The monitoring table is used to hold data from microbiology organism identifications and drug sensitivities. Unlike most lab tests, where you get a linear list of data items for a given test method or test panel, in Micro, you get multiple organism from the same sample, and each one can have its own sensitivities to various drugs. Typically you would have around 3 organisms being identified, and test them against 20 or so antibiotics (of various dilutions), and for each of these, the result is Sensitivity, Resistant or Indeterminate.
The Monitoring table duplicates parts of the LabResults table, but is constructed in a way which simplifies reporting. The Monitoring table will always have related information in the Requests table and can be joined on the RequestID/OBRSetID columns. Ideally, the join would be done from Requests -> LabResults -> Monitoring. By populating the LabResults record you can keep the integrity of the relationship between Requests and LabResults intact. The join from LabResults to Monitoring is on three fields RequestID/OBRSetID/OBXSetID in order to tie the Monitoring records to a specific Result for a specific Panel.
Because of the nature of the results for Drug Sensitivity tests there may not be a logical value to put in the LabResults record. For example, a specimen might be assigned a Blood Culture panel. If and organism grows it can then be assigned a Drug Sensitivity panel. The sensitivity panel will have it's outcomes recorded in the Monitoring table because the additional structure of the monitoring table allows for more enhanced reporting on drug susceptibility testing. Keep in mind that the original blood culture panel might have multiple results; one for the initial detection of the organism and a second which is a summary of the outcome of the sensitivity panel. Some LIMS might also just have that summary outcome associated with the Sensitivity panel; it just depends on how the workflow in the LIMS and the way the LIMS structures it's data.
Example data for a Culture and Drug Sensitivity panels assigned to a specimen.
Requests
LabResults
Monitoring
This record in the Monitoring table relates directly to the Requests table on OBRSetID and OBXSetID.