[Piasa]

Sending blood & urine samples via courier

by Piasa on Tue Jun 14, 2016 4:24 pm

Has anyone had any experience sending blood and urine samples from one extraction site to a non-affiliated lab in a different state?

[Multibilly]

Re: Sending blood & urine samples via courier

by Multibilly on Tue Jun 14, 2016 6:10 pm

I do this for blood samples every couple of months, and the lab I send the samples to sends me in advance a couple of little kits (blood sample vials, small cardboard box, couple of napkins, a baggie, tape for of the sample vials and a prepaid FedEx envelope) that meet the FedEx guide­lines below:

http://www.fedex.com/us/packaging/guides/Clinical_fxcom.pdf

However, you could build the same kit yourself very easily.

I've found that places like LabCorp and Quest won't do the draws in this kind of situation (boo!). But the phlebotomist at my onc's office will do the draw for me (yeah!). Doesn't cost me anything extra for this service.

[Piasa]

Re: Sending blood & urine samples via courier

by Piasa on Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:00 pm

How quickly do the samples get to the lab? How quickly do they need to?

Is there a "shelf life" – some period after which lab results are skewed one way or another?

Is there some preservation action taken during transit, such as icing?

What about 24-hour urine sample?

I assume that the lab does not need all of the sample, just the total volume data point and some smaller samples. True?

Same questions as blood re: spoilage.

Do you notice any significant difference in test results between mailed samples and locally obtained samples?

[Multibilly]

Re: Sending blood & urine samples via courier

by Multibilly on Wed Jun 15, 2016 12:02 am

I think these are all good questions for the receiving lab and the answers probably depend on the kind of tests being run.

I send my blood samples around via FedEx Express in a Biological Substance B FedEx envelope to other places for research purposes, not for routine personal disease monitoring purposes. I never really see the test results and I therefore can't compare them to my routine personal monitoring test results.