Specimen Type Change for Outpatient Chemistry Tests – Effective December 3, 2025

Effective Date: December 3, 2025

What’s Changing?

The preferred specimen type for most outpatient Chemistry tests will change from:

Lithium Heparin Gel PST (mint green-top with gel) to Serum Separator SST (gold-top with gel)

Why the Change?

SST tubes provide improved specimen quality and stability, supporting more accurate test results.

Key Points

SST (gold-top) is now the preferred tube for outpatient Chemistry specimens.

PST (mint green-top) will still be accepted for the respective tests.

Resources

View Complete Test List

Lab Catalog

(Note: This change only impacts West Michigan; Southeast and Southwest Michigan sites already use gold-top SST tubes for many of these tests.)

Questions?

Use the Contact Us link above.