It is Children’s policy, approved by the system-wide Lab Stewardship Committee, that “free” testing, defined as a test for which the performing referral lab does not charge the hospital, patient’s insurance, or patient, CANNOT be sent out on CHOA inpatients, unless the test is:
- a clinical test performed in a laboratory under its CLIA license, AND
- not available elsewhere, AND
- equally and readily available to ALL CHOA patients under an institutional account.
Orders for tests that do not meet these criteria must be collected in the outpatient setting in which CHOA lab serves as a “pass-through” to the receiving referral lab. CHOA will charge a standard phlebotomy processing free if a CHOA phlebotomist collects the specimen. Please direct any questions to Dr. Elizabeth Weinzierl at 404-785-4552 or
elizabeth.weinzierl2@choa.org. The policy can be found here on the Careforce website:
Laboratory Policy 23079.5108: Reference Lab Testing Rules, Exceptions and Algorithms
March 2025 Lab Updates:
