Specimen accession

The specimen record stores type, collection date, accession number, encounter link and processing state. The encounter points to a patient and clinician. A receiving team can use the accession to locate its visit rather than relying on an unlinked description.

• Encounter link. The Licensed Clinician selects the visit before creating the specimen record.
• Accession. Type, collection time and accession number stay together on that specimen.
• Processing state. Ordered, Collected, Received, Tested and Rejected describe handling, not a measured finding.

A specimen begins ordered. At collection, the clinician records collection time and accession number and marks it collected. Receipt moves it to received. A later processing update may mark it tested or rejected. The team uses those values to follow collection and receipt through disposition.

Agree how accession numbers are assigned and checked for duplicates in the team’s collection practice. The specimen record links to an encounter, and that encounter links to the patient. Decide who records the collection time and who changes the processing state at receipt. The Licensed Clinician can manage Specimens; the Clinical Reviewer can read them.

Define what staff mean by Tested and Rejected before using those statuses. The specimen record has no result value or report document. If analytical findings are produced elsewhere, agree the handoff to that system during implementation. Test a patient with more than one encounter so an accession cannot be accepted against the wrong visit simply because the patient name matches.

Schedule two visits for one patient and attach an ordered specimen to the later encounter. Have the clinician record its type, collection time and accession number, then mark it Collected. A second staff member opens the accession, checks the linked encounter and patient, and records receipt only after the physical handoff. Compare the two visit dates to catch a wrong encounter link.

Rehearse a rejected specimen alongside a received one. Keep the rejected accession visible and confirm that a replacement collection gets a separate specimen record. Have the reviewer inspect the status board and explain which status describes handling. Any analytical interpretation belongs in the agreed external process, while this record continues to identify the specimen and visit.

• Specimen Accession — Orders, collections and received accessions.
• Specimen Status Board — Processing states beside accession numbers.

Read encounter and specimen handling for the intake handoff and review and closeout for the final visit decision.