Lab User's Guide

Accreditation/ Licensure

Specimen Collection & Handling

Specific Collection Guidelines Hemostasis

Microbiology/ Infectious Disease Specimens

Units & Abbreviations

Test Directory

Lab Patient Service Center Locations

Critical Values

DRL Supply Requisition

Lab Turnaround Time Schedule

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Lab User's Guide

PREFACE

Welcome to Deaconess Hospital Laboratory (DHL) and Deaconess Regional Laboratory (DRL). We are a full service laboratory offering comprehensive clinical and anatomic pathology testing to the tri-state medical community. We strive to maintain excellence in laboratory services and to provide you with professional assistance in laboratory medicine.

Our laboratory employs highly trained professionals and support staff. State of the art instrumentation, techniques and data processing allows us to deliver laboratory services backed by quality assurance programs and accreditation by the College of American Pathologists.

This User’s Guide represents the efforts of supervisors, pathologists, technologists, and support staff to provide you with a comprehensive and practical guide to our laboratory services. It is intended to assist you in the ordering and collection of laboratory work on your patients. Should you need additional information, please phone Deaconess Hospital Laboratory.

This User’s Guide and the most current information can be found on the Deaconess website, www.deaconess.com .

Please address any questions or comments to the Deaconess Hospital Laboratory, 600 Mary Street, Evansville Indiana 47747 or phone 812-450-3345.

Phillip Gamble, MA, MT (ASCP)
Laboratory Manager

Henry W. Bockelman, M.D.
Laboratory Medical Director

GENERAL INFORMATION

Medicare Coverage of Lab Tests	Billing - CPT Coding	Alphabetical Test List Description
Panels	Cancellation of Tests	Computer Downtime
Referral Testing	Confidentiality of Results	Animal Specimens
Stat Testing	Informed Consent Certification	Specimen Rejection
Reporting	HIV Screening	Test Turnaround Time
Supply Orders	Critical Values	Specimen Transport
Amended Reports	Patient Identification Accuracy
Billing	Reference Ranges

LABORATORY OPERATION
The hospital’s laboratories are located at Deaconess Hospital 600 Mary Street Evansville Indiana and at the Gateway Hospital 4011 Gateway Blvd. Newburgh Indiana. Both campuses provide service 24 hours a day, seven days a week with Medical Technologists on duty and a Pathologist available at all times.

Deaconess Regional Laboratory Patient Service Centers

Deaconess Hospital Outpatient Laboratory
600 Mary St.
Evansville, IN 47747
Telephone: 812-450-3440
Open Monday-Friday, 6:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m.
Saturday 7:00a.m.-3:30p.m
Deaconess Diagnostic Center
North Park Shopping Plaza
4494 First Ave.
Evansville, IN 47710
Telephone: 812-436-7293
Open Monday-Friday,
8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Closed for lunch, 12:15 p.m.-1:00 p.m.

Doctors Plaza (Deaconess Hospital Campus)
611 Harriet St., Suite 101
Evansville, IN 47710
Telephone: 812-450-3929
Open Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

Gateway Campus Draw Station
4133 Gateway Blvd. Suite 110
Newburgh, IN 47630
Telephone 812-858-6255
Open Monday-Friday
8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

Deaconess Hospital Gateway Campus
4011 Gateway Blvd.
Newburgh, IN 47630
Telephone: 812-842-3448
Open Monday-Friday, 7:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
Saturday 7:00a.m.-1:00 p.m. Mt. Vernon Medical Center
1900 West 4th St., Suite 6
Mt. Vernon, IN 47620
Telephone: 812-838-2053
Open Tuesday and Friday only
8:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.

Pathology Consultations
The Pathologist on-call may be contacted for services needed after normal working hours, on Sundays and on holidays. Personnel in the Lab may be contacted 24 hours a day for assistance, by phoning 812-450-3386.

Administrative Problems
If administrative problems arise during or after normal working hours, please contact the Laboratory Manager (812-450-3345), one of the supervisors or laboratory sections.

