Culture tests
Set up culture workflows for organisms, antibiotics, sensitivity panels, growth notes, and final interpretation.
What culture tests control
Culture tests support microbiology workflows where the result may include growth status, organisms, antibiotic sensitivity, and final interpretation. They are different from simple numeric tests because result entry depends on organisms and antibiotic panels.
Use this setup before offering urine culture, wound culture, throat swab culture, blood culture, stool culture, or similar microbiology services.
Main fields
Culture tests include code, category, English display name, retained Arabic name, microbiology sample type, turnaround time, home collection availability, active status, and description. The table shows the English test name, code, sample type, category, and ordering availability.
Use a clear code and sample type. Culture samples often have strict collection and transport rules, so vague setup can create rejected samples.
Allowed organisms
Allowed organisms define which organisms can be selected during culture result entry. Add common organisms for that culture type and control display order. This reduces free-text variation and makes reporting cleaner.
Do not add every organism to every culture test. A focused list helps technicians enter results faster and reduces mistakes.
Default antibiotic panels
Default panels attach antibiotic groups to the culture test. A panel can be marked primary and ordered for display. During culture result work, the panel helps staff record sensitivity consistently.
Review panels with the microbiology lead. The wrong panel can lead to missing antibiotics or irrelevant sensitivity results.
Requirements
Culture tests can reuse test requirements. Use them for collection instructions, sterile container notes, transport time, antibiotic history, or special patient instructions.
Requirements are especially important for home collection and portal requests because the patient or collector may not be speaking directly with the microbiology team.
Before activating a culture test
Confirm sample type, organisms, panels, requirements, turnaround time, report wording, and result entry flow. Then create a trial order and walk through sample creation, culture result entry, review, and final report.