What the requisition is for
The LifeLabs BC requisition orders routine outpatient tests at LifeLabs in British Columbia: hematology, chemistry, lipids, thyroid function, urine tests, microbiology swabs and cultures, hepatitis and HIV serology, stool tests and dermatophyte and fungal cultures. When completed, it counts as a referral to LifeLabs’ laboratory physicians. The second page is a patient instruction sheet on booking and preparing for the visit.
Who completes it
The ordering practitioner completes and signs it. The form asks for complete and accurate information in every shaded area, and the patient’s surname as it appears on their BC Services Card. Medulla can suggest the requisition from the orders in your plan, with the tests ticked and the indication carried over.
How to fill in the requisition
Patient and billing
Enter the patient’s name, date of birth, sex, Personal Health Number, address and phone number. Tick one bill-to box: MSP, ICBC, WorkSafeBC, patient or other.
Ordering practitioner and copies
Give your name, address and MSP practitioner number, and tick “locum for” when covering. Add a copy-to practitioner with their MSP number if someone else needs the result. Note pregnancy, fasting hours, and the date, time and name of any medication the test depends on.
Diagnosis and guideline tests
Tests with a shaded tick box follow BC provincial guidelines and protocols, so write the diagnosis and indication. Lipids and thyroid function are one box only. The thyroid box names the strategy, TSH first with free T4 or T3 only if indicated. ApoB isn’t available with a lipid profile unless complex dyslipidemia is the indication.
Microbiology, serology and stool tests
Pick the swab source and site for cultures, chlamydia and gonorrhea, and vaginitis testing. Note whether the patient is on antibiotics or an anticoagulant for INR. For HIV serology, the patient has the right to non-nominal reporting, which you tick on the form. For FIT, choose whether a copy goes to the Colon Screening Program.
Standing orders and signature
Standing orders must state an expiry and a frequency. Sign and date the form.
Common reasons it’s delayed
- A shaded guideline test with no diagnosis or indication.
- Two boxes ticked in a one-box-only panel.
- The wrong bill-to box, so the test is billed to the wrong payer.
- A standing order with no expiry or frequency.
- A requisition more than a year old.
Submitting and who pays
The patient brings the printed requisition and their BC Services Card to a LifeLabs Patient Service Centre, where staff keep the requisition. Some tests, such as Holter monitors and semen analysis, need a specialty appointment. MSP pays for insured tests, and the patient pays for self-pay tests such as PSA screening.