Specimen Testing Instructions | CHLA Health Network

SPECIMEN TESTING AND SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

February 1, 2023 Update

If requesting supplies please give ample time. The TAT for Distribution Services is 5-7 business days.

The CHLA Lab accepts in-office specimen collections for testing. Office-collected specimens should be shipped/couriered to the CHLA laboratory. As a reminder, CHLA’s Lab does not accept 3rd party billing for patients over the age of 21. To bill for these services, the CHLA Laboratory Service Center can set up a contract account for the Care Network practice. Patients and staff are advised to pay the office directly and the CHLA laboratory will send the office a monthly invoice. To set up a contract, please complete the Facility Contract Set Up Form and email it to PLMLabServiceCenter@chla.usc.edu.

For more information on what type of specimens can be collected in-office,

call the Laboratory Service Center at 877-543-9522.

Please note that the maximum courier range from the CHLA Main Campus is 25 miles. If you are requesting a courier and do not have a CHLA lockbox please call the laboratory service center by 2 PM the same day to ensure the specimen gets picked up in a timely manner.

*Testing criteria have been developed with the

Infectious Disease faculty and the Infection Control and Prevention team at CHLA.*

Billing for patients under 21:

Please make sure that patients under 21 provide their insurance card for billing, along with the “Clinical Requisition Form” found here.
Please note that HMO insurance is not accepted

Billing for patients over 21:

Please note that insurance is not accepted for patients over 21. The referring practice needs to have a contract account set up with CHLA for billing purposes. You can find the “CHLA Contract Setup Form for Care Network Physicians” here. If an account has not been set up, please complete the form and submit it to the Laboratory Service Center via fax or email (Fax Number: 1-323-361-6157; Email: PLMLabServiceCenter@chla.usc.edu).

ORDERING TESTING KITS

CHLA offers supplies to Care Network practices that will be collecting and sending specimens to the CHLA main campus located at 4650 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027. When requesting, please be sure to complete the “Supply Request Form” and fax the form to 323-361-6157. Once the form is received and processed, supplies get delivered between 5-7 business days of the request.

Supply request form

Specimen packaging for safe transport

SPECIMEN COLLECTION GUIDELINES

All specimens collected at a Care Network practice must be labeled with two patient identifiers: patient name and date of birth, and ideally, collector's initials. A copy of the patient’s insurance information will also need to be attached to each specimen.

FEDEX

Care Network practices can FedEx samples to the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at CHLA.

COURIER

*LA county only

Care Network practices within LA County can request a will-call courier service for specimen pick-ups.

All pick up’s need to be called in to our Lab Service Center by 2 pm, daily, for pick up the same day.

If a practice has samples after 2pm, they need to store it in their location per sample directions to be picked up the following day.

We do not offer “STAT” pick - ups. All samples will be picked up within 4 hours from the time the courier is dispatched.

We will only pick up specimens within 25 miles of CHLA's Sunset campus.