It began as an innovative idea conceived by Isys/Biovation CEO and founder Rob Liebeskind that came to fruition with the Gamma release of the Messenger LIS in 2001. After creating, with former partner Steven Chen, what many consider being the first interface between a clinical analysis device and PC and subsequently developing and installing the MultiLAB system in over 500 healthcare facilities in North America; Isys Technology took on a greater challenge. Their goal was to develop a Laboratory Information System that would be platform, operating system and database independent. A system that is largely user-definable, allowing lab technicians to use it to optimize their processes already in place, instead of being forced to conform their processes to the system. This unique vision resulted in the development of the Messenger LIS. Since its release in 2001, Messenger has redefined the LIS paradigm in laboratories across the US and Canada. With it's flexibility and unprecedented product lifecycle of 15+ years, the Messenger LIS has had a successful following with such organizations as: Procter and Gamble, Sterling Rock Falls Clinic and Cancer Care Specialists in Illinois, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and South Muskoka Memorial Hospital in Canada.

A tangible benefit to businesses using the Messenger System is the fact that implementation of the system will compel the user to fully understand their workflow process. Because Messenger is user definable, it allows the user to make the system work for them, according to processes already in place, instead of having to conform to an inflexible system.

Rob Liebeskind maintains that, "A proper implementation, with all the effort that is involved will lead to ultimately helping a business and lab to understand why they do things. Until you define your process you can't improve it."

Laboratory manager and system administrator, Dick Schultz of Rock Falls Clinic, says of his experience, "The biggest advantage is that I can interact with my system, better than anybody possibly could if they just bought a canned system. I built this system and we built it the way we want it, it works the way we want it to. I don't want another company to decide what I call my tests, how I build my profiles and what my reports will look like."

Having been one of the first laboratories to implement the Messenger System, Sterling Rock Falls Clinic has seen it evolve with their practices since going live with the system in June of 2001. Dick also states that, "We know our system probably better than we could ever possibly have known a system where the company did everything for us."

Dick's colleague, Marnie Slater adds, "If we need to change something in our system, whether it be: add a test, change a profile, change a reference range, we do it. We don't need somebody to come in to do it."

Dick and Marnie will also tell you, what others have been learning, "The implementation process is a lot heavier on the user end than other systems may demand, but I personally don't feel that's a bad thing. It has given me a much greater knowledge of how my system works."

Having this knowledge at the start of the implementation of the Messenger System is advantageous. Lab technicians agree that being prepared to devote the manpower and time needed for the process makes the task manageable.

As project manager of the Messenger implementation at LifeScan Clinical Laboratory, Maureen Cnota says, "To me it's worth the extra effort because it makes you analyze your internal workings. When we were doing it, we ended up changing some things."

She believes that a company would need to have at least one person dedicated strictly to the implementation of this new process, depending on its size, of course. That being said, Maureen also notes that "The training was excellent, they have a very good checklist on what needs to be done and what order it needs to be done and the support was very good every step of the way."

Dave Beal of South Musskoka Memorial Hospital in Ontario agrees that training and hands-on instruction is invaluable in the implementation process. As mentioned before, preparing the staff for such dedication at the onset is the key. Having increased the number of staff the week of going live and warning them ahead of time that it would require some extra hours on their part eliminated most complaints.

Whether being used in a small laboratory or a multi-facility enterprise, Messenger has been designed to adapt to any environment, regardless of the hardware, operating system or application software being used. ISYS/Biovation has brought this new idea to the forefront. Having a software system that evolves with technology and an implementation process that involves the user in determining their workflow, simply means that there are no limits to how good businesses running Messenger can be.