Test requirements
Document fasting, medication, sample handling, timing, and preparation instructions for staff and patients.
What requirements are
Test requirements are reusable preparation instructions attached to one or more tests. They help reception confirm readiness during order creation and help patients understand what they must do before collection.
Examples include fasting, stopping medication only when clinically approved, morning sample, first urine sample, special container, protected from light, or home collection instructions.
Fields
Each requirement has an English and Arabic name, English and Arabic details, an active flag, and Applies to. The table shows the requirement name, who it applies to, how many tests use it, and whether it is active.
Applies to decides where the requirement is confirmed:
- Patient — something the patient must do, such as fasting or a morning urine sample. Reception confirms it when creating the order, and it appears to the collector as patient preparation.
- Lab staff — something the collector must do, such as avoiding hemolysis or protecting the tube from light. It is not shown at order creation; the technician confirms it in the Sample Collection Workbench before marking the sample collected.
- Patient and lab staff — confirmed at order creation and again by the collector.
Write the details as an instruction, not as an internal note. Staff should be able to read it to the patient.
How requirements affect orders
When an order includes tests with active patient requirements, Kashef deduplicates them and shows each requirement once in the Requirements Confirmation section of the New Order page. Each requirement starts with no status, so reception must choose one before creating the order: Met, Unmet, or Proceed anyway. Choose Proceed anyway only when the test should go ahead even though the requirement is not met, and write the reason.
This is important because one patient order can include several tests with the same fasting requirement. The patient should not see the same instruction repeated five times.
Writing useful instructions
Use direct language: "Fast for 8 to 12 hours" is better than "fasting required." Include timing, limits, and exceptions when your lab policy defines them.
Do not include unsafe medical advice without approval. If medication instructions depend on the doctor, write that the patient should follow the doctor's instruction rather than telling them to stop medication.
Active and inactive requirements
Deactivate a requirement when it should no longer appear on new orders. Do not edit an old requirement into a completely different instruction if active tests still use it. Create a new requirement instead so past confirmations remain understandable.
Operational review
Review requirements whenever you add new tests, change sample handling, or launch home visits. Requirements are one of the first places where catalog setup becomes patient experience.