Computers and branches, linked

One laboratory, across all its branches and computers

Link the laboratory's computers on its local network, link its branches in other places over the internet, and reach it safely from outside. Every branch keeps working on its own server when the internet is down, then catches up with the others by itself. And linking costs nothing from us.

Three ways to link

From the reception desk to a branch in another city

Use the ones your laboratory needs, or all of them together.

The computers of one laboratory, on its local network

One computer is the laboratory's server; the others work on it from a browser, and every member of staff has an account of their own.

  • You open the server to the laboratory's workstations from one screen, "Open the server to the laboratory's workstations", with no technician: the program writes the setting, makes the certificate and opens the firewall port for the laboratory's private network only, once Windows asks you to allow it, then gives you the address the workstations type.
  • The connection is encrypted with a certificate made for your laboratory, which is created there and never leaves it; each workstation trusts it once.
  • The data sits in one database on the server, so reception, the technologists and billing see the same files at the same moment.

Branches in different places, over the internet

Every branch has its own server and database and exchanges what has changed with the others, so it works in full even when the internet is down.

  • Each branch reaches the other at its address: a fixed address, or its address on Tailscale.
  • Two branches are linked with a key made at one and entered at the other, typed or read from a QR code.
  • The exchange runs by itself every two minutes, with no one pressing a button.

From outside the laboratory, for the manager and the doctors

Reach your laboratory from home or anywhere in one of three ways, and the laboratory chooses the one that suits it.

  • Tailscale: nothing is opened to the internet, and doctors reach an address with a real certificate from their phones. It is a third-party service whose business plan is paid to Tailscale.
  • A fixed address and a port on the router, or a VPN on the laboratory's router.
  • Access from outside stays off until the laboratory turns it on from inside, and every sign-in from outside needs two-step verification.
One laboratory with many branches

What makes all the branches one laboratory

The patient, the result and the member of staff move between branches as if they were all one laboratory.

One patient file at every branch

A patient tested at one branch who visits another a month later finds their file and earlier results there.

The verifier's name travels with the result

At every branch, a result carries the name of the specialist who verified it, whichever branch they verified it at.

Staff work at the branches the manager chooses

The manager signs in with their own account on any computer at any branch; a member of staff signs in at the branch where their account was made and at every branch the manager grants, with the same account and on every computer of that branch, until the manager changes it.

Numbers that never repeat across branches

Each site of the chain has a number from 1 to 99 that its patient files and tubes are numbered from, so two branches never give one number to two patients, even when they register while the internet is down. Order numbers carry the branch prefix.

Cancellations and results travel

A cancelled test is cancelled at the other branches too, and a result that arrives from another branch moves its test along there.

No two patients merged by mistake

Every record is matched on where it was made and its number together; any clash is refused openly, never merged in silence.

Works without internet

A dropped connection stops no branch

Every branch registers, prints and verifies on its own server, and keeps what has changed until the connection is back.

  • When the internet returns, what built up during the outage is applied in a single exchange.
  • You pause a link, resume it or end it from the "Branches & Locations" screen, and a branch keeps what it is sending while the link is paused.
  • Two branches with the same number in the chain are not linked until one of them is given another number.
Security

Your patients' data stays between your branches

  • Every link has its own key, so a branch that is sold or closed opens none of the other branches' links.
  • Every packet two branches exchange is signed, and a forged or unsigned packet is refused.
  • Your branches exchange their data with each other; it does not pass through Clarus servers.
  • The connection between the computers of one laboratory is encrypted with your laboratory's certificate.
  • Signing in from outside needs two-step verification; three wrong attempts pause that account's sign-in from outside for an hour without locking it inside the laboratory, and switching access from outside off ends all of its sessions at once.
  • The manager can mark a patient's file as sensitive: it opens only after the person opening it gives a reason, and the reason is kept in the audit trail.
Measured before we said it

Five linked sites in a live trial

We linked five live sites that exchanged orders, samples and results in both directions: 11,244 orders came out identical at all five, and every forged or unsigned packet was refused.

Linking costs nothing from us

No subscription to us for linking and no fee per branch: you buy a perpetual licence for each computer and link as many branches as you like once activated. What others may charge stays between you and them: your internet provider for a fixed address, Tailscale for its business plan.

In the trial (14 days) you can link one remote branch, so you can try linking before you buy.

See the price

Questions about linking

Does a branch stop when the internet goes down?

No. Every branch works on its own server and database, and catches up with the others when the connection is back.

Do I need a technician to link the laboratory's computers?

No. The "Open the server to the laboratory's workstations" screen writes the setting, makes the certificate and opens the port once Windows asks you to allow it, and gives you the address the workstations type.

What does linking two branches need?

That each branch can reach the other at a fixed address or through Tailscale; then the link key is made at one and entered at the other.

How many branches can I link?

As many as you like once activated, and one remote branch in the trial.

Does patient data pass through your servers?

No. Your branches exchange their data with each other in signed packets, and every branch stays on its own server.

Can I end a link whenever I want?

Yes. You pause it or end it from the "Branches & Locations" screen, and every branch keeps working with what it has.

Update log

Try linking in your trial

Download Clarus LIS free for 14 days with every feature, and link one remote branch to see how it works.

WhatsApp Send the download link to your computer