Extract data from lab results

A lab results report is where a diagnosis often starts, and a clinic or research team receives them from a dozen sources that never agree on format: a Quest Diagnostics PDF, a LabCorp portal export, a hospital system printout, and a faxed panel from a referring physician. Data each report carries is the same in concept: a list of analytes, each with a measured value, the units, a reference range, and a flag when the result falls outside that range. A metabolic panel alone can carry 14 analytes, and a single report can stack several panels, so a medical record system or a researcher needs every line captured with its value tied to the right reference interval. Difficulty concentrates in units, reference ranges, and the high-low flags. Identical analytes report in different units across labs, so glucose at 95 mg/dL on one report is 5.3 mmol/L on another, and a value is meaningless without its unit. Reference ranges are themselves a pair (such as 70 to 99 mg/dL) that has to stay bound to its analyte, and the abnormal flag (H, L, or a critical marker) drives clinical follow-up. Many analytes map to a LOINC code that lets results from different labs be compared, and capturing that code is what makes a result interoperable. A report dated 2026-04-18 with a fasting glucose of 110 mg/dL flagged H is only actionable when the value, unit, range, and flag travel together. Talonic reads the lab report and returns each analyte with its value, unit, reference range, abnormal flag, and LOINC code where present, grouped by panel. A clinical or research system loads structured results instead of re-keying a panel by hand. Results drawn 2026-04-18 at Quest Diagnostics, exported from the EHR and the EMR as a PDF, let a US clinic compare a fasting glucose of 110 mg/dL against the 70 to 99 reference range, while the LOINC code keeps the value comparable across LabCorp and Mayo Clinic Laboratories.

What gets extracted from lab results

How extraction works for lab results

Lab reports arrive as reference-lab PDFs, EHR exports, and faxed panels, so the analyte table looks different on every source. Talonic reads the report and maps it to the lab-result schema in the Field Registry, which captures each analyte with its value, unit, reference range, and abnormal flag rather than a flat block of numbers. Units are kept explicit, since a value without its unit is clinically meaningless, and the reference range is bound to its analyte as a low-high pair. Abnormal flags (H, L, or a critical indicator) are captured so a downstream system can trigger follow-up. A LOINC code is attached when the report carries one, which lets results from Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp be compared on the same axis. Every value returns with a confidence score and pixel-region provenance under DIN SPEC 91491 conformity, so a clinician can verify a result against the source report.

Sample extraction

A multi-panel lab report from a reference laboratory

{
  "patient_name": "Helen Park",
  "collection_date": "2026-04-18",
  "performing_lab": "Quest Diagnostics",
  "panels": [
    {
      "panel": "Comprehensive Metabolic Panel",
      "results": [
        {
          "analyte": "Glucose, fasting",
          "value": 110,
          "units": "mg/dL",
          "reference_low": 70,
          "reference_high": 99,
          "flag": "H",
          "loinc": "1558-6"
        },
        {
          "analyte": "Creatinine",
          "value": 0.9,
          "units": "mg/dL",
          "reference_low": 0.6,
          "reference_high": 1.3,
          "flag": null,
          "loinc": "2160-0"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Frequently asked