Patent ID: 8504387

Claim:
A computerized method of optimizing collection of biological samples for a plurality of laboratory tests to be performed on a patient, the method using a computer system that comprises one or more processors, one or more interfaces operatively coupled to at least one of the processors, and one or more computer-readable storage media operatively coupled to at least one of the processors, and the method comprising: receiving through one of the interfaces a requisition for the laboratory tests, each of the tests being associated with respective collection requirements including a required number of containers; for each of the requisitioned tests, retrieving the associated collection requirements from at least one of the computer-readable storage media; at least one of the processors executing instructions to compute the total number of containers to be collected; at least one of the processors executing instructions to determine that the number exceeds a collection limit; and at least one of the processors executing instructions to apply one or more optimizations until the collection cannot be further optimized or the optimized number of containers no longer exceeds the collection limit; wherein optimization comprises at least one stage that comprises a plurality of iterations, each iteration comprising replacing one container primarily associated with a first test with one aliquot from a container primarily associated with a second test that is not the first test.