Biomedical laboratory plays an important role in the healthcare system by providing services for medical screening, diagnosis, and treatment selection, which is the backbone of a healthcare system. The growing demand for complex testing has placed biomedical laboratories under heavy pressure, leading to an increase in collaboration and bridging the service gaps among laboratories. During the COVID-19 pandemic, laboratories around the globe struggled to perform a large number of COVID-19 laboratory tests every day, as the country combats through the outbreak. This review provides an overview of biomedical laboratory settings and assurance, and discusses current biomedical laboratory practices and their level of digitalisation in Malaysia and a few other countries, such as the United States, Europe, Saudi Arabia, and Africa, during the outbreak. Despite the variety of laboratory practices in different countries, digitalisation remains important in supporting the healthcare system during .....

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This study aimed to explore the current laboratory practices in managing biomedical testing services in Malaysia and to develop a laboratory referral system prototype. This study is divided into two phases: i) a need analysis of biomedical testing services offered and current laboratory practices, and ii) prototype development of a laboratory referral system. The responses of 24 ISO15189 accredited laboratories were obtained through the WHO Laboratory Quality Stepwise Implementation questionnaire. The laboratory referral system framework was designed based on the responses obtained in the first phase using the IBM Garage methodology to centralise the laboratory workflow using a digital platform. A laboratory referral system prototype was developed using a Rapid Application Development method and validated through user acceptance testing. Our findings revealed nine categories of biomedical testing services offered by participating laboratories. Most laboratories face challenges in cater.....

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