Based on our reputation for extracting and connecting knowledge artifacts from disparate resources across the Vanderbilt Health enterprise to facilitate validation and reuse, the Center for Knowledge Management (CKM) was approached by medical center leadership to create a solution for extracting and consolidating laboratory data from many sources into one knowledge base to allow for determination of and access to a single source of truth for laboratory testing at Vanderbilt Health. In response to this charge, the CKM has established a multi-faceted, web-based application – the Lab Tests Expert Guide & Data Repository. The goal of this application was to create and maintain metadata, document local practice, and provide evidence for laboratory tests ordered at Vanderbilt Health.

Center for Knowledge Management (CKM) information scientists also worked with the Vanderbilt Health Laboratory Operations Committee to inform decision-making by providing focused, up-to-date evidence syntheses in response to specific requests regarding laboratory tests’ clinical utility. These syntheses are stored in the secure Lab Tests Expert Guide & Data Repository, housed within the CKM-developed Clinical Support Knowledge Acquisition & Archival Tool (CS-KAAT), which enables documentation of the evidence delivered.

The CKM evidentiary paradigm crosscuts multiple projects and equips our users with a broad view of the information they need to make evidence-based decisions and understand institutional decisions surrounding similar clinical situations. The extension of the CKM framework to the lab test domain confirmed that institutional knowledge could be curated, structured, and integrated across multiple domains.