Accreditation / Licensure
Deaconess Hospital Laboratory maintains a current CLIA certificate with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), is accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP), and holds all other necessary state licenses. For additional information or copies of our certificates, please refer to our Web site at www.deaconess.com or contact the Laboratory Administrative office at 812-450-2483.

Reference Laboratory Testing
Some tests are referred from our laboratory to a reference laboratory and require additional turnaround time for transport to that lab. A number under the test code on the far right side of each test listing can identify these tests.

LABORATORY TELEPHONE DIRECTORY

Henry W. Bockelman, M.D., Medical Director 450-3344

David S. Risner, M.D. 450-3380

David M. Evans, M.D. 450-2490

Aung Choon, M.D. 450-2145

Kevin Kernek, M.D. 450-3442

Charlene Basham, Administrative Director 450-2955

Phillip Gamble, Manager 450-3345

Brenda Clark, Executive Secretary 450-2483

DEACONESS HOSPITAL LABORATORY SUPERVISORS

Blood Bank - Patty Sollman, MT (ASCP) BB 450-2471

Chemistry/Central Processing/Hematology
Martha Bass, MT (ASCP) SC 450-3826

Anatomic Pathology -
Sheila Poellein, CT-SCT (ASCP) MIAC 450-2485

Microbiology/Serology/Urinalysis - K. Gayle Stubbs, Ph.D., ABMM 450-2491

In-Patient Phlebotomy -
Beth Hauschild 450-3473

Night Shift Team Leader -
Daphne Bryant
450-2456

Outreach Services - Chris Cheaney   450-2473

Gateway Hospital - James Phipps 842-3179

DEACONESS HOSPITAL LABORATORY SECTIONS

Administrative Offices 450-2483

Anatomic Pathology (Histology/Cytology)   450-3378

Blood Bank 450-2499 or 450-2484

Central Processing 450-2761 or 450-2762

Chemistry 450-3388 or 450-3837

Hematology 450-2482 or 450-3372

Microbiology 450-3824 or 450-3825

Nights 450-3386

Outreach Services 450-2740

Pathology Office 450-3919

Reception/Collection 450-3386

GATEWAY HOSPITAL LABORATORY SECTIONS

All sections 842-3170

Blood Bank   842-3180

Frozen Section Lab 842-3691

Grossing Room    842-3446

James Phipps, Supervisor 842-3179

Outpatient Draw Station 842-3447

Pathologist Office 842-3178

LABORATORY SATELLITE LOCATIONS

Chris Cheaney, Outpatient Services Supervisor 450-2473

Deaconess Hospital Patient Service Center 450-3440

Deaconess Hospital Patient Service Center Fax 450-3466

Doctors Plaza – Deaconess Hospital Campus 450-2470

Doctors Plaza Fax
450-6054

Gateway Hospital Outpatient Lab 842-3447

Newburgh/East Side: Gateway Laboratory 858-6255

North Side Patient Service Center 436-7293

Mount Vernon Medical Center 838-2053

Mount Vernon Medical Center Fax 838-6661

GENERAL INFORMATION

Medicare Coverage of Laboratory Tests

When ordering outpatient laboratory tests billed to Medicare/Medicaid or other federally funded programs, the following requirements may apply:
1. Only tests that are medically necessary for the diagnosis or treatment of the patient can be billed to Medicare. Medicare does not pay for screening tests, except for certain specifically approved procedures, and may not pay for non-FDA-approved tests or those tests considered experimental.
2. If there is reason to believe that Medicare will not pay for a test, the patient should be informed. The patient should sign an Advance Beneficiary Notice (ABN) to indicate that he or she is responsible for the cost of the test if Medicare denies payment.
3. The ordering physician should provide an ICD-9 diagnosis code, not a narrative description.
4. Organ- or disease-oriented panels can be billed only when all components of the panel are medically necessary.
5. Both Deaconess Hospital and any other reference laboratory customized panels should be billed to Medicare only when every component of the customized panel is medically necessary.

Panels
Deaconess Hospital Laboratory offers groups of tests based on accepted clinical practice, as well as those that are defined by the American Medical Association Current Procedural Terminology (CPT). All individual components of these “panels” may also be ordered individually, unless otherwise indicated.

