Taking Specimens
Taking blood specimens in your office
Under the regulations made under the Laboratory and Specimen Collection Centre Licensing Act 1990 (LSCCLA), Registrants are permitted to take blood from their own patient in their own office for the purposes of performing only the following seven tests in their own office on that blood:
1. Blood Group—ABO and RhD.
2. BTA Bioterrain Assessment.
3. Fatty acids, free.
4. Glucose.
5. Hemoglobin—A1C.
6. Live blood cell analysis.
7. Mononuclear Heterophile Antibodies (monospot).
You cannot take blood from a patient for any purpose other than performing these seven tests.
(Reference: R.R.O. 1990, Regulation 683 (Specimen Collection Centres), section 8, paragraph 1)
Taking specimens other than blood in your office
Under the regulations made under the Laboratory and Specimen Collection Centre Licensing Act, 1990 (LSCCLA), Registrants are permitted to take non-blood specimens from their own patient in their own office for two purposes:
- performing any of identified tests in their own office on that specimen, or
- sending the specimen to a laboratory licensed under the LSCCLA for testing.
In-office testing on non-blood specimens
Under the regulations made under the LSCCLA, Registrants are permitted to take non-blood specimens from their own patient in their own office for the purposes of performing only the following ten tests in their office on that specimen:
|
Test |
Specimen |
|
Ascorbic acid (ascorbate) Vitamin C |
Urine |
|
BTA Bioterrain Assessment |
Urine |
|
Human Chorionic Gonadotropin – pregnancy test |
Urine |
|
Indican |
Urine |
|
Koenisberg |
Urine |
|
Oxidative testing |
Urine |
|
Rapid Strep Test |
Throat swab/culture |
|
Routine urinalysis by dipstick |
Urine |
|
Sulkowitch |
Urine |
|
Vaginal pH |
Vaginal swab/culture |
(Reference: R.R.O. 1990, Regulation 683 (Specimen Collection Centres), section 8, paragraph 2)
Sending specimens to a licensed laboratory
Under the regulations made under the LSCCLA, Registrants are authorised to take or collect other non-blood specimens from their own patient in their own office for the purposes of ordering any of the 61 tests Registrants are authorized to requisition from a laboratory licensed under the LSCCLA.
You may not perform these tests on the specimens yourself.