Two patient identifiers should be used at any stage of the laboratory total testing process. This is of particular importance when collecting a patient sample. Examples of acceptable patient identifiers are
- Individual's full name
- An individual-specific identifier, such as
- birth date
- hospital number
- medical record number
- other assigned unique identification number
If a patient is able to respond, it is also important to ask the patient to state his or her name.
Specimens must be labeled in the presence of the patient.
