing – Receving Tab – Accession Number must be numeric – Put a check on the save transaction to enforce that the accession number value entered is numeric.
Sample Testing – Shipping Tab – Manifest Print Changes - Consolidated Tracking Numbers – Added logic to concatenate the tracking numbers at the header and detail submission levels (based on configuration flag) to allow for all carrier shipment tracking numbers to be displayed on the header of the manifest (if there are multiple). The individual tracking numbers can be show on the detail lines for clarification if there are multiple.
Sample Testing – Shipping Tab – Client/Manifest Enforcement – Added a check to the manifest detail save routine to check if there are more than one client on a manifest and generate an error message if needed.
Sample Testing – Shipping Tab – Manifest Header Save – Corrected issue where the material submitted details could get saved without the manifest number getting applied to all of the detail records.
Sample Testing – Communication Log Entry – Employee Group Assignment – Added the employee group assignment logic to the communication log entry screen to allow for the assignment of “to do” items to a specific employee group.
Sample Testing – Communication Log Entry – Comments Change – Mandatory Addition – Modified the logic so that the change of the comments forces a new record to be written to the database instead of a change to keep a true log of the comments.
Sample Testing – Object Conversion Tracking – The write routine was putting leading zeros on the accession numbers when they were added to the conversion table. Removed these from the logic.
Quality Module – Free Form Checkbox Header – Added a “free form” check box to the header section of the quality module to allow for manual entry of the accession prefix, specimen (i.e. bottle) and part (i.e. cassette) identifiers.
Admin Web Site – Doctor License Maintenance – Active Flag – Added an active flag and active license only criteria to this maintenance screen. This allows for the inactivation of doctor license records in scenarios where the records need to be maintenance of licene but where the license does not need to appear in the various places in Assist. For example, a doctor no longer works for the firm, but licensure tracking needs to be kept for historical purposes.
Stain Queue - On Demand Scanning – Protocol/Stain Lookup – If spaces were in the protocol/stain name that was placed into the bar code, the parsing engine that reads the bar codes was not “looking up” the bar code correctly. The scan parsing engine eats the blanks and creates a string that did not match the human readable in the drop down list. Changed the routine to consider the protocol WITH and WITHOUT embedded blanks when performing the lookup.
Admin Web Site – Manufacturing Task Employee Summary – Created this report to provide visibility to a summary of task scan activity by employee. This includes task start/end calculations.
Admin Web Site – Manufacturing Order Type Maintenance – SubAssembly and Finished Goods Checkboxes – Added these two fields to the screen to allow a manufacturing ordered to be classified as finished goods or sub assemblies.
Admin Web Site – Inventory Category Maintenance – Finished Goods Checkbox. Added this checkbox to the maintenance screen to allow for an inventory category to be set up to be finished goods only. This will allow for segmentation of inventory master records in the Assist inventory module.
Admin Web Site – UDI Label Type Maintenance – Finished Goods and Product Check Boxes. Added this checkboxes to the UDI label type maintenance screen to allow UDI labels to b designation as belonging to finished good products vs. Manufactured products. This allows for the triggering of the different UDI label templates to meet FDA requirements.
Admin Web Site – Recipe Category Maintenance – Sub Assembly and Finished Goods check boxes. Added these checkboxes to the maintenance screen to allow a recipe category to be designated as belonging to sub assembly vs. Finished goods for use in the Assist inventory module.
Admin Web Site – Accession Prefix Maintenance – Use Default Protocol check box and Default Protocol Value. Added a text field to the maintenance screen to allow for the designation of a value that should be used for a protocol for all slides for the prefix assuming the use default protocol check box is checked.
Interface Utility Module – Missing Client Robot – Added an automated job that can be scheduled to compare material submission master records with no client number and attempt to update them from the LIS master table in case the client interface is lagging for some reason.
Admin Web Site – Doctor License Maintenance – License Cost and License Notes. Added these two fields to the maintenance screen.
Admin Web Site – Doctor License Report - License Cost and License Notes. Added these two fields to the report.
Admin Web Site – Expiration Tracking Report – Created this report to provide visibility to the expiration tracking information for memberships and subscriptions that are tracking through Assist.
Admin Web Site – Expiration Tracking Audit Log - Created this report to provide visibility to the expiration tracking audit log information for memberships and subscriptions that are tracking through Assist. The audit log represents all changes that are made to expiration records and provides detailed information on changes.
Admin Web Site – Expiration Tracking Maintenance – Created this screen to provide the ability to maintain expiration tracking information. This is the area of Assist where subscriptions and memberships are tracked.
Quality Module – Error Severity Maintenance – Modified this tab and maintenance screen to include the informational flag and font color. These two pieces of informational were previously not included in the maintenance screen.
Admin Web Site – Inventory Maintenance – UDIFlag, UDITemplate, UDILabelDesc, and UDI UOM. Added these fields to the inventory maintenance screen to support interaction between the inventory control portions of Assist and the printing of UDI labels specifically geared toward finished goods inventory items.
Admin Web Site – Protocol Structure Report – Human Text Override – Added this column to the report so that the human text alternative to the bar code value could be seen.
Quality Module – Expirations Tab/Tickler – Added a new red/green button to the top of the screen to display any “expiration/license” data that might exist inside Assist tracking. These expirations can be medical licenses, memberships in organizations, really anything with a membership number and an expiration date. A tickler button is at the top of the screen to show the count of them along with green if they are all good or red if some number of them are expiring within the warning threshhold.
Admin Web Site – UDI UOM Master Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of UDI unit of measure mappings. In the world of UDI labels, the governmental list of units of measure do not match the actual numeric value. In other words, there are numeric codes that represent the true UOM data. This maintenance screen allows for the maintenance of this cross reference data.
Admin Web Site – Inventory Master Maintenance – UDI Filter – Added a check box to the selection criteria on this screen to allow for filtering based on the inventory master items that have been marked as UDI items.
Admin Web Site – Recipe Master Maintenance – Redistribute and Manufacture checkboxes. Modified this screen to allow for the specification of whether a recipe is for manufacture of a new product using sub-assembly components or represents the simple redistribution of an existing item with no sub assembly other than something simple such as repackaging.

