Parkview Health Laboratories
PHLEBOTOMY MANUAL
Policy & Procedure Title: Paternity Specimen Collection
Source: Phlebotomy Standardization
Effective Date: 3-15-11______________________
Origination Date: 09/01/97
Revision Date(s) w/ Initials: 01/05, 07//09 acs,
10/10 acs, 3/11 acs
Technical Supervisor: ________________________
I. PRINCIPLE
To provide clients with accurate determination of paternity by performing buccal
swab and/or blood specimen collection per client request; clinical significance
and result interpretation is to be referred to the paternity testing facility.
II. SPECIMEN REQUIREMENTS AND COLLECTION METHOD
A. Patient Preparation:
1. Individuals who have had a blood transfusion within three (3) months
prior to a blood specimen paternity collection may not be tested and
will need to reschedule for a date at least three (3) months after the
date of the blood transfusion.
2. Individuals who have had a bone marrow transplant are not eligible for
a blood specimen paternity collection.
3. Buccal swab paternity collection may be performed on patients listed in
II.A.1 and II.A.2 with no restrictions.
4. Patients should be informed during scheduling call that at least one
form of identification is required. Acceptable forms of identification are:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
Driver’s license
State ID card
Passport
Military ID
Student photo ID
Employee photo ID
Birth Certificate (for children)
5. Patients should be informed during scheduling call that the procedure
will take no less than 30 minutes and up to 1 hour.
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Parkview Health Laboratories
PHLEBOTOMY MANUAL
Policy & Procedure Title: Paternity Specimen Collection
B. Specimen Type:
DNA Diagnostic buccal swab.
Whole blood specimens in any color tube are acceptable. Specimens are
stable 30 days refrigerated.
Additional acceptable specimens are listed in Appendix B.
specimen types may be associated with additional testing fees.
C.
Other
Handling Conditions:
Specimens must be mailed to the appropriate testing facility in the prepaid
mailer envelope. All specimens must be sealed with tamper-evident
tape/stickers. Results will be returned to Central Laboratory within 2-3
weeks and mailed to the address listed on the requisition within 3-4
weeks.
III. PROCEDURE
A. EQUIPMENT AND MATERIALS
1. Equipment:
a. Provided by testing facility in paternity collection kit:
(1) Outer cardboard mailer
(2) Consent forms
(3) Instruction sheet
(4) Zip-lock bag
(5) Tamper-evident tape/stickers
(6) Ink Pad
(7) Buccal Swabs
(8) Film for Polaroid camera
b. Provided by Parkview Health Laboratories
(1) Polaroid camera
B. PROCEDURE
1. Verify that one of the patients in question (child, mother, or alleged
father) is recently deceased or near death.
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Parkview Health Laboratories
PHLEBOTOMY MANUAL
Policy & Procedure Title: Paternity Specimen Collection
a. Paternity testing and DNA banking requests from outpatients or
outreach patients should be referred to:
EMSI Pelz Paramedical
619 Airport North Office Park
Fort Wayne, IN 46825
(260)490-8322
2. Notify the patient or patient next-of-kin that the procedure will require
payment prior to service. These costs are not covered by insurance.
Verify the patient or patient next-of-kin would like to continue.
3. Inform the patient or patient next-of-kin that they will need to go to
Central Lab for the following:
a. Payment – acceptable forms of payment include cash, money
order, or cashier’s check. Credit cards and personal checks will not
be accepted
b. Documentation – Photo id or birth certificate is required for all
living patients being tested. In addition, a custodian consent form
will need to be completed by the deceased patient’s next-of-kin.
Other paper documentation may need to be completed as
determined by the testing laboratory in a specific situation.
c. Specimen collection – a blood specimen will be used for the
deceased patient’s specimen. A blood specimen or buccal swab
will need to be collected from other involved individuals. Per testing
laboratory request, mother, child(ren) and alleged father should all
be tested.
4. To ensure trained staff are available, request the patient or patient
next-of-kin contact Central Lab to set up appointment for specimen
collection and payment. Or if the patient prefers, they may provide contact
information and Central Lab staff will contact the patient or patient next-ofkin to set up an appointment.
