Re: [Gnumed-devel] basic test types - Sample type prefixes

[J Busser]

At 8:18 PM +1000 10/7/04, E Dodd wrote:
> On Thursday 07 October 2004 09:48, J Busser wrote:
> >  A regional lab sent out notice that it will incorporate into test
> >  results internationally recognized preixes to denote sample types:
>  > B- Blood
>  > P- Plasma
>  > S- Serum
>  > etc
>
> One of our labs has just changed codes so
> E = electrolytes
> PR = Pap smear / cervical cytology
> which I have found hard to get used to

Complicating matters - but at some point something we may want to 
factor into design - is that the labs often use a different set of 
codes by which to ORDER tests as opposed to codes by which to REPORT 
results. Among other reasons, a single order code can designate 
multiple tests whereas that single code would be a clumsy way by 
which to manipulate/search results. Also there are some tests which 
although you may order a single test (for example serum iron 
saturation), I think the lab must do a pair of tests (transferrin and 
iron) and even if that is wrong there are other situations where they 
must do a "ghost test" (my term) in order to generate a result.