turnaround time

Medical term Processing

Time from a test request or specimen receipt until the result is reported; labs track it as a key measure of service, especially for STAT tests.

Sources

• Hawkins RC. Laboratory Turnaround Time. Clin Biochem Rev 2007;28(4):179-194 · PubMed Central (NLM)
• Melanson SEF. Strategies (You Will Need a Few) on How to Decide Upon and Provide Necessary STAT Testing. Clinical Laboratory News, Bench Matters, March 1, 2019 · Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine (ADLM)

Free practice questions that use turnaround time

• Processing, question 1On her first day in a hospital lab, a phlebotomist hears a technologist call a result a "panic value." Which description fits that term?

Related terms

• STATPriority meaning "now" (Latin statim). Collect and send a STAT specimen without delay, ahead of routine…
• reference laboratoryAn outside laboratory to which specimens are referred for tests the collecting lab does not perform.
• specimen rejectionA lab's refusal to test a specimen that fails its written acceptance criteria, for example unlabeled…
• tamper-evident sealSeal placed over a specimen bottle's cap and down its sides that shows if the bottle was opened; the…
• triple packagingA leakproof primary container inside leakproof secondary packaging, inside a rigid outer package; required…

Study Processing

• Free Processing practice questions
• All Processing terms
• Specimen Handling, Processing and Transport