An Electronic Lab Notebook (ELN), in its simplest definition, can be thought of as a digital version of your paper lab notebook. However, the Logilab ELN software provides far many more capabilities than this, becoming an integral cog as laboratories strive to toe the line set by industry regulators, on a local and international level. From availing data security to ensuring integrity and enabling worldwide data access to collaborative research teams across continents, ELN tools have become priceless assets for labs everywhere in their bid to safeguard quality and compliance. Today, we’ll discuss how electronic laboratory notebook software can particularly help laboratories to achieve their compliance goals in a highly regulated environment. Let’s get started.
- ELN software guarantees full data security of end-user data
It falls squarely on laboratories to ensure the security of their data, with cyber security risks at an all-time high in 2022. Cyber threats are a huge menace in the healthcare industry, costing the sector over $6 trillion in 2020 alone, according to findings by TechJury. Moreover, 68 records are lost to theft or misplacement every second. And the worst part is that it takes an organization 206 days to get wind of the breach, way after the damage has been dealt, and perhaps coming a little too late after a compliance audit.
Thanks to ELN tools like Logilab ELN software, laboratories can fully secure data throughout its lifecycle in the workflow by role-based user access. Labs can now protect end-user data that’s both at rest and even while it is in transit, thereby ensuring an air-tight system that helps labs to secure important data, everywhere, every time. Additionally, laboratories can get over the vulnerabilities and inconveniences of paper-based systems with truly paperless technology.
- Reducing transcription responsibilities that instigate data loss
Hitting the wrong keys in a rush to digitize data can result in typographical mistakes, which compromises the integrity of your data, hence in the long run, violating compliance. Manual data entry errors can put laboratories in the cross-hairs of compliance enforcers, resulting in severe financial and legal repercussions. In a recent NCBI study, it emerged that point-of-care laboratory tests experience a 3.7% error rate from their transcription processes.
The best Electronic Lab Notebook tools can help laboratories avoid data corruption arising from wrong data entry by validation measures. By minimizing human intervention in the recording of data, with information taken right from the horse’s mouth as is, data accuracy and integrity are therefore assured.
- Controlled editing for better Excel management
Many laboratories rely on Excel spreadsheets to facilitate their workflow. While these achieve their purpose, for the most part, they are far from perfect. The highlight of their flaws is that anyone at the operating system level can modify the data. This creates an uncontrolled environment where anyone with access to these files can make changes at will, which may lead to compliance infringements.
With Logilab ELN however, you can change your story for the better and enhance your oversight to make it effortless and effective. Achieve a controlled editing environment with special Excel orders, which offer important tracking and permission features, incorporating release and version controls of GxP Excel documents. This way, you can regulate who has permission to make changes, learn who made what changes and roll back to previous document versions in case of any problems.
- Eliminating redundancies that lead to GDPR strikes
Workflows tethered by the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) policy have to adhere to its requirements, particularly as pertains to data minimization. The GDPR mandates that workflows should keep just as much data as they need, as opposed to duplicating it en masse. It also requires that your laboratory should be able to delete non-compliant data in place. In other words, your lab should be able to purge data from a single repository, without there being other unstructured sources hiding copies of said data.
That’s where a good laboratory notebook software comes in handy to ease this burden. Logilab ELN, for instance, can act as your central cloud-based repository, from which you can easily manage and delete data at will. It, therefore, becomes easier to find redundant and duplicate data for deletion. Furthermore, with this tool, you can monitor audit trails and track samples & timespans, for dynamic samples & inventory management in line with any regulatory goals you might want to accomplish.
- Round-the-clock software support to ensure unwavering security
The nature of cyber threats is constantly evolving, as attackers work round the clock to find new ways to circumvent your systems. Old laboratory legacy systems pile to your misery, adding many risks and vulnerabilities. As of 2018, there were over 15,000 CVEs or common vulnerabilities and exposures- documented, and the number has skyrocketed every year since.
Top-notch lab notebook software such as Logilab ELN software is constantly updated to keep you ahead of the digital pace and is a great way to remedy your legacy system dependencies and shortcomings. Laboratories remain compliant even in the face of sophisticated threats, and can consequently keep data secure and safe regardless of the severity of the threat faced.
Attain Effortless compliance with proven lab notebook software
Looking for a cloud-based, ultra-modern, simple yet secure Electronic Laboratory Notebook to streamline your workflow? Agaram Technologies’ Logilab ELN software has all you are looking for, and then some. Manage your quality testing and research, all from the convenience of one place, while paying only for what you need. Embrace paperless technology, and shake off compliance headaches with one of the best laboratory notebook software tools, available as a SaaS solution. Still on the fence? Let us sweeten the pot for you. Get your 30-day free trial today to see what you’re missing out on, first hand. No payments. No credit cards. No strings attached. Sign up now to get started.