> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.clinikehr.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Lab station

> Read your laboratory's own numbers, maintain the test catalogue behind every request, and generate an AI lab report.

export const AuditNote = ({action = 'This action'}) => <div className="ck-callout ck-callout--info" role="note">
    <p className="ck-callout__body">
      {action} is written to your workspace's audit log with your name, the
      record touched and the time — a HIPAA requirement, and one you can review
      yourself under <strong>Audit Log</strong>. See{' '}
      <a href="/platform/security/audit-log">Audit log</a>.
    </p>
  </div>;

export const StillStuck = ({topic}) => <div className="ck-callout ck-callout--note" role="note">
    <p className="ck-callout__body">
      <strong>Still stuck{topic ? ` with ${topic}` : ''}?</strong>{' '}
      Check <a href="/platform/help/troubleshooting">Troubleshooting</a> first —
      it covers the failures we see most often. If that does not resolve it,{' '}
      <a href="/platform/help/contact-support">contact support</a> and include
      your workspace name and the time the problem happened, so we can find the
      matching entry in your audit log.
    </p>
  </div>;

export const TaskHeader = ({before, time, after}) => <div className="ck-task">
    {before ? <div className="ck-task__cell">
        <div className="ck-task__title">Before you start</div>
        <p className="ck-task__body">{before}</p>
      </div> : null}

    {time ? <div className="ck-task__cell">
        <div className="ck-task__title">Takes about</div>
        <p className="ck-task__body">{time}</p>
      </div> : null}

    {after ? <div className="ck-task__cell">
        <div className="ck-task__title">When you're done</div>
        <p className="ck-task__body">{after}</p>
      </div> : null}
  </div>;

export const Path = ({steps = []}) => <span className="ck-path">
    {steps.map((s, i) => <span key={i} className="ck-path__step">
        {i > 0 ? <span className="ck-path__sep" aria-hidden="true">
            ›
          </span> : null}
        {s}
      </span>)}
  </span>;

export const Availability = ({editions = ['all'], plans, roles, note}) => {
  const list = editions.includes('all') ? ['clinic', 'pharmacy', 'lims'] : editions;
  return <div className="ck-avail" role="note" aria-label="Feature availability">
      <span className="ck-avail__label">Available in</span>

      {list.map(e => <span key={e} className={`ck-pill ck-pill--${e}`}>
          {EDITION_LABELS[e] || e}
        </span>)}

      {plans ? <span className="ck-avail__label">Plan</span> : null}
      {plans ? <span className="ck-pill ck-pill--plan">{plans}</span> : null}

      {roles ? <span className="ck-avail__label">Who</span> : null}
      {roles ? <span className="ck-pill ck-pill--role">{roles}</span> : null}

      {note ? <span className="ck-avail__note">{note}</span> : null}
    </div>;
};

<Availability editions={['clinic']} plans="Enterprise" roles="Lab scientists, doctors, nurses and managers" note="Needs the Diagnostics care area" />

**Lab Station** is the laboratory's own dashboard: how much work came through, how fast it went, and the catalogue of tests that every request is built from. It is where a lab manager looks, not where a bench scientist records a result.

<Path steps={['Sidebar', 'Laboratory', 'Lab Station']} />

<TaskHeader before="The Diagnostics care area switched on" time="Two minutes to add a test to the catalogue" after="A catalogue the ordering form can offer, and a read on how the lab is running" />

## What you're looking at

A date range picker sets the period every figure on the page is measured over, and **New Lab Test** jumps straight to the ordering form. Three tabs divide the screen.

| Tab           | What it is for                              |
| ------------- | ------------------------------------------- |
| **Analytics** | The lab's numbers for the chosen period     |
| **Test List** | The catalogue of tests your hospital offers |
| **Reports**   | AI-written lab reports                      |

### Analytics

Four tiles run across the top — **Total Lab Tests**, **Pending Tests**, **Completed Tests** and **Critical Results** — each with a week-on-week comparison and a second line (**Awaiting processing**, a completion rate, **Requires immediate attention**).

Under them sit seven charts: **Test Volume Trends**, **Most Requested Tests**, **Turnaround Time**, **Staff Performance**, **Test Type Distribution**, **Patient Demographics** and **Test Correlations**. Turnaround is shown in hours against a target line, which is the fastest way to see whether a backlog is real or seasonal.

### Test List

This is the catalogue, and it is what the ordering form searches. Columns are **Test Name**, **Category**, **Department**, **Price**, **Parameters**, **Usage Count** and **Created**. A test with no category shows **Uncategorized**, and a test with no price shows **N/A**.

An empty catalogue reads **No lab tests found for this clinic**; a search with no match reads **No lab tests match your search**.

### Reports

**Lab AI Reports** generates a written commentary on the period. Eight report types are offered on the left, under **Select a lab report type**: **Comprehensive**, **Test Trends**, **Staff Performance**, **Department Distribution**, **Parameter Abnormality**, **Critical Results**, **Patient Demographics** and **Test Correlations**. Before anything is generated the right pane says **No Report Selected**.