Referral Testing
One of Deaconess Hospital Laboratories’ service goals is to support clients by providing comprehensive service for all reference laboratory testing. To accomplish this goal, Deaconess Hospital Laboratory has enhanced its in-house test menu of over 1,500 tests and test combinations by selecting primary vendors to perform additional tests not performed at our laboratory. Primary vendors are selected based upon a corporate protocol that considers the aspects of service, quality, reliability, turnaround time, and price.
We reserve the right to change vendors, test parameters, and charges for referral testing at any time. If you have questions, please contact Deaconess Hospital Laboratory at 812-450-3345.GENERAL INFORMATION

Medicare Coverage of Laboratory Tests

When ordering outpatient laboratory tests billed to Medicare/Medicaid or other federally funded programs, the following requirements may apply:
1. Only tests that are medically necessary for the diagnosis or treatment of the patient can be billed to Medicare. Medicare does not pay for screening tests, except for certain specifically approved procedures, and may not pay for non-FDA-approved tests or those tests considered experimental.
2. If there is reason to believe that Medicare will not pay for a test, the patient should be informed. The patient should sign an Advance Beneficiary Notice (ABN) to indicate that he or she is responsible for the cost of the test if Medicare denies payment.
3. The ordering physician should provide an ICD-9 diagnosis code, not a narrative description.
4. Organ- or disease-oriented panels can be billed only when all components of the panel are medically necessary.
5. Both Deaconess Hospital and any other reference laboratory customized panels should be billed to Medicare only when every component of the customized panel is medically necessary.

Panels
Deaconess Hospital Laboratory offers groups of tests based on accepted clinical practice, as well as those that are defined by the American Medical Association Current Procedural Terminology (CPT). All individual components of these “panels” may also be ordered individually, unless otherwise indicated.

Referral Testing
One of Deaconess Hospital Laboratories’ service goals is to support clients by providing comprehensive service for all reference laboratory testing. To accomplish this goal, Deaconess Hospital Laboratory has enhanced its in-house test menu of over 1,500 tests and test combinations by selecting primary vendors to perform additional tests not performed at our laboratory. Primary vendors are selected based upon a corporate protocol that considers the aspects of service, quality, reliability, turnaround time, and price.
We reserve the right to change vendors, test parameters, and charges for referral testing at any time. If you have questions, please contact Deaconess Hospital Laboratory at 812-450-3345.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Medicare Coverage of Laboratory Tests

When ordering outpatient laboratory tests billed to Medicare/Medicaid or other federally funded programs, the following requirements may apply:
1. Only tests that are medically necessary for the diagnosis or treatment of the patient can be billed to Medicare. Medicare does not pay for screening tests, except for certain specifically approved procedures, and may not pay for non-FDA-approved tests or those tests considered experimental.
2. If there is reason to believe that Medicare will not pay for a test, the patient should be informed. The patient should sign an Advance Beneficiary Notice (ABN) to indicate that he or she is responsible for the cost of the test if Medicare denies payment.
3. The ordering physician should provide an ICD-9 diagnosis code, not a narrative description.
4. Organ- or disease-oriented panels can be billed only when all components of the panel are medically necessary.
5. Both Deaconess Hospital and any other reference laboratory customized panels should be billed to Medicare only when every component of the customized panel is medically necessary.

Panels
Deaconess Hospital Laboratory offers groups of tests based on accepted clinical practice, as well as those that are defined by the American Medical Association Current Procedural Terminology (CPT). All individual components of these “panels” may also be ordered individually, unless otherwise indicated.

Referral Testing
One of Deaconess Hospital Laboratories’ service goals is to support clients by providing comprehensive service for all reference laboratory testing. To accomplish this goal, Deaconess Hospital Laboratory has enhanced its in-house test menu of over 1,500 tests and test combinations by selecting primary vendors to perform additional tests not performed at our laboratory. Primary vendors are selected based upon a corporate protocol that considers the aspects of service, quality, reliability, turnaround time, and price.
We reserve the right to change vendors, test parameters, and charges for referral testing at any time. If you have questions, please contact Deaconess Hospital Laboratory at 812-450-3345.