4th Quarter 2022

October 2022

Sample Testing – Default Tab – Added the ability to specify a default tab so that the screen can load in a custom manner.
Sample Testing – Specimen Order Pop Up Screen - Close On Save Option – Added an option to the screen to show a check box for “close on save” and set a configuration variable to allow this to be on or off and to have the screen respond appropriately to the option.
Sample Testing – Specimen Order Pop Up Screen – Communication Log Tree Severity Color – Modified the communication log tree to show the log message header in the severity color to have high severity items visually stand out more.
Sample Testing – Holding Site Maintenance – When a new holding site is entered, or an existing one is modified, the underlying specimen order screen did not default to the newly added/maintained holding site immediately upon return from the pop up maintenance screen. Defaulted this to cut down on having to select the site under the premise that the newly added one would want to immediately be used.
Sample Testing- Specimen Order Pop Up Screen – Date of Birth Checkbox – added a checkbox to the date of birth to indicate that the date HAS been specified and should be considered valid. The default on date controls is “today” and wanted a better way of indicating that the data had really been entered.
Sample Testing – Specimen Order Pop Up Screen – Specimen Tests – Changed the error message to indicate on a NEW order that a save must be performed to create the order before you can being entering tests against the order. The message was a little misleading as to the issue previously.
Admin Web Site - UDI Label Type Maintenance – Use Inventory Desc – Added this checkbox to the maintenance screen. It supports the printing of UDI labels for finished goods items where the description to print on the label should be the product description from the inventory master file and not a brand name associated with the UDI label header.
Inventory Module – Finished Goods Functionality – Added a tab to the inventory module to support the tracking of finished goods. This tab largely mimics the manufacturing order tab with the exception that sub assemblies are not being created, finished goods (i.e. sales supplies, etc.) are being created. Supports the concept of manufacturing (i.e. kitted) finished goods as well as repackaged or redistributed finished goods.
Inventory Module – UDI Label Printing – Added the ability on the new finished goods tab to allow for the printing of lot number finished goods UDI labels for items that fall under FDA control. The indicator for UDI is allowed at the inventory master maintenance level (discussed earlier in the change log).
Admin Web Site - Equipment Master Maintenance – Equipment Bar Code Criteria. Added this criterion to the screen.
Admin Web Site – UDI Label Revisions Report – Suppress Label Header, Finished Goods Flag, Product Flag, Use Inventory Description. Added all of these new reports to the revision report to make sure full visibility to the revision changes exists from a control standpoint.
Admin Web Site – Department Maintenance – Timeclock Department Code – Added this field to the maintenance screen so that a timeclock department code could be tied to the department code for employees in Assist to better define the interface.
Admin Web Site – Recipe Batch Maintenance – Modified the selection criteria to include From/To date, Status, Lot number, and batch name to make it easier to identify the records to change.
Document Capture – Modified to allow for changes to the automatic file naming. Allows for optional insertion of a dash between the prefix and accession number. Only adds an 01, 02, etc. To the file name if it already exists. Allow for the creation of a file folder if needed but otherwise save into a single folder typically ordered by Year, Month.
Document Capture – Forward after save – Added logic to allow for a file to be copied to an alternative path after saving the image. Added logic to show the copy path and throw a message to the screen to indicate that the copy was successful. Added fields to the database to keep all of this new data.
Admin Web Site – Timeclock Platform Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the creation and maintenance of timeclock platforms. These represent the various types of timeclocks that might exist inside the organization and will part of the timeclock interface logic being introduced.
Timeclock Robot – Paylocity Timeclock – Created this robot routine to upload the paylocity brand time clock into Assist. The data is loaded into the raw Timeclock punch data table in the database.
Admin Web Site – Email Type Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of the email type. This is the beggining of the introduction of stored email records as part of the notifications process.
Admin Web Site – Manufacturing Team Type Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of manufacturing team types. This is part of the manufacturing module and allows for the logical grouping of teams (i.e. cells or assembly lines).
Admin Web Site – Manufacturing Team Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of manufacturing teams. This is part of the manufacturing module and represents the grouping of employees together to work as a unit (ex. Cells or assembly lines).
Admin Web Site – Email Library Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of email library items. This is part of the email storage to allow for forms to be created in email.
Admin Web Site – Attachment Library Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of items in the attachment library. This is part of the attachment storage areas of Assist and represent forms and things of that nature that can be stored and attached to different activities/transactions.
Admin Web Site - MFG Task Employee Summary – Time Clock Data – Modified this report to include timeclock data and also include multiple statistics.
PM Module – Equipment Bar Code Scanning – Added multiple items associated with the cross reference bar code. Added it to the selection criteria on the equipment lookup. Added the ability to scan the bar code and pull up the item on the maintenance screen and on the main PM tab.
Admin Web Site – Timeclock Punch Data Report – Created this report to provide visibility to raw timeclock punch data for sites that have a live interface into their timeclock platform(s).
Admin Web Site – Active Last Case Layout Details – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of the active last case layout details. This is a section of the Assist scoreboard module and allows for the mapping of machines/scan points to a big screen view of the last case that was processed. This screen is the mapping of those collection points to a scoreboard.
Admin Web Site – MFG Team Type Template Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of manufacturing team type templates. This is the section of Assist manufacturing where a combination of scanning roles is defined. This is useful in determining what manufacturing tasks are being performed in a cell or assembly line.
Admin Web Site – Batch Type Maintenance – FISH Batch Checkbox and control object count. Added a check box to this screen to allow for the marking of a batch type as a FISH batch. Also added a text box to capture the number of control objects that should be involved with the batch type.
Admin Web Site – Batch Status FISH Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of FISH batch status values. This allows for the capture of Open, Pending, Closed status values for FISH batches.
Admin Web Site – MFG Team Membership Maintenance – Created this maintenance screen to allow for the maintenance of manufacturing team membership. This is where the members of a team can be assigned via the web site instead of from the modules themselves.
Admin Web Site – Specimen Order Step Maintenance – Email Drop Down – Added this drop down list to the maintenance screen to allow for the assignment of automated email messages that can be generated in response to the specimen order step being saved against a case.
MFG Module – LIS MFG Task Retrieval – Modified the logic to change where the retrieval for the outstanding tasks was performed. It needed to be moved to more accurately capture the tasks that should be retrieved.
Manufacturing QC Module – Task Transaction Rework – The SQL statement to perform the cancellation of a manufacturing task transaction had a syntax error that was causing it to not launch correctly. Fixed this syntax error.
Manufacturing QC Module – Rework MSP drop down – Modified the logic when this screen loads. If there is only one MSP for a product, pre-selected this product.
Manufacturing QC Module – Rework Print On Save Checkbox – Added this checkbox to the rework entry screen. Having this checked allows for the printing of the rework paperwork automatically on save of the rework to save time.
Manufacturing QC Module – Rework Request – Management Cancel Value – Modified the rework request save routine to add a “N” to the management cancel value that has been added to the database. This value can be set to “Y” via the web screen for management flagging of a rework as not warranted.
Inventory Master Listing – UDI Data Fields – Added the various UDI data fields to the inventory master listing along with a UDI Only check box in the selection criteria to pull only a listing of inventory items that are marked as FDA UDI items.
MFG Tasks Maintenance – Available QC Module Check Box – Added a checkbox to the manufacturing task maintenance screen to allow for the specification of whether or not a manufacturing task should be visible in the scanning tab of the module. This cuts down on visual clutter and reduces scanning/entry mistakes.
Manufacturing QC Module – Available QC Module Drop Down Filter – Modified the loading of the drop down list on the scanning tab to take into account the available check box for the QC module.
Manufacturing QC Module – Default scanning task – Modified the module to look at the default MFG task value from the client configuration and default the MFG task drop down on the scanning tab to match this task.
Manufacturing QC Module – Button Change – On the MFG task scanning tab, changed the “Add” and “Delete” buttons to be smaller and carry the standard Assist buttons for add (Green +) and delete (red X). This makes the module more consistent with overall application design and saves screen space.
Rework Request Report – Management Cancel Field – Added this field to the report to provide visibility to rework requests that are overridden by management and are cancelled.
Admin Web Site – Order Type Maintenance – Business Area – Added this drop down to the order type maintenance screen so that a relationship can be specified between an order type and the business area to which the order type applies. This will be used in a variety of filtering situations.
Admin Web Site – Order Category Notification Maintenance – Created this maintenance screen to allow for the specification of employee groups that can/should receive a notification when an order is placed against a specific order category. This is part of the inbound specimen sample testing module.
Admin Web Site – Communication Log Source Maintenance – Modified this screen to make sure that the same business area is not used more than once to control the communication log assignments.
Manufacturing QC Module – Login/Logout Buttons – After successful login, the logout button was not visible. Corrected this.
Manufacturing QC Module – Task Start/Task End – Added the task start and end logic to the Manufacturing QC module to be able to track TAT on QC scans.
Manufacturing QC Module – Specimen Complexity – Added the specimen complexity logic to the QC module to allow for the display and override of the specimen complexity information.
Admin Web Site – Order Type Maintenance – Banking Only Checkbox – Added this checkbox to the maintenance screen to provide for the ability to mark an order as “banking only”. This is useful for facilities that prepare specimens that will not be used up during testing, but rather are placed on slides (etc.) and stored/banked for future use.
Admin Web Site – Order Type Maintenance – Micron Depth Allowed and Enrichment Allowed – Added this checkboxes to the screen to allow for the capture of these data elements.
Admin Web Site – Material Submission Template Detail Maintenance – Enrichment Ordered Checkbox – Added this to the screen to allow for enrichment orders to be included in a template when ordering by default.
Admin Web Site – Doctor Order Report – Enrichment Ordered – Added this column to the report to provide visibility to doctor orders placed with enrichment.
Admin Web Site – Doctor Order Audit Report – Administration Button – This button returned the employee to the “screen” main page instead of “reports”. Fixed this issue.
Admin Web Site – Order Category Maintenance – Enrichment Allowed Checkbox – Added this checkbox to the order category maintenance screen so that it can be used to filter the enrichment checkbox on the order entry pop up screen in the sample testing module.
Sample Testing – Enrichment Logic – added the logic throughout the entry process in the sample testing module to capture enrichment data.

November 2022

Admin Web Site – Specimen Type Maintenance – Alternate Description – Added this field to the maintenance screen to allow for an additional full description to be stored to cross reference descriptions and further describe a specimen.
Check In – Equipment Assignment Changes – Duplicate Equipment Types - Added the ability for mulitple pieces of the same equipment type to be assigned to a session. Previously, there could only be one piece of a specific equipment type assigned, but for stations that have multiple devices that they work with, this was a problem.
Check In – Equipment Drop Down – Changed the logic to only show records in the drop down based on the equipment assignment for the computer. Also added an “all equipment” check box to allow for the toggling of all equipment vs. Just the equipment assigned to the session.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Maintenance – Equipment Capacity – Added this field to the screen to allow for the capacity of a piece of equipment to be tracked for use in the check in module.
Equipment Maintenenance Module – Equipment Capacity – Added this field to the equipment maintenance tab to allow for the maintenence of the equipment capacity information.
Grossing Notes Report – Grossing Notes and Clinical criteria. Added the grossing notes and clinical information wild card to the criteria.
Universal Cassette POU – Rx Image button and check on scan – Added logic to look for an Rx image when a requisition is scanned if the automatic Rx Lookup check box is checked and also added a button to manually pull the data. If an Rx is “seen” at Requisition scan, turn the background of the button green.
Universal Cassette POU – Protocol in bar code vs. Specimen type in DB logic. For sites that have a specimen type contained in the bottle bar code, there can be a conflict if the data in the bar code exists and is different from the specimen type already mapped in the database. Modified the logic to use the bar code specification UNLESS the DB holds a value from employee override or LIS interface in which case the DB wins the fight.
Universal Cassette POU – Body Source Lookup – Modified the logic used for the body source lookup for sites that use the LIS Patient verification process. Allows for logic with pulling a short code out of the body site description to then use to pull the full description from the Assist body site master table.
Check In Module – Run History Details – Modified the right hand section of the module. When a run/batch is selected from the drop down list, now the details associated with the batch are displayed (Start date, end date, unloaded date, equipment description, run description) before the details of the run (i.e. cases or accessions) to provide better information.
Check In Module – MFG Task Batch Scanning – Added an entire functional area to the check in module to support manufacturing tasks and batch scanning. This supports sites that need to task scan against multiple cases before then submitting the entire batch into a piece of equipment for processiing.
Admin Web Site – Business Unit Maintenance – From Department and From Phone – Added these two fields to the busiiness unit maintenance screen. These are part of the interactive form logic and are used to hold return phone numbers and departments inside the forms. This is especially useful when working with fax cover sheets.
Admin Web Site – Attachment Library Maintenance – Interactive Form Checkbox – Added this checkbox to the attachment library maintenance screen. This will be used inside the various applications that make use of the form attachment library to use either static stored forms or to prompt for interactive information.
Sample Testing – Interactive Form Logic/Pop Up Screen – Added logic to the specimen ordering screen to handle the display of the form attachment library. This functionality supports the printing/creation of forms such as fax coversheets and other types of forms associated with client interaction.
Sample Testing – Interactive Form Checkbox – Added this checkbox to support forms that exist as both interactive forms AND as static forms so that the employee can choose on a case by case basis which version of the form to launch when it is selected from the library.
Universal Microtomy – Always Protocol Settings – Added logic to the point of use slide routine to always default a protocol value into the bar code if neccesary. A default protocol (ex. “HE”) can be defaulted so that there is always a value in the bar code. This is driven by a configuration flag to turn the feature on AND a value is stored in the accession prefix table to turn it on by prefix with the default value allowed at that level so that it can be turned on at the data level.
Universal Microtomy – Doctor order retrieval – no user id mapping – The doctor order logic needed there to be a valid cross reference ID between Assist and the ordering LIS. Modified the logic so that if no mapped is found, to just show the raw ordering identifier in the name column to have the routine work regardless of LIS mapping.
Interface Utility – Order Type Interface – No Mapped User ID – Modified the order type interface robot. Previously, when a doctor order was being processed, a connection to the Assist doctor file was done via cross reference in order to load an order OR the order got saved with the requesting doctor reflected as “robot”. Changed this to simply show the unmapped ID value.
Doctor Closeout – User Name for non mapped users – Using the same logic as indicated above for the robot, if the ordering doctor value was not mapped to an Assist doctor, just show the ID in the name field rather than “robot”.
Doctor Closeout – User ID free form check box and text box/criteria logic. To support the logic of the ID being shown if there is no user mapping, added a free form selection criteria choice to pull back a single ID instead of a selection from the drop down (which would indicate a mapping existed).
Admin Web Site – Attachment Form Layout Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of the attachment form layout data. These elements represent the form layouts for the electronic storage of attachments.
Scoreboard – Doctor Order Closeout Board – User ID if no name. The scoreboard that shows doctor orders was modified to show the ordering doctor ID in the name field if there is no name mapped to the doctor.
Universal Cassette POU – Patient Direct Print – In direct print mode (as opposed to drop file) there was no logic to include the patient name and to control the printing (i.e. X/Y, size, etc.). Added this to provide additional cassette printing flexibility.
Universal Cassette POU Magazine/Specimen Type Interaction – Modified the cassette point of use logic to default the magazine from the specimen type when relevant. Previously, this worked using the block/slide instructions data in the middle of the transaction.
Universal Cassette POU – Cache was displayed even direct print – Corrected this visual oversight where a cache directory was being shown even if the cache was not relevant for the configuration.
Universal Slide POU – Slide bar code compare to LIS Office Queue – For sites that compare Assist generated bar codes to LIS bar codes, added the ability at slide scan to determine if the slide created is anticipated by the LIS and to write to the database if there is a discrepancy and write to the office queue for entry into the LIS.
Admin Web Site – Office Queue Report – Full Bar Code – Added the full bar code field to the office queue report. This data can be useful when comparing LIS discrepancy comparisons.
Office Queue – LIS Bar Code Discrepancy Queue – Full Bar code and Protocol changes.
Admin Web Site – Control Tissue Maintenance – Histology, PCR, FISH, Flow, Cytogenetics checkboxes. Added these check boxes to the maintenance screen to allow for the categorization of the control tissue and the filtering when loading into drop down boxes.
Admin Web Site – Training Type Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of training types. This is used in multiple modules of Assist and reflects the types of training (i.e. production, human resources, etc.) that can be tracked/performed.
Admin Web Site – Training Media Type Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of training media types. This is used in multiple modules of Assist and reflects the types of training media (i.e. video, images, documents) that can exist.
Check In Module – Run Count – Modified the check in process to update the run count by 1 every time the processing run button is clicked. This gives a count of the number of times the run processing has been done and can be tied into the preventative maintenance process.
Admin Web Site – Training Media Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of training media. These are the training materials that can be accessed via the training functionality in Assist.
Admin Web Site – Training Choices Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of the assignment of training materials to employees, departments, and manufacturing tasks as necessary to meet the requirements of training programs.
Office Queue Closeout – Criteria pass through to print log screen. Modified the routinie that launches the print log to take any criteria that has been entered on the underlying screen to the print log screen so that the criteria does not have to be specified a second time.
Office Queue Closeout – Log Print – Add Protocol value and full bar code. – Modified the log print routine to include these two additional columns.
Office Queue Closeout – Center log print pop up screen. Modified the print log screen so that it is centered on the parent screen when it is launched to be consistent with the other modules.
Interface Robot – PathQuest Interface – Check for full bar code in office queue – Modified this robot to check for the full bar in the office queue before writing it into the list of doctor orders. This eliminates redundancy where the order got entered and passed into Assist because of an exception in the office queue.
Universal Cassette POU – Specimen Type Abbreviation in description – Added a check box to the screen to allow for the opt in/out of showing the specimen type abbreviation in front of the specimen description when the drop down box is loaded.
Universal Cassette POU – Molecular Object Scanning – Resolved an issue where a message was being sent to the screen notifying that an invalid object had been scanned on the vial object.

