AssayFinder--an online database for clinical chemistry assays.

AssayFinder is an electronic database of clinical chemistry assays. It currently holds 1300 entries from 63 laboratories. It was developed for hospital clinical chemistry laboratories that need to send patient samples to reference centres for complex analysis. AssayFinder anticipated use of the Internet for transmitting information between hospitals. It started as a disc containing individual hypertext markup language files. From the beginning AssayFinder was designed for Web browser software, usable even in laboratories without Internet access. Later, files were generated automatically from a database package, (FileMaker-Pro, Claris, Santa Clara, USA.). Direct on-line access to the database has now been achieved using the World Wide Web. In the future sites will submit new assays in electronic form. In addition, links to other relevant specialist web-sites will further increase its value to the clinical chemistry community.