-
Notifications
You must be signed in to change notification settings - Fork 135
LIMS Admin Report Formats
A report format is a named template that controls how a lab report looks when printed. It defines the overall layout — which columns appear, where they are positioned on the page, what fonts and sizes are used, and how the header, footer, and signature areas are arranged. Each investigation is linked to one report format. This article explains how to create and manage report formats.
A report format contains one or more report items — each item corresponds to a visual element on the printed report (a column header, a result value cell, a reference range cell, a flag indicator, etc.). Items are positioned using percentage-based coordinates (top, left, width, height relative to the page), so the layout scales to different paper sizes.
The report format is attached to an investigation. When a report is printed for that investigation, the system renders each result parameter using the positions and styles defined in the format.
Go to Menu > Admin > LIMS > Report Templates (or Menu > Admin > LIMS > Investigations > Report Format).
- Click Add Format.
- Enter a Format Name (e.g., "Biochemistry A4 Standard", "FBC Landscape", "Microbiology C&S").
- Enter a Description (optional — for your own reference).
- Click Save. The format is created and appears in the list.
After creating the format, add report items to define the layout. See Report Items & Layout.
- Go to Menu > Admin > LIMS > Investigations.
- Open the investigation.
- In the Report Format field, select the format from the dropdown.
- Save the investigation.
All new reports generated for this investigation will use the selected format. Previously approved reports retain their original layout.
A typical lab report format contains these column types, each implemented as a separate report item:
| Column | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Test / Parameter header | Column heading "Test" |
| Test / Parameter label | The name of each investigation item (e.g., "Haemoglobin") |
| Value header | Column heading "Result" |
| Value | The patient's result value |
| Unit header | Column heading "Unit" |
| Unit label | The measurement unit (e.g., g/dL) |
| Reference header | Column heading "Reference Range" |
| Reference label | The normal range for this parameter and this patient |
| Flag / Comment | H / L indicator or flag message |
Each of these is a separate report item with its own position and style settings.
The same report format can be used by multiple investigations if their printed layouts are identical. For example, all basic biochemistry tests might share a single "Biochemistry Standard" format.
To reuse: simply select the same format in each investigation's Report Format field.
After adding report items, use the Preview function (if available) or create a test report for a sample patient to see how the printed output looks before going live.
- Start with a simple format (two or three columns) and test it before adding complex positioning.
- Keep format names descriptive — include the paper orientation and type of test (e.g., "Haematology A4 Portrait").
- When introducing a new analyzer, create a new format variant if the new method produces different parameters or a different column layout than the existing format.