December 2022

Check In Module – Equipment Processing Run Auto Close – The check for active processing runs was not working perfectly. If a run was active when the equipment was chosen, it would close it if the timeframe was exceeded but would not immediately notify that the equipment was available. If the equipment was selected a second time, it would reflect it as available. Adjusted so that both happen at the same time.
Admin Web Site – Doctor Order Type Listing – Extended this report to include protocols and protocol details so that a full break down of the doctor order type and how it will be reflected in slide printing routines can be seen.
Admin Web Site – Order Type Maintenance – Order Only No Print Checkbox – Added this checkbox to the screen to allow for orders to be marked just as orders but not to print at Microtomy. This supports the use of orders outside of histology labs (i.e. PCR, Fish, etc.) where the order is entered but slides should not print.
Admin Web Site – Scan Rate Report – Cleaned up the critieria section of the screen to make more consistent and visually appealing.
Sample Testing – PCR Tab – “T” button. The pop up screen that is fired from this button did not filter to only show the orders for the extraction type that was selected. Correct this.
Interface Utility – Pathway Interface – Override Interface Logic – Added logic to the Pathway interface to consider the override interface flag when loading LIS interface information. This flag, if found ON for an accession number will skip it from updates as it would indicate that the employee manually made an entry that they do NOT want overridden by the interface robot job.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab – Resequence Button – Modified the logic behind the resequence button so that it only resequences unstained slides. Previously, stained slides and paraffin blocks could also be resequenced, which does not make sense.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab - Override Interface Check Box – Modified the save routine on the receiving tab to include the override interface check box and to save this data into the LIS interface table to mark an LIS interface record as something that a subsequent run from an interface should not override.
Universal Cassette – Pathway Location Identifier not triggering mismatch – Discovered an issue that could impact labs that use the Pathway LIS at grossing. If the same exact accession number, and suffix are process back to back, but with different location identifiers...and a mismatch is performed, the difference in location identifier was not noted. This was corrected.
Check In – Processor Batch Drop Down load – User Filter. Modified the processor history drop down load to have a check box to provide the choice of opting to ONLY see the equipment runs for the logged in employee or all of them.
Check In – Batch Task Scanning – Unload closes active batch. Modified the logic around equipment and task scanning batches to have the unload button actually close the batch.
Check In – Button Bar Codes – Added bar code functionality for load batch, close batch, and positioning of the batch history to cut down on the need to interact with the mouse.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Type Maintenance – Batch Only Type Checkbox. Added a check box to the equipment type maintenance screen to allow an equipment type to be marked a an equipment type solely for the purpose of batching. This is relevant for scenarios were a “batch” of specimens are being worked on and the “equipment” is a tabletop, drying station, etc.
Admin Web Site – Business Unit Maintenance – Default Delay Days – Addd the default delay days field to the business unit maintenance. This value will be used for defaulting the delay notification in client/customer communications when an order cannot be processed normally.
Admin Web Site – Case Hold Reason Maintenance – Auto Release – Added this check box to the maintenance screen to mark a case hold reason as a value that will flag and immediately release. This is done to phase in/out case holds that also trigger QC information.
Universal Cassette POU – Case Hold Auto Release Logic – Added logic to the patient verification process to immediately release a case from hold if it is set to “auto release”. This allows for the case to show in history as a hold with an immediate release to note the impact of introducing a case hold and also to generate a QC message.
Admin Web Site – Specimen Type Audit Log Report – Robot User name – For specimen type transactions that were generated by an interface robot, the records were not showing up on the report due to lack of a match to a user name. Added the value “ROBOT” to include these rows on the report.
Admin Web Site – Timer Countdown Maintenance – Run Cancelled and MFG Task. Added a check box to allow for a timer run to be marked as cancelled and also the ability to put in a manufacturing task if needed.
Admin Web Site – Timer Countdown Report – Run Cancelled and MFG Task. Modified this report to include the run cancelled field and the manufacturing task.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Tracking Report – Task Cancelled and Task Cancelled Date. Modified this report to include the task cancelled Y/N value and the task cancelled date if relevant.
Admin Web Site – MFG Task Transaction Report – Task Scan Cancelled. Modified this report to include the task scan cancelled Y/N value.
QC Module – Lab Operations Grid Click Criteria – The click of the lab information rows now loads the criteria for prefix and accession into the fields on the other tabs.

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1st Quarter 2021

January 2021

Universal Slide – Added a flag to allow for the “Override Patient” check box to be hidden. Also added a flag to allow for slides to not be printed if the patient name is not found for sites that require the interface between Assist and the LIS be active.
Case Finder – Modified this utility to include visibility on the snapshot tab to disposal and accessioning bins that might be associated with an accession number. Also added the ability to suppress any user login information if the module is being used without requiring employee log in.
Case Finder – Modified this utility to include visibility to warehouse transactions and bin detail storage via separate tabs.
Case Finder – Modified this utility to include the ability to capture look up transactions in a audit trail database table to have visibility to what cases are being research by what employees.
Admin Web Site – Case Finder Audit Log – Created this report to provide visibility to the employees and what cases are being researched.
Admin Web Site – Object Disposal Report – Cleaned up the criteria to make more visually appealing.
Accessioning – Added the ability to capture specimen complexity inside the accessioning module.
Admin Web Site – Specimen Type Tracking Maintenance – Specimen Complexity – Modified this maintenance screen to allow for the maintenance of the specimen complexity information.
Admin Web Site – Printer Magazine Maintenance – Modified this screen to allow for the capture of a “magazine notation” that would be a value that can be printed on a slide to indicate the magazine that the slide was printed from.
Admin Web Site – Warehouse Storage Transactions Report - Created this report to provide visibility to the warehouse storage transaction data.
Admin Web Site – Case Hold Reason Maintenance – Case Hold Reason Category – Added the case hold reason category to allow for the grouping of case hold reasons.
Admin Web Site – Object Tracking Report – Manufacturing Task View – Modified this view to include the manufacturing task description in addition to the task number and also added the task scanning employee to augment the user ID.
Admin Web Site – Case Hold Reason Category – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of reason categories. These allow for case hold records to be grouped for reporting and selection purposes.
Admin Web Site – Specimen Complexity Summary – Created this report to provide summarized views of specimen complexity information.
Admin Web Site – Case Hold Maintenance – Comments – Modified this maintenance screen to include the comments fields.
Admin Web Site – Case Hold Report – Comments – Added the comments field to this report and cleaned up the selection criteria to be more visually appealing.
Admin Web Site – Case Hold History Report - Added the comments field to this report and cleaned up the selection criteria to be more visually appealing.
Admin Web Site – Acknowledgement Type Details Maintenance – Font Color – Added the font color to this screen to allow for acknowledgement messages to be displayed in color. Also a silent flag to determine whether or not the acknowledgement makes noise when shown.
Admin Web Site – MFG Employee Defaults Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for maintenance over the MFG Employee defaults data. This allows for customization of routings.
Inventory Module – Label Validation – Created a label validation process. This was needed due to sporadic print quality issue with zebra label printers. This modification allows for the immediate scanning of an inventory label after printing it to verify that it works before putting into the facility.

February 2021

Admin Web Site - Material Submission Template Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of material submission templates. These templates are used inside the receiving module of Assist for keeping track of materials sent by clients to a reference lab and to codify the idea of “standard” inbound combinations of items.
Admin Web Site – Material Submission Template Details – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of the detailed items associated with a material submission template.
Admin Web Site – Order Type Maintenance – Print Template – Added the print template designator to the order type maintenance screen to allow for the association of a different “look” to a slide based on the order type.
Admin Web Site – Material Type Maintenance – Print Template, Type Abbr, Default Printer – Added the above fields to the material type maintenance screen to better support the printing of labels for each type of material that can be received and tracked inside Assist.
Admin Web Site – Employee Daily Work Statistics – Cleaned up the criteria on this report to make them more visually appealing. The From/To time were not getting factored into the report correctly and this was fixed.
Admin Web Site – LIS Patient Verification Maintenance – Modified This screen to include the new fields for address1, address2, body site code, body site description, city, state.
Admin Web Site – Distribution Items Not Returned – Cleaned up the criteria area of this screen to make it more attractive and added a formatted accession number field to the report.
Universal Module – The routine that calculates the elapsed time on an auto logout was not terminating correctly if the scan type was changed manually to record scan transactions against a scan type other than the type that was originally there when the screen was launched.
Admin Web Site – LIS Interface Audit Report – Created this report to allow for an auditing of accession numbers that pass through the various modules of Assist that do not have a matching record in the LIS Interface table. This is useful for sites with an LIS interface to provide visibility to the number of interface failures.
Accessioning Module – Modified this screen to allow for the capture of courier information in the shipment tracking screen for sites that want to track inbound specimens by courier or to mark them as courier vs. Carrier (Fed Ex/UPS, etc.). Also added automatic version updates at compile time.
Admin Web Site – Employee Scan Rate Report – Modified the employee button to increase the speed of retrieval for the employees that performed scan transactions within the criteria.
Admin Web Site – QC Error Employee Assignment – Added an Export button to this screen.
Admin Web Site – Label Validation Report – Created this report to provide visibility to the label validation transactions that are performed inside the Assist Inventory module.
Issue Tracking Module – Modified the issue tracking screen to allow for the specification of whether or not an issue is billable for reporting purposes.

