Identifying your specimen during the testing process

(Inside Aotea, June 2011)

Aotea Laboratory receives several thousand specimens each and every day and it is essential we  always have the right specimen paired with the right patient.

Anita Worrall, our technical laboratory manager,  explains how we identify and track your specimen throughout the testing process.

Starting point

When you visit the phlebotomist (blood collector) to have a blood test they verbally confirm your name and date of birth against the details on the request form, and write these details on the specimen container. Or, if you provide your own specimen, you are responsible for labelling the container with your details.

When your specimen arrives at the laboratory’s specimen reception department, we visually check that the name on the form matches the name on the container.

We give the specimen a unique barcode and enter it into the Laboratory Information System. This barcode identifies the specimen throughout the testing process.

Right patient, right specimen and right result

The identity of the specimen is checked at every possible point of the testing process. If there is a discrepancy, the process is halted until a solution is found.

How to label a container

If you need to label your own specimen container, please clearly write your first name, last name and date of birth.

A specimen that is not adequately labelled is termed a ‘compromised specimen’, and an assessment is completed to see if testing can proceed.

In some cases, the specimen needs to be requested from the patient a second time -- so a clearly labelled container will avoid this inconvenience.