St. Peter’s Bender Lab Reports

INFORMATION FOR HOME BLOOD DRAW SERVICES

St. Peters Hospital offers a blood draw service for homebound patients. Homebound is defined as those individuals with a condition due to surgery, illness or injury that precludes them from accessing medical care outside the home. This is not a service of convenience or a STAT service. In determining whether a patient is homebound, the following questions need to be considered.

1) Is the patient able to leave the home without assistance?

2) Is the patient requesting home services due to lack of transportation?

3) Is this a one time draw associated with a physician’s appointment?

If the answer to any of these questions is YES, the patient does not qualify for home draw services and should be sent to one of our six Patient Service Centers (call 525-1495 to find a location near the patient).

For all patients that do qualify for home draw services, please inform them that this is not a service of convenience or a STAT service. We are not able to offer specific appointment times, however we try to prioritize draws within a given area based on the tests ordered. The phlebotomists performing these services have additional responsibilities to include group homes, nursing homes, and other facilities. In addition, fasting samples are a high priority and are collected first. All patients are called the day before the scheduled draw. If the phlebotomist is unable to collect the specimen the ordering physician is notified.

Please fax all home draw requests to 525-1176. Required information includes Name, DOB, (demographics sheet if new patient) physician signature and proper diagnosis for medical necessity. Any V code must be used with a supporting diagnosis. If the fax is received before 2:30pm the request will be scheduled for the next day. If the request is received after 2:30pm it will be scheduled in 48hrs (i.e.: received after 2:30pm on Tues will be done on Thurs). Recurring frequencies will be scheduled for 6 months. At the end of 6 months a renewal notice is faxed to the physician. If the renewal is not returned, no further draws will be performed.

Please direct any questions to 525-5078. Thank you for your cooperation.

Changes in Specimen Requirements for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea

Effective February 18, 2008 the Microbiology Lab will be offering the Gen Probe Aptima Assay for the detection of Chlamydia and Gonorrhea. The assay is a nucleic amplification test that uses target capture (TC) and Transcription – Mediated Amplification (TMA) for in vitro qualitative detection of Chlamydia and Gonorrhea. This technology allows for greater detection because of

the increased sensitivity of the assay. The assay permits testing of endocervical, vaginal, urethral, urine and ThinPrep liquid Pap specimens.

Unisex genital swab collection kits for the Aptima assay are available from the Microbiology Lab at 525-6749. These collection kits are different than the female and male kits used for Gen Probe DNA probe assay. For urine testing, submit 20 to 30 mL of first-catch urine (Patient should not have urinated for at least 1 hour prior to specimen collection) in a sterile, preservative free container. Please order Chlamydia/GC RNA, TMA.

The Microbiology Laboratory will continue to provide Gen Probe Pace 2 testing for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea by DNA probe until approximately March 1, 2008. After that time, all genital specimen orders for testing by DNA probe will be converted to the Gen Probe Aptima Assay.

Please feel free to call Sandra Judge at 525-1456 or Dr. Patricia Belair at 525-1474 with questions.

Testing Notes

Platelet Aggregation testing is no longer offered by St Peter’s Hospital. This decision was made due to low demand and the test low specificity and sensitivity.

Semen Analysis is offered weekdays 8am – 1pm by APPOINTMENT ONLY. Please be sure to always give your patient an instruction letter with any script written. Letters can be obtained from the Hematology Lab at 525-1486.

Ask the Director

What specimens are acceptable for Influenza testing?

Answer: Nasopharyngeal aspirates or washes are the specimen of choice for respiratory illnesses. The specimen should be collected as soon as possible in the course of illness. Nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs are also acceptable. Please be aware that Rapid Flu test sensitivity drops to 77% with throat swabs having a higher false negative rate. Contact the Microbiology Laboratory at 525-1469 to obtain virus Transport media (M4), specialized dual foam tip swabs for throat cultures or nasopharyngeal swabs.

Feedback

Your comments and suggestions are always welcome. Please contact Angela D. Miczek by phone at (518) 525-1470, or by E-mail at .

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