March 2021

Admin Web Site - Issue Log Report – Created this report to provide a listing of the issues that have been recorded in the issue tracking module.
Admin Web Site – HL7 Interface Lag Report – Created this report for sites that use the Assist HL7 interface. It shows the date/time that the interface routine dropped the data into the database and calculates the minutes between the drop of raw data and the parser loading it into Assist for use and averages out the minutes by the number of transactions to give some “heartbeat” data.
Admin Web Site – Courier Maintenance – Added a “show record number” choice to the top of the screen to allow for the display of the record number.
Admin Web Site – Report Maintenance – Description Search – Added this criteria to the screen to allow for filtering.
Admin Web Site – Screen Maintenance – Description Search – Added this criteria to the screen to allow for filtering.
Accessioning Module – Activation Error Tracking – Added a new routine to capture any activation errors to the Assist database to make it easier for the Assist team to run down activation issues.
Accessioning Module – Personal Configuration Overrides – Extended this feature to also fire on manual login. It was previously only working for scanner login. Put in full “fall through” logic where it checks for Employee/Machine, then if not found, Employee, then if not found, machine.
Universal Module – Cassette POU – Modified the patient verification routine to make sure that if full verification is done on a multi-part case with the “close on verified” check box selected, that the screen actuall closes. This was not working in all cases.
Universal Module – Cassette POU – Manual Bottle Entry – There was a way that the accession number was getting thrown off in manual entry mode and the last digit of the accession number was falling into the specimen part. Fixed this issue.
Admin Web Site – Assist Activation Error Report – Created this report to provide visibiity to the assist activation errors that are now being recorded when an Assist error is generated.
Admin Web Site – LIS Interface Request Report – Created this report to provide visibility to the stain requests that are coming across from the PathQuest LIS. This is a raw audit log of the data.
Admin Web Site – Product Training Tracking Report – Created this report to provide visibiilty to the tracking of product training information. Training links can be clicked from the manufacturing module of Assist and this new reports shows how often the product training information is accessed.
Admin Web Site – Distribution Protocol Report – Created this report to provide visibility to the accession numbers that are distributed and the protocols that are included.
Admin Web Site – Inventory Master Maintenance – Default Request Quantity – Added this field to the maintenance screen. This allows for a defaulted quantity on the inventory request screens.
Inventory Module – Added the ability to default the quantity to the inventory request screens based on the new value added to the inventory master file. Also provided the ability to disable the status drop down boxes on the requests screens to reduce the chances of errors by eliminating the abiilty to change the data. Also put logic in place to stop anyone from “back dating” the NEEDED date on an inventory request.
Print Center – Scanner/Form Connect/Release – The print center module allows for multiple child screens to be launched inside the module. If more than one screen makes use of a com scanner, the screen would lock the scanner until closed preventing it’s use in another screen. Modified to allow the clicking to set focus on the screen to release the scanner from the “old” screen and connect the scanner to the “new” screen.
Inventory Module – Inventory Inquiry – Fixed issue where the inventory code was not getting added to the detail grid when the configuration indicated that it should.
Doctor Closeout – Addressed an issue for labs with the Pathway LIS. There were issues with manually adding doctor orders manually for a prior year when in a new year (for recuts and such). Fixed this issue.
Object Filing Module (Warehouse) - Scanner/Form Connect/Release – The warehouse module allows for multiple child screens to be launched inside the module. If more than one screen makes use of a com scanner, the screen would lock the scanner until closed preventing it’s use in another screen. Modified to allow the clicking to set focus on the screen to release the scanner from the “old” screen and connect the scanner to the “new” screen.
Admin Web Site – Test Plate Type Maintenance – Plate Designation – Added this drop down to the screen to allow for a default plate designation (i.e. Covid, Flu, etc.) to be specified when a plate type is used. This will allow for defaults on the screens.
Test Kit Tracking – added logic to handle the printing of plate designations on the plate labels and wrote them to the database so that different types of plates could be shown visually through a PCR type lab with plates.
Admin Web Site – HL7 Specimen Matching Inquiry – Added the wildcard field to the selection criteria.
Admin Web Site – Test Plate Designation – Created this screen to handle the maintenance of test plate designations.
Print Center – UDI Labels – Print Template – Extended the UDI label screen to add the print template logic to allow for simple end user label customization.
Print Center – Class 1 Labels – Print Template – Extended the Class 1 label screen to add the print template logic to allow for simple end user label customization.
Admin Web Site – Client Type Maintenance – Clinical Research/Histology Check boxes – Added these two check boxes to the client type screen to allow for further classification of client types.
Admin Web Site – Order WorkFlow Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of order workflows. These are used inside the sample testing module to allow for different laboratory workflows and the tracking of the steps.
Admin Web Site – Order Type Routing Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of the workflow routing that specific order types take as they move through the laboratory.
Print Center – Badge Printing – Modified this routine so that if the Assist logo image is missing from the computer, the badge will print anyway but there will be no logo. Historically, if the logo file was left off the computer, they could not print badges.
Print Center – Transport Bin Labels – Created this screen to allow for the printing of transport bin labels.
Universal Module – Doctor Orders – Rush Criteria – On the retrieval of doctor orders on the criteria screen, the “Rush” orders check box had a typo and was not pulling back data. Corrected this issue.
Main Scanner Engine – Transport Bin – Added the ability to scan into a transport bin from the main scanner engine. This gives the ability to associate the scanned object with a transport “vehicle” that will be used to move that object to another location in the facility.
Scoreboard – Material Routing Board – Created this scoreboard view to serve as a notification to different room inside the facility when an object has been created that is awaiting their retrieval for processing. The best example is the sample testing module where material arrives for testing and this board can be used to alert the different departments that material needs to be retrieved.
Admin Web Site – Material Routing Report – Created this report to display the material routing around the lab for sites that receive inbound test material and then route it differently based on the reference testing that needs to be performed.
Admin Web Site – Client Configuration Maintenance – Order by Description – Modified this maintenance screen to allow for the sort order to be changed for the client configuration records from sort order to type description.
Admin Web Site – Scanned Batch Type Maintenance – Object Type – Added the ability to tie the object type to the scanned batch types.
Admin Web Site – Batch Facility tracking Report – Created this report to provide visibility to the movement of scanned batches across the various locations in a facility. An example of a scanned batch would be something like an Accessioning bin or the container that requisitions are placed in. This can be identified and scanned as they move around.
Main Scanner Engine – Specimen Type Override Issue – Identified and fixed a bug where changing a specimen type for the “non A” specimen could delete the “A” specimen type. Corrected this issue.

2nd Quarter 2021

April 2021

Accessioning – Specimen Type Drop Down – Font Color – Changed the drop down on the accessioning specimen type screen so that it can display the drop down font in the color that matches the specimen types.
Admin Web Site – Stain Queue Accession Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of the detailed stain queue accession number data via the web site. This allows sites to handle this maintenance without having to provide access to the stain queue module.
Accessioning Module – Modified to include batch type when pulling back batch data for the sites that are making use of scanned batches.
Scanned Batch Report – Batch Type – There is a criteria drop down for batch type on this screen. It was discovered that the batch type being shown was not the SCANNED batch type but rather was another type of batch that was not relevant for this data. Corrected this issue.
Main Scanner Engine – Enforce Scan Order – Modified the screen to allow for the Enforce scan order to be disabled so that it can be seen, but employees cannot override it.
Sample Testing – The protocol display screen for placing orders against inbound specimens was not ordered by sort order OR by order type description. Put the sort order in place.
Inventory Module – Inventory Request Speed Entry – Added an employee drop down to the screen in case an employee does not have a badge. The drop down positions based on badge scan or user entry. This value gets saved to the employee requested field.
Admin Web Site – Printer Magazine Cross Reference Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the interface of Assist with different LIS platforms. This screen allows for tying of different cross reference values to the various magazine values.
Admin Web Site – Assist Rotator Maintenance – Description Criteria – Added this filter to the top of the screen to make it easier to get to the information needed.
Admin Web Site – Inventory Details Maintenance – Cleaned up the critiera at the top of the screen and added the ability to suppress the product number and vendor description from the view. Also added the inventory code as a display option.
Inventory Module – Inventory Requests – When a link is performed from the requests tab to the release tab.....when the inventory item is positioned, if there is only one active detail lot, go ahead and position the drop down to this item to save that click event since it is only choice instead of positioning to Not Specified.
Inventory Module – Inventory Release Tab – There was a bug with the auto print of labels due to a change in the underlying database table. No error was produced but labels were not printing. This has been resolved.
Admin Web Site – Specimen Type Maintenance – Reference Code – Added this field to the maintenance screen to allow for an additional form of specimen type interface where the code to be associated with the specimen type is hard coded into cassettes and needs a way to tie the disparate systems together.
Universal Module – Reference Codes/Specimen Types – Added logic to allow for the mapping of reference codes from the bar codes for sites that support this feature, to the specimen type.
Admin Web Site – Inventory Request Report – Issued Quantity – Added the issued quantity to this report to provide visibility to the requested quantity vs. The issued quantity.
Admin Web Site – Inventory Request Maintenance – Issued Quantity – Added the issued quantity to this maintenance screen to allow for it to be modified when performing maintenance over
Admin Web Site – Client Configuration Maintenance – Modified this screen to only show configuration types that are active. Previously all configuration types were shown. This change was actually made to the global routine that loads the configuration type drop down, so this impacts any/all screens that show configuration types.
Admin Web Site – Plate Next Transfer Report – Modified this report to include the plate type that is shown on transfer transactions to provide more meaningful data.
Admin Web Site – Object Request Priority Maintenance – Added font color to this maintenance screen to allow for customization of object requests to show different colors based on different priority values.
Warehouse Module – Object Request Alert Button – Added a seperate screen to allow for warehouse requests to show a count as a little “button” inside the overall warehouse screen to alert employees to the fact that warehouse records exist.

