Managing Scheduled Orders

If an order was scheduled to occur in the future, that order is put on the scheduled orders list. When you collect the specimen, you must file (release) the order.

If you printed a draft requisition when you scheduled the order, you can manually write the collection date on that requisition and send it to the lab along with the specimen. If you did not print a draft requisition when you scheduled the order, you can print a final one when you file the order. If you do that, the scheduled date is automatically printed on the requisition as the collection date. To use the current date instead, you must edit the order before you file it.

In some instances, you might have to update a scheduled order—for example, if the patient’s demographic or insurance information changed, or if a different test should be performed. In these instances, you can edit the scheduled order to reflect the most current data. If a particular scheduled order no longer needs to be performed, you can delete it at any time.

You can also print the scheduled orders list.

There are several ways to access a scheduled order:

You can view the scheduled orders list for all patients of one or more clients of your current lab for a particular date range.

You can view the scheduled orders list for one or more clients of your current lab that matches specific search criteria, such as a particular patient name.

You can view a list of all of the pending orders for a particular patient using the Order Entry page.

Notes:  

When you open a scheduled order containing invalid order codes, a message appears at the top of the Order Entry page listing the invalid codes. Any invalid codes are automatically removed from the order, and you can add new order codes, as appropriate, before filing the order.

For generic orders, the scheduled orders list displays the generic client ID in parentheses below the eLabs client number, and the generic lab name below the requisition number. If you do not want to include generic orders in the scheduled orders list or on the Patient Search - Advanced Results dialog box, clear the Include Generic (Held, Scheduled, Standing) check box in your user profile.

To manage scheduled orders for an LTC client or scheduled home draw orders, you must use the scheduled orders list; these types of orders cannot be managed via the Order Entry page.

If you try to open a scheduled order placed with Athena Diagnostics (ZBD), and you did not previously agree to the financial terms for those orders, you might be prompted to do so. Click Accept if you agree to these terms; you will not be prompted again. Otherwise, click Decline, and then click Continue on the next message. If you decline the terms, you will not be able to file or edit that order.

If you accept the terms, and subsequently decide not to accept them, contact the Help Desk to have ordering for Athena Diagnostics disabled for you.

If a scheduled order was processed by another lab (for example, if the patient went to a Quest Diagnostics PSC while traveling), that order does not appear in the scheduled orders list or the Patient Search - Advanced Results dialog box for the original lab. However, it does appear in the requisition log.