## Maintain the test catalogue

Every parameter you define here becomes a field on the results form, and every reference range you set is what prints on the report. This is the highest-leverage screen in the laboratory.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the Test List tab">
    Find an existing test with **Search lab tests**, or use **View Columns** → **Toggle columns** to show what you need.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add a test">
    Select **New Test Record** and give it a name, a category, a department, a price and its parameters with their reference ranges. It becomes available to the ordering form immediately.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Edit or inspect an existing one">
    The row menu offers **View Details**, **Edit Details** and **Delete Test**. **Usage Count** tells you how often a test is actually ordered, which is the honest way to decide whether it belongs in the catalogue.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Delete only what nobody uses">
    **Delete Test** asks first: "Are you sure you want to delete …? This action cannot be undone." Results already recorded against past requests are unaffected — you are removing the test from the menu, not from history.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Refresh">
    **Refresh** re-reads the catalogue and confirms with **Lab tests refreshed**.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Generate a lab report

<Steps>
  <Step title="Pick the report type">
    Choose one of the eight on the left. **Comprehensive** covers the lot; the others answer one question each.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Select Generate Report">
    The button reads **Generating...** while it runs. The finished report is dated — **Generated \{date}**, or **Regenerated \{date}** if you have run it again.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Read it before you circulate it">
    This text is written by AI from your lab's own figures. Treat it as a first draft: check the numbers against the Analytics tab, and never send it out unread.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Export it">
    **Export** offers **Export as PDF** and **Export as Word**. **Regenerate** produces a fresh version over the same period.
  </Step>
</Steps>

Before anything has been generated the pane reads **No lab report available**, with **Generate your first lab AI report to see insights about test trends, staff performance, and lab metrics.**

<AuditNote action="Opening the lab station and generating a lab report" />

## Who can do this

Your **role** decides whether the **Laboratory** group opens, and whether an owner has hidden it from that role under [Role navigation](/hospital/settings/role-navigation). Inside it:

| Action                               | Who by default                           | How it is governed                                                       |
| ------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Read the Analytics tab               | Lab and clinical staff, managers, owners | Role                                                                     |
| Add, edit or delete a catalogue test | Lab scientists, managers, owners         | Role                                                                     |
| Generate and export an AI report     | Lab and clinical staff                   | Role                                                                     |
| See prices and revenue figures       | Staff with billing visibility            | Permission — a figure you may not see renders as a dash, never as a zero |

Per-person enforcement is **opt-in**: someone never saved in the permissions sheet is unrestricted, and the sheet warns **"Saving starts enforcing"**. A **denied action is written to the audit log**; an allowed one is not. Hiding the group from a role's sidebar is a convenience, not a security boundary. See [Staff permissions](/platform/team/permissions).

## Check it worked

* A test you added appears when you search for it on the ordering form.
* Its parameters appear as fields on the results form for the next request.
* The **Total Lab Tests** tile moves when you change the date range.
* A generated report shows **Generated \{date}** and exports without error.

## Common issues

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="A test I added is not offered when ordering">
    The ordering form searches this catalogue by name. Check for a typo, and check you saved the test rather than closing the form — the **Test List** tab is the source of truth.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Reports print without reference ranges">
    Ranges come from the test definition here, not from the results form. A test defined without ranges prints without them for every patient. Edit the test and add them.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Unable to open print window. Please check your popup blocker settings.">
    Your browser blocked the export window. Allow pop-ups for ClinikEHR and select **Export** again.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Export failed">
    The message adds **Could not export the report. Please try again.** Regenerate the report first, then export — an export of a stale report is the usual cause.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The tiles all read zero">
    The date range is the first thing to check; the tiles measure the period you selected, not all time. Widen the range and they repopulate.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Lab Station is missing from the sidebar">
    It needs the Enterprise plan and the **Diagnostics** care area in **Settings → Facility**. See [Care areas](/hospital/get-started/care-areas).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## FAQ

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Is the AI report safe to send to a board meeting?">
    Only after a person has read it. It is generated from your own figures but it is still generated text — check it against the Analytics tab, and edit the exported document if you need to.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does deleting a test delete past results?">
    No. Results already recorded stay on the patients' records. Deleting removes the test from the ordering menu only.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Where do I record an actual result?">
    On [Lab test list](/hospital/diagnostics/laboratory) for today's requests, or on [Lab reports](/hospital/diagnostics/lab-reports) for the full order-to-report flow.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Is turnaround time measured from order or from collection?">
    It is measured across the lab's own processing window. For the full turnaround breakdown, the Diagnostics edition documents the same figures in more depth — see [Turnaround time](/lims/lab/turnaround-time).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can two departments have separate catalogues?">
    Not as separate lists. Use the **Department** column on each test and filter the catalogue by it — every hospital shares one catalogue so an order never falls between two of them.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

<StillStuck topic="the lab station" />