Patent ID: 8038055

Claim:
A method of tracking a specimen acquired from a patient, the method comprising: (a) storing in a computer storage accessible by a standalone or networked computer a first machine-readable code present on an identification (ID) means worn by a patient; (b) storing in the computer storage a second machine-readable code associated with an order to obtain a specimen from the patient; (c) storing in the computer storage a third machine-readable code present on an identification (ID) means worn by a specimen-taker; (d) selecting from a plurality of specimen containers having machine-readable codes that are unique to each other preapplied thereto one specimen container including a fourth machine-readable code preapplied thereto; (e) in response to an electronic reading means reading and dispatching to a processor of the computer the first—fourth machine-readable codes present on the ID means worn by the patient, present on the order, present on the ID means worn by the specimen-taker, and present on the specimen container, respectively, and in response to the processor determining that the first machine-readable code and the second machine-readable code are related to the same patient, the processor causing said first—fourth machine-readable codes to be stored in the computer storage in a relational manner and the processor of the computer causing a signal to be generated to acquire a specimen from the patient and to place the acquired specimen in the container; and (f) responsive to the processor receiving a signal that the specimen has been placed in the container following step (e), the processor causing an indication thereof to be stored in the computer storage in a relational manner with said first—fourth machine-readable codes, wherein step (f) includes the processor determining whether the signal of step (f) is received within a predetermined time interval of the processor generating the signal of step (e) and storing an indication thereof in the computer storage in a relational manner with said first—fourth machine-readable codes.