The following information was updated in the Spectrum Health Laboratory Catalog.
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General Information
Advanced Technology Laboratory, Education & Training, General Information, Immunochemistry, Microbiology, Test Utilization
Reminder: COVID Orders and Scheduling
Effective July 1, 2021, Spectrum Health no longer offers patient self-screening through MyChart or telephonic COVID screening appointments to patients. Patients will need an order from their provider prior to scheduling a COVID-19 test. Patients should be symptomatic or have a recent exposure, all other visit types should go through Michigan.gov (travel, athletic, or return to work or school, etc.)
If the patient does not have a provider, they may utilize the SHNow On Demand Visit via MyChart or find testing site options on Michigan.gov.
Once the order is placed, patients may schedule an appointment through MyChart or calling the Covid Hotline (for paper orders).
For more information:
Education & Training, General Information, Immunochemistry, Main lab, Toxicology
Specimen Collection Updates – July 2021
The following information was updated in the Spectrum Health Laboratory Catalog.
Effective Wednesday, August 18, 2021, to align with Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines, the Salicylate lower limit of reporting will increase from 0.3 mg/dL to 2.0 mg/dL.
Note: The therapeutic range for Salicylate is 2.0 – 10.0 mg/dL and this test is best utilized for assessment of Salicylate toxicity.
TEST INFORMATION
Salicylate Level – Test Codes: Epic #LAB34, Interface #10245, CPT #80329
The following information was updated in the Spectrum Health Laboratory Catalog.
Compliance & Safety, General Information
Pathology Narratives Release Hold Removed for Weekends and Holidays
Effective July 1, 2021, Pathology and Radiology Result Narratives will no longer be held on weekends and holidays. All finalized result narratives will be released at 6 a.m. and 12 p.m. daily. This adjustment aligns with the 21st Century Cures Act and corresponding CMS mandate to allow data to flow freely and securely between providers, payers, and patients.
Of note, patients may be able to see results in MyChart prior to a provider seeing the results. Ordering providers should consider discussing potential outcomes with patients to prepare patients for results. Results should only be held if releasing the result puts the patient at risk of physical harm, or the patient requests the information not be shared.
More information related to the 21st Century Cures Act and established interoperability requirements can be found on the Information Governance Insite page (Internal). Contact Information Governance at InformationGovernance@spectrumhealth.org with any questions or use the Contact Us link above.
Blood Bank, Compliance & Safety, General Information, Hemostasis/Coagulation, Referral/Sendouts, Test Utilization
Coagulation Blue Top Tube Shortage
Update 9/1/2021:
September 1, 2021
There continues to be a global shortage of sodium citrate (“blue top”) blood collection tubes used for coagulation testing as a result of unprecedented demand, in part due to COVID-19 surges, vaccine and treatment development. This was anticipated to last through August 2021, but now, due to continued unprecedented demands, there is no end date in sight. Please take this into consideration when ordering coagulation testing (i.e. Protime, aPTT, Fibrinogen, D-dimer, Lupus Screens, Factor Assays, Mixing Studies, von Willebrand testing, etc.).
Chemistry, Compliance & Safety, General Information, Hematology, Hemostasis/Coagulation, Microbiology, Referral/Sendouts
CSF Priorities on QNS Specimens
When a Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimen arrives into the laboratory and is deemed Quantity Not Sufficient (QNS) for ordered testing, the ordering provider is contacted to identify testing priorities. Occasionally, the laboratory is unable to secure these priorities.
If the lab is unable to secure priorities from the ordering provider within an hour of collection, the following will occur:
1. We will move forward with the Cell count with differential, Culture, and Protein/Glucose
2. The rest of the ordered testing will hold until we can clarify the priorities
Laboratory is partnering with Epic Beaker to discover if a prioritization of orders, upon CSF order entry, is possible.
If you have questions or concerns, please use the “Contact Us” link above.
If you are collecting COVID-19 swabs in your office or clinic, please order and collect using the saline swab kits (“liquid media” or “wet collection”) instead of the tube with no liquid media (“dry collection”).
• Liquid media swab kits will provide a faster turn-around time.
• Dry collection kits supplies are low.
Please refer to the COVID-19 PCR test in the Lab Catalog for the most up-to-date information on COVID-19 collection.