Effective April 26th, 2021, Spectrum Health Laboratories will discontinue 4.5 mL blue citrate blood tubes. These are a vendor discontinued item. The replacement item will be the 2.7 mL blue citrate blood tubes.
Due to this change, there may be a difference in the number of tubes required to collect for the lab tests below. Please refer to the lab catalog for specimen collection requirements.
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.
The 21st Century Cures Act and Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) Final Rule states that Spectrum Health cannot engage in practices that interfere with access, exchange, or use of electronic health information (EHI), otherwise known as Information Blocking, unless a specific Information Blocking exception applies.
Spectrum Health Regional Laboratory is committed to the safety of our patients, and the accuracy and quality of the testing we provide. In order to do that, we need your help to ensure that patient specimens adhere to our internal policies and quality checks.
THE DETAILS
To that end, we are asking for your help in the process of labeling specimens before they are sent to our laboratory. It is our policy at Spectrum Health Regional Laboratory that the routine labeling of laboratory specimens MUST INCLUDE FULL LEGAL NAME and DATE OF BIRTH, and if possible, additional identifiers such as medical record number, specimen number, etc. If this information is missing, incomplete or incorrect, the specimen is considered a mislabeled specimen, and will be canceled upon receipt. (The only exception to this is “precious specimens,” ex. cerebrospinal fluid or surgical specimens, which can sometimes be given an opportunity for relabeling after correct identification).
If a patient specimen is labeled with a NICKNAME instead of the FULL LEGAL NAME, this specimen would be considered a mislabeled specimen and have to follow the above process, which will delay patient care and/or employee eligibility to work.
EXAMPLES
| “Alli” Smith Unacceptable | Allison Lynn Smith Acceptable |
| “Johnny” D Parker Unacceptable | John David Parker Acceptable |
| “Dan” Stevens Unacceptable | Daniel Stevens III Acceptable |
WHAT WE NEED YOU TO DO
Please review this notice with your collecting/labeling staff as soon as possible to ensure proper labeling practices. Though not new, this policy has been reviewed by our team members in central specimen processing, and will be strictly adhered to going forward. Please feel free to forward this notice to anyone involved in the collecting or labeling of laboratory specimens that are sent to Spectrum Health.
Thank you for continuing to trust Spectrum Health Regional Laboratory for your testing needs, and thank you for partnership in attention and commitment to quality and safety!
For questions or concerns regarding this policy, please use the “Contact Us” link above.
RESOURCES
Spectrum Health Labeling Guide
The Joint Commission 2021 Patient Safety Goals
Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute
Spectrum Health Laboratory Policy #9955
Self-collected vaginal swabs may be used for testing as opposed to provider-collected swabs. Self-collected swabs are supported by current clinical guidelines as recent studies have shown their equivalence, if not superiority, in quality and their association with increased patient satisfaction.
NOTE: Self-collection must still take place in a healthcare setting and is not approved for at-home collection.
Effective February 24, 2021, Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) Xanthochromia results of “Present” will be considered a critical laboratory value.
This change was approved by the MEC and driven by a collaboration between neurology and laboratory departments to assist in expediting the diagnosis and management of patients with possible subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH).
The Spectrum Health Regional Laboratory Coagulation Department will be going live with the Helena AggRam analyzer on February 3, 2021. This analyzer uses platelet rich plasma to analyze human platelet aggregation which is measured by absorbance. The following aggregating agents are used in these studies: Arachidonic Acid, ADP, Collagen, Epinephrine, and Ristocetin.
Patients for platelet aggregation studies should be resting, fasting, and non-smoking. Patients should avoid taking any prescription or over the counter medications known to affect platelet function for ten (10) days to two (2) weeks prior to the studies. For a list of medications known to have anti-platelet effects, click here.