May 2021

Inventory Module – Inventory Release/Request Interaction – Added functionality to the inventory release screen to tie inventory requests to the release process to make more a more streamlined process of closing inventory requests.
Admin Web Site – ESL Tag Data Staging Maintenance – Created this maintenance screen as part of the Assist electronic sales tags. This allows for the sending to tag data to the display panels. This will normally be done via a module, but this would be used for emergencies.
Admin Web Site – ESL Link Staging Maintenance –Created this maintenance screen to allow for the tying of electronic sales tags to accession numbers. This will normally be done via a module, but this would be used for emergencies.
Admin Web Site – ESL Tag Type Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of teh various types of ESLs that are in use.
Admin Web Site – Order Closeout – Updated to include a “select all/unselect all” option when in the status change only mode. Also fixed a flaw with the screen refreshing when in status change mode.
Universal Grossing – Modified the routine to bring forward the cassette magazine/hopper based on the specimen type mapping to the block instructions table.
Admin Web Site – Accession Slide Count Maintenance – IHC Print Flag – Modified the slide recipe section of this screen to include an IHC Print Flag to allow a specific protocol record to be marked as needing to be routed specifically to an IHC printer.
Universal Slide – Override Magazine – Added a check box to the screen to allow for a “hard override” to only print to the magazine specified. If the magazine is not visible (because it was not a magazine printer), it will be ignored.
Universal Slide – Override Specimen Magazine – Added a check box to the screen to allow for an override of the magazine when protocols are used. By default, the magazine pulls from the protocol details. With this check box selected, the magazine will be pulled by default from the specimen type instead. This handles the issue where magazines are really driven by the client or color of the specimen instead of always pulling from consistent magazines.
Universal Slide – IHC Print Flag – Added this check box to the slide recipe details section of the screen. This is used to indicate an override of the protocol detail to print to the “IHC Printer” for sites that are using the universal slide print screen.
Distribution Module – List Prefixes change – Modified the method used for loading and tracking prefixes. Previously, they were loaded at the “header” level and then a call was made to the database to get details when they were needed resulting in multiple rounds trips to the database. This change loads the data at screen load and references it when needed from the initial load to reduce round trips to the DB and increase speed.
Inventory Module – Maintenance Tab – Inventory Code – The first time the inventory code field was used, it positioned the drop down in the selection criteria area correctly. After this first time, after saving data, the inventory code was not right. Cleared the search criteira after save to resolve the issue.
Admin Web Site – Case Rush Type Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of case rush types. These types were created to categorize the case rush values that could be specified to allow for better reporting and management of rush lists.
Admin Web Site – Case Rush Maintenance – Case Rush Type – Added the case rush type to the case rush master file to allow for the categorization of case rush values.
Admin Web Site – Warehouse Picklist Status Maintenance – Warehouse requests have been fleshed out further inside the warehouse module. This included more detailed information involving picklists. This screen was created to allow for picklist status values (ex. Open, Pending, Closed) to be associated with warehouse picklist items.
Admin Web Site – Warehouse Organization Maintenance – Warehouse organizations were added to the warehouse picklist information. This was done so that a picklist item can be associated with an different organization (ex. Internal, Iron Mountain)
Warehouse module – Warehouse Requests – A new warehouse requests screen has been added inside the warehouse module to allow for the capture and display of warehouse requests. This requests can also be automatically sent to picklists.
Admin Web Site – Material Request Maintenance – Object Flags – Added object flags to the material request screen. This allows a material request value to specifically refer to a tangible object inside Assist.
Admin Web Site – Security Maintenance – Allow Inventory Request Flag – Added this flag to the security maintenance screen to allow employees to be enabled for the inventory request drop down. This allows for filtering of drop down values to reduce accidental selection of the wrong employees.
Inventory Module – Speed Inventory Request – Allow Inventory Request Filter – On the “Speed Request” version of the inventory material request screen, added the ability filter employee drop downs to only include employees that have been marked as inventory request employees.

June 2021

Universal Slide Queue – Added an override magazine to the screen – Put this value on the screen to allow the slide queue routine to override the logic associated with protocols and specimens. For example, if a magazine is broken in a printer, it may be necessary to “re-route” traffic to a different magazine.
Scanner Engine – Case Component – Group by and added color to the specimen type node. Visually adjusted the way that case component data is displayed to allow for color coding in the tree view.
Universal Slide – Added case components logic – The same case component (chain of custody) information that is visible in the main scanner application was added to the universal slide POU screen and is accessible via a checkbox.
Admin Web Site – Warehouse Picklist Maintenance – Adjusted the warehouse picklist process to allow for picklists to be saved. Previously, they were just printed “on the fly” from selected data. The adjustment to actually save them as database objects made it necessary to provide a screen to override or adjust them.
Admin Web Site – Material Submission Type Maintenance – Return Required. Added a checkbox to the material submission type to allow for the default of the return required value. This is part of the sample testing module of Assist,
Admin Web Site – Order Workflow Maintenance – Default Facility Location. When an order workflow record is created (ex. Histology, Flow, PCR, etc.), this modification allows for the physical location in the facility associated with the workflow to default.
Admin Web Site – Material Submission Template Details – Default Print On. Modified the material submission template details screen to include a check box to “default print” different objects. For sites that perform sample testing and receive objects from clients that have to be labelled, this routine allows for the creation of placeholders for this objects without printing labels if needed and to reduce having to actually click the buttons to select them.
Admin Web Site – Material Type Maintenance – Bottle Flag – The material type maintenance screen was changed to include the ability to mark material types (ex. Slide, block) as bottles as well.
Admin Web Site – Client Master Maintenance – OverDueDays Field. Added the overduedays field to the client master maintenance screen. This allows the client to have a defaulted overdue days assignment that would override the default for the material type.
Admin Web Site – Material Submission Template – Workflow Number. Modified this screen to include a default workflow for a material submission template. This is part of the sample testing module where templates can be created to represent standard combinations of objects (ex. Blocks, slides, etc.) that are received on inbound testing. This change allows the workflow to default at that level as well.
Admin Web Site- Order Type Maintenance – Unstained Flag. Added an unstained flag to the order type screen, which is used for the processing of doctor orders and sample testing. This allows for unstained slides to be tracked separately from other objects since they represent an object that can be converted into a different objects (i.e. a stained slide).
Admin Web Site – Order Category Maintenance – PCR Flag. Modified the order category screen to include the PCR Flag. This allows for order types to be categorized to apply for that lab where needed.
Admin Web Site – Error Maintenance – Track Resolution – Added this flag to the maintenance screen to allow for indication of whether or not the error message needs resolution and should go into the resolution tracking table.
Admin Web Site – Warehouse Pull Analysis Report – Created this report to show outbound warehouse/banking transactions along with when the object that was “checked out” was originally stored in the warehouse. This allows for better analysis of the data coming and going into the warehouse.
Admin Web Site – QA/LIS Interface Stored Procedures – Create two stored procedures to allow for better interface/communications between Assist and LIS platforms.
Admin Web Site – QA Resolutions Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of QA resolutions. These are the steps that have been taken to resolve a quality issue for which tracking of the resolution has been indicated (at the error level).
Admin Web Site – QA Issue Resolution Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of QA Issue Resolution records. These are generated when an error is captured in the QA system that indicates tracking is involved to determine error resolution. This screen allows for overrides and changes to the data.
Admin Web Site – Accession Printer Filter – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of accession printer filter records. This data is used to filter the printer choices shown in the universal modules. It allows for multi-site facilities to not list printers that do not exist in the facility to stop any accidental printing from the wrong data.
Admin Web Site – Client Configuration – Default MFG Task/Default MFG Task Blank – Added the MFG Task and Task Blank flag to this maintenance screen to allow for machines to default to a manufacturing task appropriately when manufacturing tasks are getting tracked.
Manufacturing Module – Load Default Task Logic – Modified the manufacturing module in Assist to pull in default tasks based on what was put into the client configuration screen.
Accession Printers – Cache Directory – Added the ability to specify a cache directory at the printer level in Assist. This allows for each printer to be specified with a different network address to use for directing “drop files” that indicate what should print. Previously, this data could only be addressed via configuration.
Universal Cassette POU/Queue – Added Cache directory logic – Modified the universal cassette module to pull the cassette cache from the accession printers database if it exists. If all of the cassette printers in an environment are exposed, this value can be used to point the data as appropriate.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Setting Template Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of equipment setting templates. These are part of the Assist functionality to capture machine settings and represent the template or collection of variables that are going to be captured.
Manufacturing Module – User/LIS Interface Check – Added the ability in the manufacturing module to pass the LIS Interface value inside Assist to the LIS to make sure that there is a valid user in the LIS/ERP for that employee. For sites that perform task tracking, this can be critical to make sure that completed task information is getting sent back into the LIS/ERP as necessary.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Setting Variables Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of equipment setting variables. These are the machine variables that can be captured in conjunction with machine settings and represent all of the data elements that need to be captured. They can be combined with templates to give a list of all the data.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Setting Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of equipment settings. This data represents the marriage of the equipment setting templates to the variables that can be captured.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Setting Tracking Report – Created this report to show the equipment setting data that can now be captured using the manufacturing module.
Admin Web Site – Specimen Type Maintenance – Default Bottle Quantity – Added the default bottle quantity field to the maintenance screen. This allows for the quantity to show on the label print routine and accessioning integration to handle variable bottle quantities by specimen type.
Universal Cassette – Case Component Display – Added a screen to the side of the universal module to show all of the components for the case. This allows a grosser to have visibility to all of the specimen bottles that should exist for the case.
Accessioning Module – Automatic Label Printing – Added the ability to automatically print labels via Accessioning. As soon as a requisition is scanned, the bottle print screen is presented using the default label quantity for each of printing.
Admin Web Site – Case Hold Reason Maintenance – Track Resolution/Error Master interface – Added choices to indicate if a case hold reason requires specification of the resolution and allows for the mapping of case hold reasons to quality errors so that a hold can also generate a QC transaction.

3rd Quarter 2021

July 2021

Admin Web Site – Material Testing Source Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of material testing sources. This is part of the sample testing module in Assist and represents the source of testing (ex. Paraffin Block, Tissue vial, etc.).
Admin Web Site – Order Type Maintenance – Extraction type – Extended the order type maintenance screen to allow for the specification of the extraction type that should be associated with an order type. This is typically used in a PCR lab and represents how the specimen should be extracted for testing.
Admin Web Site – Inventory Storage Location Maintenance – Employee Association
Inventory Module – Inventory Storage Location – Position by the requesting employee
Inventory Module – Receiving Label Print Quantity – The quantity was wrong and was pulling from the release tab quantity instead.
Material Type Maintenance – Internal Material/Increment Part Count – Added two fields to the material type maintenance screen. This allows for the determination of whether material type is internal (ex. Histology generated slides) as opposed to client submitted. The “increment” check box allows for the materials to carry the same part number (ex. 6 unstained slides all with A1 on them) if relevant.
Warehouse – Picklist Tracking – Added this feature to the warehouse module. Picklists have always been capable of being created, with the goal being to print a list of objects to be pulled from the warehouse. This feature addition gives the ability to scan against items on the picklist and track them.
Warehouse – Warehouse Request – Special Projects – Introduced the concept of “special” projects to the warehouse module. These are basically “offline” specifications of a batch of Accessions that need to be pulled that would be special project types of things.
Admin Web Site – Extraction Type Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of extractions types. These are used inside the sample testing module of Assist (specifically PCR types of specimens) where the type of extraction that needs to be performed is important to know/track.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Type Maintenance – Setting Tracking Eligible – Added the field to the equipment type table. This allows for equipment types to be specified as eligible for setting tracking which is a feature inside Assist where the tracking of what settings are placed on a piece of equipment at the time of scanning is performed.
Admin Web Site – Material Template Details Maintenance – Specimen Type/Order Type – Added the ability inside the material template details setup to specify the specimen type and/or order type to allow for expedited entry of data into the “receiving area” of the sample testing module of Assist.
Sample Testing – Material Template Details processing as outlined above. – Added the logic to the receiving process of the sample testing module to take defaulted specimen types and order types into consideration. This modification allows for expedited entry when defaults are known.
Admin Web Site – Warehouse Picklist Report – Created this screen to report on the objects that were included in picklists. Previously, picklists were just a grouping of accessions that were printed but not saved, so there was no need to include the ability to report against them. Picklists can now be saved, so this reports allows for this data to be seen historically. The report can branch to show both summary and detail views of picklists.
Admin Web Site – LIS Interface Replication Maintenance – Number Series Order was added to the maintenance screen. This allows for the replication of specific number series inside a number wheel for sites that have an active order interface. Previously, the entire number wheel had to be included in any interface and this was limiting.
LIS Interface – LIS/PQ Interface orders load to Order Closeout. Added interface order loading into the LIS interface robot for the PathQuest LIS.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Setting Values Maintenance – Created this maintenance screen to allow for the maintenance of equipment setting values. These are the values that are captured using the equipment settings features in some of the modules. This screen allows for captured settings to be adjusted as needed outside of the main scanning modules where the data was originally captured.
Interface Utility – Accession Notes Acknowledgement Robot – Created this robot to automatically close accession notes if they are open and older than the days past specified.
Universal Slide Queue – Modified to handle Alias that is missing to avoid the dash by itself. This was happening when the alias print was turned on, but there was no alias on a record when printing via the slide queue.
Universal Slide Queue – Auto Purge – Added logic to allow for the purging of slide requests by using days back settings for both active and printed status slides.
Universal Module – Demographics Tab – Client Code – The client code was missing from the patient demographics tab. Added it.

