Case Study: Boston University achieves in-house COVID-19 testing and high-throughput sample processing with eLabNext

eLabNext enables Internal COVID-19 lab for Boston University

Boston University created the BU Clinical Testing Laboratory in fall 2020 to provide rapid in-house COVID‑19 testing for its 34,000‑student community, with a goal to process over 5,000 samples per day (peaking at more than 9,000/day) and return next‑day results. The primary challenge was finding a reliable software solution that could integrate with the lab’s testing robots and two separate BU EMR systems to send orders and return results; Boston University selected eLabNext’s eLabJournal for this purpose.

eLabNext implemented eLabJournal and its APIs to automate processing of robot-generated files and create seamless integrations with the testing machines and both EMRs; the lab was operational within two months. The solution prevented duplicate barcodes, provided the reporting and sample‑tracking tools the team needed, and enabled the in‑house lab to reliably process thousands of tests per day—resulting in a successful, sustained internal COVID‑19 testing capability for Boston University.

Boston University

Shari Huval

Director, Health, Faculty and Student Ancillary