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Compliance & Safety

Chemistry, Compliance & Safety, Education & Training, General Information, Referral/Sendouts

Preservative For 24 Hour Urine Collections

In both the inpatient and outpatient settings, the laboratory has supplied 24 hour urine containers with preservative such as acetic acid, sodium hydroxide, and boric acid.  Upon review of specimen stability requirements, it has been determined that a preservative is not needed prior to collection of most 24 hour urine tests as long as the 24 hour container is kept refrigerated or on ice during the collection period. Continue Reading

Chemistry, Compliance & Safety, General Information

Reference Range Update – OB Magnesium, Blood Level

Effective immediately, the OB Magnesium (Mg) reference range has been updated from 1.6 to 2.5 mg/dL to 4.8 to 8.0 mg/dL, to reflect the correct therapeutic range for patients receiving magnesium sulfate therapy. The non-OB magnesium reference range is unchanged.

Please direct questions and inquiries to Dr. Jennifer Stumph via the Contact Us link above.

TEST INFORMATION

OB Magnesium, Blood LevelEpic code #LAB3400, Interface code #11703, CPT code #83735

Compliance & Safety, Education & Training, General Information, Referral/Sendouts

Chlamydia and Gonococcus Testing on Pediatric Patients

Spectrum Health Regional Laboratory is not validated to perform Chlamydia and Gonococcus testing on pediatric patients under the age of 14 years old. Testing for these patients must be sent to a reference laboratory. Please order a Reference Miscellaneous Test (#LAB848) and indicate complete test name when ordering. Continue Reading

Compliance & Safety

Biotin Alert

Biotin is widely used in immunoassay type laboratory methods over a wide range of instruments at numerous clinical laboratories throughout the world (including Spectrum Health).

With the expansion of biotin – also known as vitamin B7 – supplementation and treatments (“over the counter” and prescription, respectively); an associated interference with many clinical laboratory tests has been identified, confirmed and documented. Unfortunately, magnitude and type (falsely increased/decreased) of interference varies with dose and assay; however, it has been confirmed that as dose increases so does the magnitude of the response. In late November 2017, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published a safety alert warning that biotin can interfere with certain lab tests and cause incorrect test results. Continue Reading

Blood Bank, Compliance & Safety

Blood Bank Specimens Require Two Signatures

Effective October 15th, 2017, all specimens collected for Blood Bank must have two signatures on the specimen written in ink that is resistant to smearing after a patient has been identified according to the Patient Identification Policy.

One of the two collectors/witnesses must be a lab staff member, unless specimen is collected in Spectrum Health Surgery, Infusion Center, Special Care Hospital, Cardiac Cath Lab Procedure Room, or a cord blood in Labor and Delivery. For Outpatients, the patient may serve as the witness and initial the tube label. Continue Reading

Compliance & Safety, Education & Training, General Information

Maintaining Specimen Integrity – Purple Priority Bags

purple priority bagSpectrum Health Regional Laboratory supplies purple priority bags for specimens that must be handled and processed immediately upon receipt in the laboratory. The purple color priority transport bag will be a visual cue to the receiving laboratory that the specimens inside the bag need to be handled or processed immediately at the time of arrival in the laboratory or the integrity of the specimen will be compromised.

Use these bags for transporting specimens to the laboratory when: Continue Reading