August 2021

Admin Web Site – Extraction Type Maintenance – DefaultTubeCount – Added the default tube count so that label quantities can be defaulted based on the extraction type.
Admin Web Site – Batch Type Maintenance – ExtractionBatch and PCRBatch – Added these two values to the batch type maintenance screen to allow for the designation of a batch as a PCR batch or an extraction batch.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Maintenance – The Lease P/O number fields was showing null values if nothing was specified. Cleaned this to only show blanks as it should.
Admin Web Site – Micro Dissection Type Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of micro dissection types. Micro dissection types are used in the sample testing module of Assist in the PCR lab area.
Admin Web Site – Recipe Master Maintenance – Recipe Code – Added this field to the selection criteria to make it easier to retrieve recipes out of the list if there are a lot of them.
Admin Web Site – Inventory Master Maintenance – Manufacturing only and Ingredient only filter – Added to the selection criteria to make it possible to filter the entries on the inventory master file by these values.
Admin Web Site – Accession Slide Count Maintenance – Human Text Override Field – Increased the allowed size of this field to 30 characters instead of 10. This does not impact the bar code on the slide.
Inventory Module – Label Validation Tab - Auto Load On Scan – Added a check box to allow the employee to control whether or not all label validation transactions matching the selection criteria are performed when a label is scanned.
Inventory Module – Recipe Details Lookup – Added a checkbox to allow for the choice of whether or not the recipe codes are included in the drop down box. Also added a recipe code lookup box to allow for retrieval by code.
Admin Web Site – Extraction Batch Status Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of extraction batch status values. Extraction batches are used inside the PCR functionality inside the sample testing module of Assist. This status values drive the statue of a batch of extractions.
Admin Web Site – Digital File Locations Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of digital file locations. These represent the UNCs where digital files can be stored and are part of the digital dashboard feature set for digital pathology inside the warehouse module.
Doctor Order Closeout – Print Log Pop up screen – The print log screen inside the doctor order closeout loaded with defaults that were different from the defaults on the selection criteria for the closeout screen itself. Made sure that the settings that were on the underlying screen came forward to the print log pop up screen.
Inventory Module – Receiving Tab – Label Quantity matches Inventory Quantity – The label quantity and inventory quantity were set so that they will be teh same thing. The inventory quantity adjusts automatically to reflect the exact number of objects that are being placed inside inventory. The label print quantity for automatic label print was staying 1. Made a change to tie the two together.
Inventory Module – Inventory Order Tab – P/O Number – Added the purchase order number field to the inventory order tab so that it can be stored with the inventory order if needed.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Type Maintenance – Critical Equipment Flag – Added the critical equipment flag to the equipment type table so that critical equipment can be specified at the type level. This value will also reside at the equipment level with the type default the value.
Admin Web Site – Material Type Maintenance – Type Abbreviation – Extended this field to allow 10 characters instead of 5.
Admin Web Site – Digital Distribution Status – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of digital distribution status values. These status values are used to specify if a digital object (i.e., slides) are distributed or not after being placed into the digital queue by the slide imaging solution.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Maintenance – Critical Equipment – Added this field to the equipment master to allow equipment records to be flagged as critical for different reporting in the Preventative maintenance module. This defaults from the value on the equipment type table, but can be overridden at the specific equipment record level.
Admin Web Site – Distribution Case Breakdown Report – The from/to accession number criteria was coded expecting a from and to number. Some of the data in the database contains bad scans which are not numeric. This was causing an overflow error. Changed the criteria to consider them alpha values.
Admin Web Site – Distribution Report – From/To Accession range and Prefix Criteria – Added prefix and from/to accession number ranges as selection criteria.
Admin Web Site – Void Transaction Report – Moved the selection criteria around to make the screen more visually appealing.
Admin Web Site – Distribution Detail Report – Auto Override On Flag – Added this field to the report to provide visibility for when distribution transactions are generated with the auto override flag on to manually perform distribution.
Inventory Module – Release Label Print – The quantity that was printing on the release auto labels reflected the QUANTITY of labels and not the quantity of products contained in the release (ex. 100 screws in a bag, the quantity needs to print as 100). This was corrected.
Inventory Module – Inventory Orders Picklist – The picklist had some field overlaps if the item description was of a certain length. Redesigned the report to line up better.
Inventory Module – Transfer Tab – Storage Location – Storage Location – Added this third form of transfer transaction.
Facility Location Transactions – Moved this report from the inventory section to under lab scanning.
Inventory Accession Assignment Report – Changed the selection criteria to make the report a little more visually appealing. There were also some issues with table names that was causing the report to not work perfectly. These were resolved. Also collapsed the accession number fields of Prefix, Accession, MultiBottle, and MultiCassette into the FullAccession field.
Admin Web Site – Inventory Accession Summary Report - Changed the selection criteria to make the report a little more visually appealing. There were also some issues with table names that was causing the report to not work perfectly. These were resolved.
Sample Testing Module – Added the template definition button to allow for an inquiry to show the full definition of material submission templates that have the various components (i.e., Slides, blocks, etc). That compose a template to help the data entry employee with making the right choice.
Sample Testing Module – PCR Tab – Extraction Batch Status – Added this option to the selection criteria to help in filtering PCR testing requests.
Sample Testing Module – PCR Tab – Worklist Printing – Added the ability to print worklists and to tie the printing of a worklist to the automatic changing of the extraction batch status to reflect “on order”.
Admin Web Site – Material Type Maintenance – UseConversionTracking – Added this flag to the material type maintenance screen to indicate whether or not a material type should generate conversion tracking records when processed.
Admin Web Site – Order Type Maintenance – UseConversionTracking - – Added this flag to the material type maintenance screen to indicate whether or not a material type should generate conversion tracking records when processed.
Admin Web Site – Object Conversion Status Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of object conversion status values. These status values are used inside the sample testing module of Assist where submitted materials are “consumed” by different departments and are turned into other objects (i.e. slides submitted for PCR). These status values would be things such as “Available” and “Used”.
Assist Auto Notification Application – Created this simple application to allow for the automatic capture of various notifications with interfaces between equipment and Assist. Where an equipment vendor has the ability to launch an application at an error condition, this application can log the equipment and issue number associated with the transaction to provide detailed information about the event log types of interactions with equipment.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Listing – Critical Equipment – Added the critical equipment check box to the selection criteria on the report and also included it in the body of the report detailed data.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Issue Tracking Report – Critical Equipment - Added the critical equipment check box to the selection criteria on the report and also included it in the body of the report detailed data.
Equipment Maintenance Module – Maintenance Tab – Critical Equipment Checkbox – Added this checkbox to the equipment maintenance tab to allow for the maintenance of that value.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Maintenance Activity Report – Critical Equipment - Added the critical equipment check box to the selection criteria on the report and also included it in the body of the report detailed data.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Maintenance Due Report – Critical Equipment – Critical Equipment - Added the critical equipment check box to the selection criteria on the report and also included it in the body of the report detailed data.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Maintenance History Report – Critical Equipment – Added the critical equipment check box to the selection criteria on the report and also included it in the body of the report detailed data.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Maintenance Reports – Critical Equipment - Added the critical equipment check box to the selection criteria on the report and also included it in the body of the report detailed data.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Missing Maintenance Report – Critical Equipment - Added the critical equipment check box to the selection criteria on the report and also included it in the body of the report detailed data.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Repair Tracking Report – Critical Equipment - Added the critical equipment check box to the selection criteria on the report and also included it in the body of the report detailed data.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Retirement Report – Critical Equipment - Added the critical equipment check box to the selection criteria on the report and also included it in the body of the report detailed data.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Notification Type Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of equipment notification types. These are part of the assist auto notification application and allow for the specification of the type of notification that is being generated.

