Partner and Informatics Extension of your Transplant Laboratory

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Have you ever wondered how mTilda started and what’s with that goat logo?

More than 30 years ago, Fred Hoefnagel sat in a room and lived in the lab with an HLA Laboratory Director with the intention of designing a Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS), as a favor to a friend. This is how a UNIX-based LIMS, OTIS, was born. Years later, the Thomas Jefferson University HLA department, and the newly appointed HLA director needed a Windows-based LIMS for the lab. Fred and his wife, Barbara Ure, who both had significant programming and software design experience, took on the project. After countless discussions, iterations, testing and validations, a custom Windows-based LIMS, mTilda, was developed. Fred and Barbara focused mostly on supporting a handful of HLA labs that needed a custom LIMS designed for their needs. At that time, expanding to more labs was challenging for a team of only two. That’s all well and good but I want to know about the logo!

Well, Fred and Barbara lived on a big farm with goats and other assorted farm animals. The goats ate everything in sight, even paper. Much like the goats when they were in the house, the main aim of a LIMS is to get rid of paper or to make the lab paperless. This is how the goat logo was born.

When HLA Data Systems was formed in 2016, we decided to grow the mTilda team and scale up operations to make mTilda widely available for all HLA labs. The need for a custom solution was certainly apparent and with a strong ethic in customer support, the newly formed HLA Data System’s team expanded to meet that demand. We wanted to be able to offer our custom LIMS solution to as many labs as possible without compromising the high-quality support we were known for. Company growth has also allowed us to continually develop and innovate software solutions and analysis tools so that our customers can take advantage of new techniques, optimized workflows, and robust EMR integration. Our current internal structure and technology architecture allows us to react quickly to the evolving digital landscape within HLA – from epitopes to virtual crossmatching to detection of chimerism changes post HCT.  As we keep pace with these changes, we understand that development must be paired with a deployment strategy that makes sense for your lab.  Deploying our solutions into an already busy lab requires implementation expertise, detailed planning, and a commitment to proper execution.  As we continue to grow, we look forward to serving both new and long-standing customers as well as the entire HLA community!

  • Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics Data Leaders

    Big data and analytics are an inextricable part of the healthcare landscape, and H&I is no exception. There is more data than ever before, and organizing, mining, and presenting that data is a challenge for every laboratory. HLA Data Systems brings a strong data team to help you solve your strategic data problems. We’re committed to excellence in interoperability and data governance as pressures mount to include discrete data into an EMR. We work with centralized IT departments, the clinical community, and EMR providers, so we understand the challenges that can arise, and we’re able to deliver customized solutions that work for you.

  • Your HLA Advocates

    We want to be your champion in the laboratory, in the clinic, and in the world of H&I. The regulatory environment is constantly evolving, as well as vendor requirements and hospital policies. It has become nearly impossible to keep up with the shifting demands of H&I. That’s where we come in. We know that choosing an LIMS is a complicated and time-consuming process. Once the choice is made, it is difficult to transition. That’s why HLA Data Systems will partner with you in all things related to the HLA laboratory: interface projects, workflow improvement, user training, and much more.

  • Solutions for Your HLA Laboratory

    Our products have been used in HLA laboratories for over 20 years. We understand that progress occurs with innovation. HLA Data Systems is committed to new and creative solutions in the H&I space to bring convenience and resource-saving innovations to your institution.