Preventing Specimen Rejections

Preventing Specimen Rejections

Eurofins Viracor is committed to proactively collaborating with our clients to prevent specimen rejections. We regularly monitor the quantity, frequency, and cause of rejections on a client-by-client basis to identify trends and areas of potential improvement.

Cell Function Testing

Particularly, Cell Function testing requires special attention to specimen collection and shipping in order to ensure the integrity of the sample.  Please watch Viracor’s video for complete specimen collection and shipping instructions:

General Requirements and Guidelines

We make every possible effort to maintain the integrity of the patient’s specimen to ensure accurate test results.  To assist with this effort, we encourage your review of, and adherence to, the following general requirements when collecting and submitting specimens:

• Collect specimen in the correct container specified on the test page; broken or leaking specimen containers will not be accepted for testing.
• All specimen containers must be received with at least TWO unique patient-specific identifiers in order to qualify for testing.
  • Examples of acceptable identifiers include but are not limited to: patient name, date of birth, hospital number, social security number, requisition number, accession number and unique random number.
• Ensure each specimen container has the date of collection. For cell function testing, also include the time of collection.
• Package specimen in an individual resealable bag. Multiple specimens should NEVER be placed together in a single resealable bag.
• Ship specimen in compliance with all applicable shipping regulations such as IATA and DOT.
• Maintain specimen at the temperature specified on the Specimen Information section of the Test Menu.
• Ensure the specimen is shipped priority overnight for arrival at Eurofins Viracor within the specified required timeframe as stated in the Specimen Information section of the test menu page.
• The specimen must be sent with a manifest, requisition or test request form which matches the patient identifiers, source, and test name.
• Tissue specimens from the brain will not be accepted if CJD is suspected. Processing of any brain or brain stem tissue specimen will be held until the lab receives confirmation that Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) is not a suspected diagnosis.

Eurofins Viracor handles specimen types that must be separated by temperature requirements. If the above-mentioned conditions and test-specific specimen requirements are not met, Eurofins Viracor will notify the client regarding the reason and recommended resolution.  This notification will occur either verbally through a phone call or through receipt of a lab report detailing the problem.  If you have concerns or questions about submitting a specimen, please contact Client Services at 1-800-305-5198.