September 2021

Interface Module – LIS Replication Engine – Modified this engine to allow for the disabling of LIS Interface records before the routine loads new ones.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Automatic Notification Report – Created this report to all for reporting over the equipment automatic notifications. These notifications are generated by equipment agents for equipment that are being monitored.
Admin Web Site – LIS Interface Audit Log – Created this report to allow for reporting over the LIS interface audit data. This table holds transactional counts of the LIS interface when it is run and allows for “heartbeat” data visibility.
Admin Web Site – Rework Reason Maintenance – Cross Reference - Added this cross reference field to the rework reason table so that the data can be cross referenced to another application.
Admin Web Site – Quality Inspection Point Maintenance – Created this report to allow for the maintenance of quality inspection points. These represent physical locations in a facility where a quality check can be performed and allows for the stratification of quality tracking by location.
Admin Web Site – Digital File Suffixes Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of the file suffixes that can be captured and worked with inside the digital pathology section of Assist.
Warehouse Module – Digital Dashboard – The digital dashboard module was created to allow for the handling of digital files on the actual digital imaging machine.
Admin Web Site – ESL Base Station Inquiry – Created this report to provide visibility to the electronic sales label base stations that are present in a facility.
Admin Web Site – ESL Change Log Report – Created this report to provide visibility to the ESL change log. This log reflects all of the changes to electronic sales labels.
Admin Web Site – Database Table Listing – Created this report to allow for reporting over the entirety of the Assist database.
Admin Web Site – Notification Address Maintenance – Added the notification type to the selection criteria to make it easier to view only the data that is needed. Added a description to the address so that some context or identifying information can be provided on the email address that is added.
Universal Module – Slide POU – Modified the way the “Position Protocol by Specimen” check box is handled. Changed it to set initially based on configuration and then not set it again as configurations are toggled through. This allows the user to control the settings appropriately even when toggling back and forth between the screen views.
Admin Web Site – Case Hold Reason Maintenance – Generate Office Queue – Added this check box to allow for a case hold reason to automatically generate a office queue transaction from inside the patient validation process.
Admin Web Site – QA Issue Resolution Maintenance – Case Hold Record – Added the case hold drop down to this screen to allow for the specification of a case hold record that is associated with a QA Issue resolution transaction.
Admin Web Site – QA Issue Resolution Report – Created this report to provide visibility to the QA Issue Resolution information.
Admin Web Site – Order Type Maintenance – Equipment Filtering Flag – Added this check box to the maintenance screen to allow for order types to indicate whether or not they should be tethered to equipment types. This is useful for labs that indicate what equipment was used in the processing of the order type if relevant.
Admin Web Site – Reserved Resource Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of reserved resources. These resources represent objects, rooms, etc. that can be reserved for employee use.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Maintenance – Date In Service – Added this field to allow for the specification of a date in service value as opposed to the date purchased, etc. This allows management to keep track of when a piece of equipment started actually being used.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Maintenance Reporting – Date In Service – Added this field to the report.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Repair Tracking Report – Date In Service – Added this field to the report.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Maintenance History Report – Date In Service – Added this field to the report.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Maintenance Due Report – Date In Service – Added this field to the report.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Maintenance Activity Report - Date In Service – Added this field to the report.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Downtime Report - Date In Service – Added this field to the report.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Listing - Date In Service – Added this field to the report.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Missing Maintenance Report - Date In Service – Added this field to the report.
Admin Web Site – Case Void Transactions Report – Created this report to provide visibility to the case void transactions.
Admin Web Site – Order Type/Equipment Type Filter – Created this maintenance screen to allow for the maintenance of the assignment of order types to equipment types. This is used to filter choices of equipment that can process or run the various order types where this is tracked inside Assist.
Accessioning Module – Label Print – Corrected an issue where if a site was toggling between a “normal” LIS format label and Pathway formatted labels, that the location identifier could get “stuck” going back to normal format from Pathway causing the prefix not to load correctly.
Universal Cassette Queue – Resolved an issue where the universal cassette queue was not loading if the sort order was set to load in accession number order instead of arrival sequence.
QC Module – Login/Logout Button – Changed the icon on the login and have them both visible (but disabled) at all times.
Print Center – Flow Label – Created this label screen to allow for the printing of labels for a flow lab.
Admin Web Site - Material Type Maintenance – Order Type Added the default order type to the material type maintenance screen. This will be used inside the Assist sample testing module to automatically create default orders when material types are received.
Sample Testing Module – Delete Order Type – Fixed an issue where the “X” button to delete the assignment of an order type to a slide was not working. There was a simple typo in an SQL statement.
Admin Web Site – ESL Tag Inquiry – Created the ESL tag inquiry to provide visibility to show the tags that exist in the system. This is basically a list of the mapping between the types of tags and their MAC addresses.
Admin Web Site – Special Handling Type Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of special handling types. These values represent the groupings of special handling data when used with shipments from clients or holding sites.
Admin Web Site – Client Maintenance – Default Holding Site – Added a default holding site to the client master. This allows a client to be associated with a holding site (ex. Iron Mountain) for when the direct request of blocks/slides are being performed for testing in a reference lab.
Admin Web Site – Case Hold Closure Utility – Created this utility to allow for the bulk removal of case hold transactions. A record of the removal is written into the audit log as the case holds are removed.
Admin Web Site – Specimen Reference Type Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of specimen reference types. These types represent the types of reference materials that might be associated with an accession. Examples might include specimen pictures, pathology reports, requisitions, etc.
Admin Web Site – Client Maintenance – Added the capture of the last maintained date and user fields and show on the screen.
Admin Web Site – Client Interface Exceptions – Created this report to provide visibility to the client “code” values that exist in the LIS interface table in Assist that do no have a matching value in the client master file. There are three “code” fields that can be used by an Assist installation and this report allows for inquiries to be run against all of them.
Admin Web Site – Specimen Order Status Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of specimen order status values. These values are used to mark open, closed, pending status on specimen orders.
Admin Web Site – ESL Event Log Report – Created this report to provide visibility to the data captured by the electronic sales labels event log.
Admin Web Site – ESL Log Report – Created this report to provide visibility to the data captured by the electronic sales labels log process. This data is typically messages sent to the base stations at the electronic tag level.

4th Quarter 2021

October 2021

Admin Web Site – ESL Label Status Report – Created this report to provide visibility to the ESL Label status information. This shows all of the technical details associated with electronic sales labels.
Admin Web Site – Specimen Order Type Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for maintenance of the specimen order type data. This data is used in the “inbound” sample testing area to delineate the types of orders that are being received and can be tied to doctor order types if needed.
Admin Web Site – Order Type Maintenance – SuppressVialLabel – Added this checkbox to the screen to allow for the specification of the option to suppress vial label printing when PCR vial labels are printed for doctor orders.
Admin Web Site – Specimen Type Tracking Maintenance – Cleaned up the criteria to make more visually appealing. Added the current date to the from/to date criteria to reduce the likelihood of accidentally pulling more data than intended. Added a few fields to the database write for values that need to default.
Scanner Engine – Case Void Check – Added the ability for the cassette scan to check the void transactions table and refuse a scan transaction if the case has an active void transaction indicated. Also modified to write any void transactions into the void transaction table instead of simply clearing the transaction table.
Scanner Engine – Measurements – Modified the embedding scan to pull specimen measurements out of the grossing notes portion of the Assist database.
Check In Module – Case Void Check - Added the ability for the cassette scan to check the void transactions table and refuse a scan transaction if the case has an active void transaction indicated. Also modified to write any void transactions into the void transaction table instead of simply clearing the transaction table.
Inventory Module – Inventory Request Picklist – The picklist that can be printed from inside the inventory module had some column overlap if the inventory item was long. Modified the routine to pull the column positions from the configuration to allow for site by site customization and implemented this change.
Admin Web Site – MFG Task Maintenance – Suppress Scoreboard – Added this checkbox to the screen to allow for a task to be designated as needing to be suppressed from showing up on the various scoreboard views.
Preventative Maintenance Module – Equipment Maintenance Tab – Added the date in service field.
Admin Web Site – Rework Request Report – Created this report to provide visibility to rework requests if rework is being tracked as part of a facilities quality assurance program.
Universal Slide – Material Type – Modified the slide print routine to allow for the printing of material type descriptions if the sample testing module of Assist is used and information on material type is being passed to the doctor order screen.
Sample Testing – Exceptions Screen – Added a summary view in addition to the normal detailed view. This provides the ability to see what exceptions give the most “bang for the buck” on clean up activity.
Sample Testing – Batch Drop Downs – Provided configuration flags to allow for the batch drop downs to be loaded as LIFO or FIFO.
Admin Web Site – Material Type Maintenance – Fresh/Fixed Checkboxes – Added these two check boxes to the screen to allow for the specification of whether a material type represents fresh specimen (ex. Bottles) or fixed specimen (ex. Paraffin blocks).
Admin Web Site – Extraction Type Maintenance – Fresh/Fixed Checkboxes - Added these two check boxes to the screen to allow for the specification of whether an extraction type represents fresh specimen (ex. Bottles) or fixed specimen (ex. Paraffin blocks).
Admin Web Site – LIS Extraction Type Maintenance – added multiple “type” checkboxes to allow for the specification of exactly what kind of exception type has occurred (ex. Client, Specimen, ordering physician, etc.)
Universal Module – Added the ability to capture the computer name when printing from the cassette or slide queue to allow for keeping track of what machine printed a cassette or slide.
Universal Module – Slide POU – Modified the way the “Auto Print Orders” check box is handled. Changed it to set initially based on configuration and then not set it again as configurations are toggled through. This allows the user to control the settings appropriately even when toggling back and forth between the screen views.
Sample Testing – Modified the notifications screen to handle facility location for filtering the available notifications based on the client configuration facility location.
Admin Web Site – LIS Interface Procedures Report – Created this report to allow for visibility to the LIS Procedures data that is coming over via the LIS interfaces where procedures and processing instructions are tracked.
Admin Web Site – PCR Batch Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of PCR batches.
Manufacturing QC Module – Modified this screen to provide the ability for the end user to opt in/out of whether or not the scanning of a manufacturing task should reposition the end user to the task scan screen.
Admin Web Site – Epredia Imager Analysis – Created this report to provide visibility to the offloaded database raw data from the Epredia digital imaging platforms for sites that make use of this equipment for digital slides and have the interface active.
Universal Slide Module – Alias Patient Lookup – Modified the patient name lookup function. If a client accession is driving the process (i.e. a client block instead of internal LIS) of printing slides, modified to also attempt to lookup the patient name based on the alias accession information.
Universal Slide Queue – Patient Color Fix – There is a feature where the accession number column in the grid can be a different color if no patient name is found. The query had a flaw that was not retrieving the data correctly.
Interface Utility – LIS Orders – Modified this routine to write to the order master audit table when it writes to the order master table.
Interface Robot – Client Load – Modified the routine that loads client data. Put a “Y/N” loaded flag on the DB so that we can keep track of which records have been loaded and a date/time of when. Also added more checks to try and stop duplicates and added a skip flag just in case.
Sample Testing – Receiving Tab – Added a pop up confirmation button if an accession is scanned back to back without the header save button being pressed in between.
Accessioning Module – LIS Interface Heartbeat – Added the ability inside the accessioning module to have visibility to the status of the LIS interface. A button shows the last time the interface ran. Clicking the changes the screen to see the number of times the interface job has run and the counts of transactions loaded.
Universal Cassette – Bottle Scan – Modified the bottle scan transaction to allow, by configuration variable, to either reflect the cassette value that was on the screen at the point of scan OR to reflect it in the database as “N/A”.
Admin Web Site – Epredia P1000 Database Report – Created this report to provide visibility to the database files that have been read into the Assist database for sites that have integrated Assist/Epredia digital pathology
Manufacturing Quality Module – Rework Error Log Capture – Added logic to the manufacturing quality module to allow for the capture of errors into the database when rework entry is performed. This helps in triage of problems associated with rework entry.
Admin Web Site – Rework Request Error Log – Created this report to provide visibility to the rework request error log transactions that are being captured inside the manufacturing quality module.
Admin Web Site – Epredia P1000 Database Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for maintenance over the database files that are read into the Assist database for sites that have integrated Assist/Epredia digital pathology interface. The settings can allow for the reload of data.
Admin Web Site – Client Accession Prefix Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for maintenance over the client accession prefix screen. This is used as part of the process of enabling the scanning of client submitted cassettes/slides into Assist.
Admin Web Site – Epredia P1000 Settings Control Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for maintenance over the Epredia settings control area that handles digital scanning of slides. This maintenance screen controls the settings and profiles that are loaded from XML files into the database.

