Glossary

Lab terms, explained.

Plain-language definitions of the lab, interface and privacy terms small lab teams come across every day.

A

A marker such as H or L that shows a result falls above or below the reference range.

A standard for how clinical analyzers and lab software exchange orders and results.

A contract HIPAA requires between a covered entity and a vendor that handles its protected health information.

The US federal rules that set quality standards for labs testing human specimens for health care.

A result so far outside the expected range that it may signal an urgent risk and must be reported to a clinician right away.

The US law that sets national rules for protecting the privacy and security of health information.

A family of standards for exchanging health information between systems, and the organization that publishes them.

Software that manages a clinical lab's orders, specimens, results and reports.

A secure website or app where patients can view their health information, such as lab results.

Health information that can identify a person and is held or shared by a HIPAA covered entity or its business associate.

Canada's federal privacy law for how private-sector organizations collect, use and share personal information.

The span of test values expected in a healthy reference population, used to judge whether a result is typical.

The request, on paper or electronic, that tells a lab which tests to perform for a patient.

A unique number given to a specimen or order so it can be tracked and matched to the right patient.

The time it takes a lab to deliver a result, measured between two agreed points such as collection and report.

The UK's main data protection law, which sets rules for handling personal data, including health data.

Join early access and be one of the first labs on Lab Desk.