Definition of an XML Markup Language for Clinical Laboratory Procedures and Comparison with Generic XML Markup (Laboratory Management‪)‬

Clinical laboratory procedure manuals are standardized documents that formalize actions and policies required for testing, maintenance, and safety, and also serve as references and teaching resources. Procedures that are reviewed periodically are required for clinical laboratory accreditation, and management of procedure manuals is a recurring and time-consuming activity. Procedures are typically developed as word processor files and printed on paper for use. Paper manuals need sizeable storage space, are inefficient to use and search, and are often tied to a particular location or author. Optimizing content or format for different uses requires manual editing and reprinting. Clinical and patient test references may partially duplicate the procedure manual and often become outdated and "out of sync" with it. Most laboratories format their procedures according to guidelines from the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) (1) [3]. Because these guidelines do not provide detailed requirements for content or layout below the section level, manuals from different laboratories and vendor-supplied procedures differ in formatting style and organization. This means that much manual editing and reformatting are usually necessary when procedures are shared between laboratories or provided by vendors.