Forensic Science LIMS

Caseman is a highly efficient software solution that has been especially designed to meet the existing needs of Forensic Science

As such, it is not just about delivering comprehensive case management capabilities. It is not just about providing a total LIMS solution. And nor is it just about offering potent management tools for day-to-day laboratory operations.

Rather, Caseman’s role is to bring together all three of these essential capabilities into a single totally integrated IT application. An application which places major emphasis on delivering efficiency, service delivery, quality standards and control.

Forcefully addressing all such operational and management issues is precisely what  Caseman is all about

Having been closely involved with Forensic Science for close to a decade, Promadis has come to understand the key issues facing this disciplines laboratories  around the world.

For example, we are well aware that the demand on every lab is to provide outstanding support services, to adopt new sciences and techniques, while generally facing today’s inevitably harsh budgetary pressures.

We recognise that increased government regulation, new legislation, demands for more comprehensive reporting and increasingly demanding clients, all add to the complexity of day to day laboratory management.

Caseman in Operation

In nuts and bolts terms, Caseman begins by bringing together all case data, items, results and related communications into a powerful and rigorously organised database.

As laboratory activities are carried out – whether manual or automated, scientific or administrative – all relevant information is taken into the database. This being achieved via system modules which fully support the input and storage of images, test results, management statistics and scientific reports.

Also integral to this work are the instrument automation capabilities which directly interface laboratory equipment to Caseman. For a range of instruments this is achieved by the system’s standard links. For others it is facilitated by the application’s powerful but simple ‘customised scripting’ tool.

In all instances, the underlying objectives are to streamline and speed the update of computer files and to help ensure the quality of results collection. As such, comprehensive audit facilities are inbuilt and which can, for example, be used to link results back to original raw data. 

Once defined tests are complete, a further key role played by Caseman is the automatic preparation of draft reports. These reflect the system’s knowledge of precisely what it is reporting on, and are presented in the exact style and format dictated by user-defined templates. A full ‘watching brief’ of all outstanding reports is also maintained, with the system monitoring progress and peer reviews.

Final reports are then produced. Either for signing and circulation on paper. Alternatively for email distribution, after advanced encryption, or through your own intranet. The choice of such options obviously being determined by such things as end-client requirements, speed and security.

In designing these reporting capabilities, Caseman’s development team recognized the time sensitivity often involved in forensic science and the need to adhere to strict QA protocols. It was also their aim to reduce the significant workloads of senior and expert staff traditionally associated with report production. 

Behind the scenes the PROMADIS system is equally active and powerful. Here, for example, it recognises that any genuinely integrated forensic science system must also fully support key management decision making. Its role being to convert raw ‘data’ into timely, useful and appropriate business ‘information’ that is readily to hand in precisely the required format.

Consequently as work on any case progresses, Caseman collects detailed information about all scheduled activities and the individual tasks that have been carried out. As such, it will give supervisors and managers an on-demand, up-to-the-moment and totally accurate view of such things as current workloads, workload projections and backlogs. Actual performance is compared to pre-defined expectations to help plan and manage identified issue and to monitor compliance with committed service levels agreements.

Senior executives may also define their own uniquely tailored Caseman reports. These can include detailed data for budgeting and funding submissions. Or, at the other extreme, a daily one page summary of ‘right now’ Key Performance Indicators can be produced. KPIs that have been nominated by the chief executives themselves and which are presented in a layout of their choice.

Caseman Capabilities

The extensive range of Promadis Caseman capabilities include

Case Management

• Comprehensive case management
• Case reporting and monitoring
• Integration with Police offender systems
• Images, documents and files can be associated with case, exhibits, samples and sample points.

Exhibit Management 

• Exhibit recording and receiving
• Full movement and tracking controls
• Barcode integration
• Item minutes to report actions
• Integration with Police evidence systems 

Sample & Test Management

• User defined multi-phase testing
• All testes are associated with a case
• Samples can be related to exhibits
• Tests can be related to samples
• All results linked back to the test/case
• Staff interact with work using ‘whiteboards’
• Work task management tolls and enquiries
• Sample barcoding to improve integration

Pathology

• Inventory and ‘sub-inventory’ of samples
• Special connections to Toxicology for tests
• Autopsy details recorded for reporting
• Preliminary findings report for Coroner

Toxicology

• Special (high throughput) Blood Alcohol facility
• Blood results direct from analyser
• Drug screening
• Control trend monitoring
• Certificates produced
• Special interface far Pathology tests
• Specialist DNA processes
• DNA matching database
  • Convicted Offenders
  • Crime Sample to Crime Sample
  • Individual to Crime Sample
  • Individual to Match Group
• FPA compliant
• Exchange DNA data with external databases

Chemistry

• Drugs module Weighing Process
• Manages Dilutants, QA Codes, QC Codes, Drug Codes
• Drug Batch Entry, Selection & templates
• Drug Profiling to compare with other batches

Management Reports

• Case performance and Target Date Reports 
• Backlog management reports
• Key Performance Indicators

Reports & Enquiries

• More than 80 standard reports
• Numerous enquiry facilities (with print options)
• Comprehensive case reports including drill down to data
• Integration of Crystal Reports to simply deliver user specific and ad hoc reports

Instruments

• Capabilities directly interface laboratory equipment to Caseman. 
• For a range of instruments this is achieved by the system’s standard links.
• For others it is facilitated by the application’s powerful but simple ‘customised scripting’ tool.

System

• Audit capability includes Before/After images of changes
• Security capabilities control all user access
• System controls for auditing report generation and revision
• Case reports can be publishes to an Intranet for remote access
• Windows based GUI
• Support available for multiple databases including Oracle

PROMADIS CaseMan
Driving efficiency, service delivery, quality and control