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I think it would do more harm than any possible good. People forget to take medication, go to appointments and are frequently overwhelmed not to mention doctors may ask patients to do tests a week or two before they see them for their next appointment  eg HbA1c, TFTs. 

Imagine you had a patient who passed the expiration date by a day, a week a month and you miss diagnosing anaemia, diabetes, etc. Not really good for the patient. 

What is the downside of doing the tests? I don’t think there are any. I worry about this being a storm in a teacup becoming a real problem. 


Elizabeth Mac Namara
Jewish General Hospital 
McGill University 
Montreal 
 
From: Clinical biochemistry discussion list <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Andrew Lyon <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, March 5, 2019 16:26
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Should clinical laboratory requisitions 'expire' ?
 
Hello ACB List-Lurkers.

We have no expiration date on laboratory requisitions that are distributed to patients by local physicians that practice in community-based clinics. 

A patient recently appeared for phlebotomy and presented three requisitions (from the past 2 years !) which our staff dutifully read, collected samples and lab staff tested. 
The lab results provoked questions by the clinic staff and our lab staff.    Should single-use lab requisitions expire after 4 to 6 weeks?    Lab requisitions that are 2 years old likely 
initiate lab tests that are no longer relevant for recent medical conditions.  In this case situation many of tests ordered 2 years ago had little use. 


Prescriptions / scripts for medication orders expire if they are not promptly filled...... in a similar way, should lab requisitions for community-based patients expire?  
I am not aware of any lab standards related to this topic and look forward to your comments and experiences with this type of problem. 


regards, Andrew


Dr. A. Lyon
Univ. Saskatchewan



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------ACB discussion List Information-------- This is an open discussion list for the academic and clinical community working in clinical biochemistry. Please note, archived messages are public and can be viewed via the internet. Views expressed are those of the individual who posts and they are solely responsible for all message content. The ACB does not monitor posts. ACB Web Site http://www.acb.org.uk Green Laboratories Work http://www.laboratorymedicine.nhs.uk List Archives http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/ACB-CLIN-CHEM-GEN.html List Instructions (How to leave etc.) http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/ ------ACB discussion List Information-------- This is an open discussion list for the academic and clinical community working in clinical biochemistry. Please note, archived messages are public and can be viewed via the internet. Views expressed are those of the individual who posts and they are solely responsible for all message content. The ACB does not monitor posts. ACB Web Site http://www.acb.org.uk Green Laboratories Work http://www.laboratorymedicine.nhs.uk List Archives http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/ACB-CLIN-CHEM-GEN.html List Instructions (How to leave etc.) http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/