5. Contact Central Lab Sendout Lead. Explain the situation so that
needed paper documents can be obtained and proper pricing determined
prior to patient presentation.
6. When the patient or patient next-of-kin present at Central Lab,
processing staff is to ask the patient what payment method will be used,
and fill out a Receipt and a Balance Sheet from the “Balance Sheets”
folder at the front desk.
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Parkview Health Laboratories
PHLEBOTOMY MANUAL
Policy & Procedure Title: Paternity Specimen Collection
a. Once the forms have been filled out and the money has been
collected, the phlebotomist is to call the Billing department at
extension 39420 and request that a billing staff member accept
the payment for the paternity. The phlebotomist is to ensure
that both forms are given to Billing staff along with the payment.
b. The processor who will be collecting the test is to accompany all
of the parties being tested and any legal guardians into the draw
room. None of the parties may leave the draw room until the
paternity has been completed to ensure that the chain of
custody of specimens is not compromised.
c. The processor is to complete a requisition for each patient:
(1) The requisition must include the patient’s address, or the
address to which the patient would like the results
mailed.
d. The paternity is to be performed according to the instructions
included with all paternity kits.
(1) If the collection will utilize a buccal swab, a DNA
Diagnostics paternity kit is to be used (these are located
in the bottom desk drawer in the draw room).
(2) The paternity chain of custody form is to be stamped with
the Parkview Health Laboratories address stamp as the
location to which the results should be mailed. This
stamp is located on the desk in the draw room.
(3) The Polaroid of the patients/legal guardians must be
signed and dated by all responsible parties appearing in
the photograph.
e. The patients may leave the draw room when the paternity is
completed, and the mailing envelope is sealed.
f. The UPS mailing envelope is to be taken to the storeroom clerk
for mailing. If UPS has already stopped for the day, the
collecting phlebotomist will need to call the 800 number listed on
the envelope to schedule a pickup.
Any FedEx mailing
envelopes should be placed on the counter in the mailroom in
Processing.
g. The UPS tracking form (usually found inside the UPS mailing
envelope on blue paper) is to be stapled to the Paternity Test
Order Form and the pink copy of the receipt. These are then to
be placed in the Paternity Scheduling folder located in
Phlebotomy.
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Parkview Health Laboratories
PHLEBOTOMY MANUAL
Policy & Procedure Title: Paternity Specimen Collection
h. The processor should order testing into SOFT using the test
code MSOT. The Sendout Lead will keep the SOFT labels as
reference for test verification upon receipt of the results from the
paternity testing laboratory.
i. Results will arrive in triplicate at the Central Laboratory. They
are to be routed to the Sendout Lead or designated personnel.
The Lead or designee will:
(1) Verify each test in SOFT
(2) Look up the patient addresses in PaperVision based on
the SOFT order number.
(3) Mail one copy of the results to each of the addresses
provided by the patients on the Parkview requisitions.
(a) If the address is the same for both the child and
the alleged father, both copies of results must be
mailed to that address in separate envelopes.
(4) Affix one of each SOFT label to the third copy and file in
the Paternity file under the alleged father’s last name. All
results should be referenced by the alleged father’s last
name.
j.
A patient may pick up a copy of the results from the Central
Laboratory; the patient will be required to present proper photo
ID to obtain a copy of the results.
k. The results may not be given to any patient representative
without a court order for release of such information, or unless
said representative is also the legal guardian of a minor who
has been tested.
IV. Procedure Notes and Limitations of Methods
A. Biological relationship determination is available. Contact DNA Diagnostic
Center for pricing and additional required paperwork.
B. DNA banking is available for paternity testing at a later time. Contact DNA
Diagnostic Center for pricing and additional required paperwork.
C. Questions regarding specimen requirements, required paperwork, and/or
pricing should be referred to DNA Diagnostics Center at 1-800-929-0815.
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Parkview Health Laboratories
PHLEBOTOMY MANUAL
Policy & Procedure Title: Paternity Specimen Collection
V. References
A. DNA Diagnostics Center. Fairfield, OH 45014.
B. Paternity Scheduling and procedure, Phlebotomy Manual, Parkview Health
Laboratories, 3rd Rev. 03/1998.
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