What are the core functions of a Laboratory Information System (LIMS)?

LIMS manage the entire specimen lifecycle including: order entry and specimen tracking with barcoded workflows, instrument interfacing and auto-verification of results, quality control and delta-checking against prior patient results, cumulative reporting and clinical decision support alerts, and audit trails for regulatory compliance (UKAS ISO 15189). Modern LIMS integrate with EHRs via HL7v2 and FHIR DiagnosticReport resources with SNOMED-CT coded results.