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Lab Central

Compliance & Safety, Education & Training, General Information

Tips for Home Collection

From collection to transport, Spectrum Health Laboratories must have quality specimens to produce accurate results you can trust. A quality specimen is one that has been collected and transported, keeping specimen integrity and patient identification intact. It is important to remind patients to carefully follow all collection and transportation instructions to ensure the sample usable and not tainted.

Please help remind patients:

♦ Submit all specimens as soon as collection is completed. Many tests are time sensitive.

♦ After collection, make sure lid is secured and fastened evenly, as leaky specimens will be rejected.

♦ Keep the container upright at all times.

♦ If a second container is needed, the patient should obtain a second container from the laboratory or draw site. Do not use home containers (i.e. butter container) or bags, as these may contaminate the specimen.

♦ Specimen is labeled clearly with

◊ Patient’s full legal name

◊ Date of birth

◊ Date and time of collection

Warning: Some kits contain preservatives. Please let patients know to not drink, ingest or inhale fumes. If disposal is needed please contact the laboratory.  In case of skin or eye contact, irritation, or swallowing call poison control as soon as possible: 800.222.1222.

For more information, please review “Laboratory Specimen Home Collection Document” or the Lab Catalog for more information.

August 30, 2022 by
Advanced Technology Laboratory, General Information, Main lab

Update: COVID-19 Swab Supplies

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.

• COVID-19 PCR Swab – LAB1230607

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April 8, 2021 by
Compliance & Safety, Education & Training, General Information

Appropriate Specimen Labeling

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

March 5, 2021 by
Compliance & Safety, Education & Training

Zero Tolerance Specimen Labeling

All specimens submitted to Spectrum Health Laboratory for testing must be appropriately labeled to assure positive identification and optimum integrity of specimens. In accordance with standards issued by The Joint Commission, at least 2 patient identifiers should be used when providing care or treatment of services (National Patient Safety Goal, NSPG.01.01.01). If 2 patient identifiers are not used on the specimen, the specimen will be rejected, the order will be cancelled and a request for recollection will be made. This includes Gyn Cytology (i.e. Pap) specimens.

What are acceptable Patient Identifiers?

  • Patient Full Legal Name
  • Date of Birth
  • Spectrum Health Medical Record Number (MRN)

 

June 1, 2016 by