November 2021

Manufacturing Module – Personal Configuration Override Logic – Added the ability to have alternative configuration settings load based on computer or employee log in value.
Universal Module – Specimen Type – The specimen type drop down was set to load based on the description field which means only alpha order. Added the sort order field in front of the alpha to allow for alternative sorting.
Manufacturing Quality Module – MFG Task/Product positioning on rework – Modified the quality module for manufacturing. Changed to have the MSP position to the correct task that was scanned against from the LIS Scheduling rather than forcing the employee to know which main sales product had the task against it.
Admin Web Site – Accession Slide Count Maintenance – Control Required – Added this flag to the screen to allow for the indication that a control slide is required with this protocol/stain.
Admin Web Site – Control Tissue Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of control tissue. Control tissue is part of the control tracking portion of Assist and represents the types of tissue that can be placed on controls (ex. Tonsil, Liver, etc.). These are kept seperate from specimen types to provide more functionality.
Admin Web Site – Control Pretreatment Maintenance – Created this maintenance screen to allow for the creation of control pretreatment information. This data is part of the Assist control tracking feature set and represent any pretreatments that must be performed with control slides as part of antibody testing.
Admin Web Site – Antibody Master Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of antibody master records. This data is part of the Assist control tracking feature set and represents the list of antibody “dictionaries” that can be in place in a laboratory.
Admin Web Site – Antibody Detection Kit Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of antibody detection kits. This data is part of the Assist control tracking feature set and represents the detection kits that are part of the antibody/control methodologies used in laboratories.
Admin Web Site – Tissue Micro Array Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of tissue micro arrays. This data is part of the Assist control tracking/antibody tracking feature set. It represents the header level of tissue micro arrays where multiple tissue types are pulled from multiple tissue blocks to form an array.
Admin Web Site – Tissue Micro Array Details Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of the details associated with a tissue micro array. For each TMA, there are the details of the various tissues that will make up the array. This detailed maintenance allows for the listing of the various “sub” tissues that make up the tissue micro array.
Admin Web Site – Control Prefix Maintenance – Modified this screen to better handle the control prefix maintenance. Several new fields were added. The ability to control both next slide AND next block has been included. Also the prefix data has been cleaned up to include just the character values and a number of digits and notes.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Interface Protocol Routing – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of equipment interface/protocol mappings. This is part of the stain tracking feature set inside Assist and represents the ability to map protocols to different staining platforms. This allows for the policing of not accidentally submitting stains to the wrong staining platform if a site has multiple equipment profiles in place (ex. Omnis, Bond, Ventana).
Admin Web Site – Control Object Status Maintenance – Created this maintenance screen to allow for the maintenance of control object status data. This data is part of the control tracking feature set in Assist. This allows for controls to be marked as available, consumed, destroyed, etc. For sites that need to explicitly track controls and how they have been used.
Admin Web Site – Material Type Maintenance – Suppress Doctor Orders Checkbox – Added this check box to the material type maintenance screen. This allows for the suppression of doctor orders to be done to ensure that doctor orders are not accidentally submitted into Assist when a sample testing order is entered with a doctor order, if that material will not actually go to histology for processing (ex. Receipt of a unstained slide already with tissue).
Admin Web Site - Equipment Interface Maintenance – Default Printer and Print Log Interface – Added the ability to indicate that an equipment interface will be a “log printing” interface rather than the automatic submission of data to a staining platform. For sites that do not have an interface, but still want to use the Stain Queue functionality, this allows for the printing of this “worklist” to relieve the stain queue.
Sample Testing – Suppress Doctor Orders Feature – Added the ability to not send doctor orders into the Assist ordering portion of the application if the material type being received has been flagged as “doctor order suppressed” as outlined above under the Material Type Maintenance change.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Interface Maintenance – Auto Close Days – Added a field for “Auto Close Days” to this maintenance screen. This will be used in the Stain Queue to indicate BY INTERFACE how far back to go for the purge of stain queue transactions that still have an open status. This is an attempt to cut down on “noise” if stains are not being released in a timely manner or have been abandoned.
Admin Web Site – Control Prefix Maintenance – Block Next Control Number – Added this field to allow for the tracking of “next block number” in order to support control block tracking in addition to stains.
Stain Queue – Modified the stain queue to support auto purging based on days back logic on the equipment interface. Also added a print log button to allow for the printing of stain queue logs. Modified the “flush” process to flush by interface type (i.e. staining platform). Added the equipment interface (i.e. staining platform) to the selection criteria to filter only one platform at a time for sites that use more than one staining system.
Universal Slide – Stain Tracking Changes – Write stain at cassette print in addition to or instead of slide scan. The unique identifier that gets placed into the slide bar code has always worked based on the subsequent submission of a second stain against an accession/part. If multiple of the same types of protocol are issued all at once, the numeric tracking (i.e. 1,2,3 etc.) were not getting written because this generation was performed when the slide was scanned, not printed. The feature was moved to the print routine to handle this with an extra check made at slide scan to also capture if it is not there from the print.
Admin Web Site – LIS Interface Conflicts Report – Created this report to serve as a predictive report of when there could be conflicts with private labelling (i.e. alias values) of blocks/slides. The report will identify cases where multiple alias values have been entered into Assist so that employees can carefully review the conflicting data on the specimens to make sure that the data is accurate.
Admin Web Site – Object Type Maintenance – Uses Controls – Added this check box to the maintenance screen to allow an object type to be identified as the type of object that has controls.
Admin Web Site – Object Control Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance and creation of control objects (i.e. cassettes and slides).
Interface Utility – LIS Conflicts – Created a “robot” job to allow for the capture of LIS conflicts (as identified above under the “conflicts report”). This robot writes these same conflicts into an office queue for resolution and tracking.
Admin Web Site – LIS Interface Maintenance – This screen had a couple of issues with the selection criteria. The “Active Only” check box was not working appropriately. It was ALWAYS pulling active only. The prefix criteria was also being ignored.
Universal Module – Time Tracking – Abandoned Time Buckets – There can be situation where a login/logout combination of data gets abandoned which can cause spurious data with large time buckets. The logic had been put in place to to set the “to” date/time to the current date/time to reflect the active time buckets. This is causing issues with a TRUE abandoned bucket reflecting the current time as closure. Modified to ignore the time bucket based on a sanity check of 8 hours.
Admin Web Site – Epredia P1000 Settings Details Report – Created this report to provide visibility to the setting details that have been read into the Assist database for sites that have integrated Assist/Epredia digital pathology
Admin Web Site – Epredia P1000 Settings Control Report - Created this report to provide visibility to the settings control data that have been read into the Assist database for sites that have integrated Assist/Epredia digital pathology
Print Center – Requisition Label Screen – Added a check box to allow the requisition to be set as free form entry.
Admin Web Site – LIS Interface Request Exceptions Report – Created this report to show the exceptions that have been logged into the Assist LIS interface database table for sites that have an order request (i.e. doctor orders) interface live.
Admin Web Site – Epredia P1000 Profile Details Report – Created this report to provide visibility to the profile details that have been read into the Assist database for sites that have integrated Assist/Epredia digital pathology.
Admin Web Site – Accession Prefix Maintenance – Digital Capable Checkbox – Added this option to the maintenance screen to allow for filtering of prefixes based on whether or not they can participate in digital processing.
Admin Web Site – Specimen Type Maintenance – Digital Capable Checkbox – Added this option to the maintenance screen to allow for the marking of specimen types to allow for specification of whether or not they can participate in digital processing.
Admin Web Site – Slide Protocol Maintenance – Added fields for billing code and digital capable to support automated billing and digital processing.
Admin Web Site – Login Screen – Admin Flag – The “administrator” check box under security was no longer stopping non-administrators from logging into the web site. Corrected this flaw to take performance back to the intended.
Admin Web Site – Specimen Type Diagnosis Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of specimen type diagnosis information. This is part of the digital pathology portion of Assist and determines when a specimen type/protocol is expected to have an AI diagnosis before allowing for automated distribution to take place.
Admin Web Site – Diagnostic Source Version Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of diagnostic source versions. These versions would represent the different versions of the artificial intelligence engines that are used for diagnoses cases and can be used with an effective date to determine which version was “active” at the point that a case/slide was diagnosed.
Universal Cassette – Grossing Capture – Body Site Wildcard Logic over the LIS Patient Verification table – Added logic to allow for the marriage of the LIS Patient verification process to grossing notes. If the body site is provided via the LIS interface in the patient verification but the code for the site is included, this logic allows for the data to be mapped AFTER a wildcard found in the data.
Admin Web Site – Slide Protocol Maintenance – Print On Slide Field – Added this field to allow for a difference between the human readable slide protocol value and the value that is printed on the slide. Previously, there was not the option to have seperate values.
Admin Web Site – Accession Slide Count Maintenance – Print on Slide Protocol Logic and Sequence Number – Modified the accession slide count maintenance screen to factor in the new “print on slide” field that was added to the slide protocol maintenance table.
Admin Web Site – Conference Room Schedule Listing – Created this report to allow for the display of all meetings that are scheduled against conference rooms as part of the ESL feature set that is being introduced into Assist.

December 2021

Admin Web Site – Inventory Lot Issue Report – Inventory Code Criteria – Added the inventory code to the selection criteria for this report.
Admin Web Site – Equipment Maintenance – ESL Tag Number – Modified this maintenance screen to include the ability to indicate an electronic sales label to allow for PM information to automatically be sent to a tag attached to a piece of equipment.
Equipment Maintenance Module – ESL Tag Number - Modified this maintenance tab to include the ability to indicate an electronic sales label to allow for PM information to automatically be sent to a tag attached to a piece of equipment.
Admin Web Site – ESL Link Audit Report – Created this report to provide visibility to the ESL links that have been performed over time. It shows what cases have been assigned to a tag over time and how a tag has been used.
Scoreboard – Embedding Production Totals – Start/End Time – Changed the scoreboard view to allow for embedding data to show start/end times rather than just “today” or “hours back”.
Sample Testing – Inbound/Outbound Transfer to Shipping – Modified the view to send data from the inbound/outbound tab to the shipping tab.
Sample Testing – Inbound/Outbound Tab – Tied the bulk comments into the communication log. This allows for more integration of the comments from the inbound/outbound tab.
Admin Web Site – Special Character Replacement Maintenance – Created this screen to allow for the maintenance of special characters and how the characters can be replaced inside the various modules such as the digital dashboard.
Admin Web Site – Client Configuration Update Maintenance – Updated this screen to clean it up visually and to add an “Active Only” flag to the selection criteria.
QC Module Extra Module – Added logic to capture the launch of the software inside the application utilization tracking table to keep track of what computers are using the module.
Admin Web Site – Application Utilization Report – Added the machine name, com port, and version number to the report to reflect the new fields that have been added to the tracking.
Admin Web Site – Installation History Report – Cleaned up the criteria on this report to make it cleaner.
Admin Web Site – Application Utilization Report – Added an export button and added a “detail/summary” toggle to provide two different views of the data.
Admin Web Site – Auto Update Bulk Update Screen – Created this screen to allow for the bulk update of all of the data set for the auto update feature of Assist to more efficiently mark all of the records that need to be updated.
Warehouse Module – Application Utilization Tracking – Added the ability to track the launch of the module by writing records into the application utilization tracking table.
Sample Testing Module – Application Utilization Tracking – Added the ability to track the launch of the module by writing records into the application utilization tracking table.
Admin Web Site – Accessioning/Distribution TAT Report – There was an issue with the calculation on the running total. It was appending data instead of adding which was throwing off all the data on the report. Fixed this calculation issue.
Universal Module - Added logic to capture the launch of the software inside the application utilization tracking table to keep track of what computers are using the module.
Universal Slide – Doctor Order – Added a sort order choice so that an employee can have doctor orders print in order date or by accession number order.
Universal Cassette – Cassette Queue – Modified this routine to allow for the printing of specimen class information on a cassette. This ability existed in the legacy cassette queue but had not been brought forward into the universal.
Admin Web Site – Inventory Transaction Costs – Created this new report to provide a view of inventory and the transactional costs associated with the items.

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