ConnectivityWise vs Abbott RALS
Middleware from the company that sells you the instruments.
Abbott RALS is hospital point-of-care middleware that often arrives bundled with Abbott instrument and consumable programs. It is a capable platform with decades in the market. It is also an enterprise system owned by an instrument vendor, priced through the instrument relationship, and sized for a POC program office most practices do not have.
The short version.
Lower, visible cost
A flat per-location price you can see, never bundled inside an instrument or consumable contract.
Live in days
Guided setup managed end to end instead of a hospital implementation project.
Vendor-neutral
Mix, switch, and add instrument brands freely. Your connectivity never takes sides.
Side by side.
| Dimension | Abbott RALS | ConnectivityWise |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Enterprise contracts, often bundled into consumable programs, with pricing tied to test volume and the instrument relationship. | A flat monthly price per location, independent of any instrument purchase, with no volume commitment. |
| Getting live | An implementation project scoped for hospital point-of-care programs, with planning, IT engagement, and training cycles. | Live in days, managed end to end, with a new instrument usually connected the same day. |
| Day-to-day use | Built for dedicated POC coordinators, with feature depth an ambulatory practice will rarely touch. | Built for MAs and practice managers, with exactly the features an ambulatory practice uses. |
| Logins and access | Operator lists and access maintained by administrators. | Single sign-on with role-based access, included at every tier, at every location. |
| Automation | Strong automated capture and transfer within its hospital deployment model. | Automatic capture, order matching, upload, guided error fixes, and QC routing, with staff notified the moment a result lands or a run fails. No program office required. |
| Security | An ISO 27001-certified organization with an enterprise-grade platform. | A HIPAA-compliant cloud platform with one lightweight agent. Less to install is less to secure. |
| Compliance records | Mature QC plus operator competency management and learning-system integrations. | Guided CLIA interface validation with a generated report (nothing comparable in RALS), QC with review and Levey-Jennings export, and full audit trails. |
| Who manages it | Operator lists, device menus, version upgrades, and IT involvement. | Near zero. The fleet is managed for you and the agent keeps itself current. |
| Independence | Owned by Abbott, with a commercial pull toward one instrument ecosystem. | Owned by no instrument vendor. Your bench can change brands without changing connectivity. |
| Winner | ConnectivityWise wins 7 of 9 rows. Security: even. Compliance records: depends on fit. | |
What each meters on.
OptionMeters onYour bill goes up when…
ConnectivityWiseLocationsYou open a location
Abbott RALSTest volumeYou run more tests
Where ConnectivityWise wins.
Vendor neutrality: we are not owned by a device manufacturer or an LIS vendor, so instrument choice stays yours.
Flat per-location pricing, not per-test, with no volume commitment and no bundling into a consumable contract.
Live in days with guided setup, instead of an implementation project sized for a hospital.
Guided CLIA interface validation with a generated report, a workflow RALS does not offer.
Result-ready and run-failed notifications for the staff actually running the tests.
Where Abbott RALS has the edge.
We would rather tell you than have you find out later.
- A hospital standardizing on Abbott instruments gets native depth here, including i-STAT support from the instrument’s own manufacturer.
- Operator competency tools, including quizzes and learning-system integrations, are built in today.
- Hospital-scale deployments are proven at thousands of sites.
The bottom line.
"It comes with our Abbott meters" is how RALS usually enters the conversation. Price the connectivity on its own and the picture changes: a flat per-location subscription, live in days, no administrator role, and no ties to any instrument brand. For an ambulatory practice or outpatient group, right-sized and independent beats bundled and enterprise.
See how ConnectivityWise compares on your instruments and your EHR.
Fifteen minutes in the live product, mapped to your instruments and your EHR.