The core loop the product must own
From the physician's order to a paid claim: eight stages, one immutable audit trail, and a verification engine that releases routine work automatically.
Stage by stage
| Stage | What happens | Built-in safeguards |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · Order | Portal, manual, HL7, or DTC order entry against the LOINC-coded test compendium | Eligibility + medical-necessity checks at order time; STAT priority captured |
| 2 · Collect | Phlebotomy with barcode label printing (ZPL / PDF) | Two-identifier patient verification at collection |
| 3 · Accession | Scan to check in; unique accession ID assigned | Order/specimen match verified; < 5 s per specimen; mismatch warnings are blocking |
| 4 · Route | Department / instrument worklists, aliquoting, send-outs | STAT elevation everywhere; bounded reflex chains |
| 5 · Analyze | Instrument runs file results via ASTM / HL7 | Durable message log; results file only into open orders |
| 6 · Verify | Auto-verification rules or technologist review | QC gating, range & delta checks, instrument flags; rule-set version stamped on every auto-release |
| 7 · Report | PDF (cumulative / corrected), portal, HL7 results out, fax | Released results immutable; corrections issue a labeled new version |
| 8 · Bill | CPT-coded billable events to the clearinghouse adapter | Denial tracking and analytics close the loop |
Specimen lifecycle
Verification & quality machinery
Quality control
Control-lot management, Levey-Jennings charts, and Westgard multirules (1-3s, 2-2s, R-4s, 4-1s, 10x). QC failure blocks result release for the affected run and requires documented corrective action.
Delta checks
Every result is compared to the patient's prior value against per-analyte absolute and percentage limits — the classic catch for mislabeled specimens.
Critical values
Panic results trigger a closed-loop notification workflow that records who was notified, when, by whom, and the read-back — the documentation CAP and Joint Commission expect.