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Montana Laboratory Sentinel
Updates from the MT Laboratory Services Bureau
Phone: 800-821-7284 Fax: 406-444-1802
Lab Website
Lab Manual
(Please reference this for testing or submission questions.)
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MT PHL Employee Highlight:
Debbie Gibson is the Montana Laboratory Services Bureau Chief. She has been with the bureau for over 26 years and says the wonderful team of people she gets to work with each day is what keeps her here. Debbie loves spending time with her family and finds peace (and sanity) in the solitude of the mountains during her long trail runs.
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News and Updates
New Providers
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NEW FUNCTIONALITY- Facilities can now add new providers to the portal!
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Starting on October 1st, 2024, "..laboratory" will no longer be available for an ordering provider. Instead, facilities will now be allowed to add external providers. In order to add external providers the person entering the order will need to have the providers first name, last name, and NPI number. All facilities have the NPI numbers of the providers. If you need help finding that number here is a link to the NPI registry.
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Here is a quick guide to this new process.
IT Corner
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Facilities no longer allowed to cancel orders in portal
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We recently took away the ability for external facilities to cancel an order in the portal. This is due to the inability to undo an order cancellation. We have had several instances where an order for a newborn screen was canceled, and we were unable to re-use the card number as the order ID on the new order; whereas we could have made the necessary changes on the existing order and retained the form number as the order ID.
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You may still cancel the order choices on an order. If you cancel an order choice within an order, it can be reactivated if necessary. Once you cancel all the order choices on an order the system considers it complete, and it will not show on your pending orders. If you need to cancel an order or change something on an order, you can open a ticket from the order and ask us to do it for you.
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Our online procedures have been updated to reflect this change.
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Ordering Cultures for LRN/Biothreat samples and exercises
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When you order a culture for a biothreat organism, such as B. anthracis or Burkholderia, the system will now add a PCR test to the order. When you print the requisition, two pages will print – one for the culture and one for the PCR. Please include both with the sample. (When molecular testing has transitioned to the new LIS, only one page will print showing both tests.) When creating the manifest for these samples, only the culture will appear on the create manifest screen.
Molecular
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Influenza Surveillance
- Surveillance for the 2024-2025 influenza season officially begins on Sunday, September 29th, 2024. Receiving the first positive influenza specimens in the state is important in determining the circulating strains and prevalence, and the Montana Public Health Laboratory (MTPHL) also shares these specimens with the Centers for Disease Control for further characterization and anti-viral resistance testing
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For more information on Influenza Surveillance Testing for the 2024-2025 season , please click here.
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*Click here for a list of designated Influenza Surveillance Sites.
Serology
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Hepatitis panel changing to profile
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The Acute Hepatitis Panel is changing to a profile as of October 10, 2024. The profile will be ordered the same way, and the name will not change. However, when you order the profile, it will expand to order all the individual tests in the panel. This means each test can be resulted separately rather than waiting until the entire panel is complete.
Newborn
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GALT test to be performed on unsatisfactory samples.
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As of October 15, 2024, MTPHL will begin performing testing for galactosemia on all samples received, including those that are deemed unsatisfactory. This is due to the critical nature of this condition should it go undetected. Our staff will attempt to use the best quality sample it can obtain from the card that is submitted. We will be charging $31 for the GALT test on these samples. The CPT code for GALT is 82775. This will not negate the need for these samples to be recollected as soon as possible so the rest of the newborn screening tests can be performed. Please contact Jeanne Lee, Newborn Screening Supervisor at 406-444-3040 or jlee@mt.gov with questions.
Microbiology
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Norovirus Surveillance
- Norovirus season is upon us. Please send all positive norovirus specimens to MTPHL. Please order “Hold” then choose Norovirus. Norovirus testing and sequencing will be performed at no cost on identified outbreak specimens. Thank you for supporting our Norovirus surveillance efforts. Click here for additional information.
Preparedness
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Focus on Brucella spp. Identification
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Brucella suis, B. melitenensis, B. abortus, and canis cause brucellosis in humans and animals. The first three species are considered select agents.
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Classic Brucella key characteristics: tiny, faint staining, gram-negative coccobacilli, catalase and urea positive, oxidase usually positive, indole negative, and satellite test negative.
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H. influenzae key characteristics: small gram-negative coccobacilli, catalase and oxidase positive, urea usually positive, indole variable, and satellite test positive.
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Click here for colonial growth and gram stain morphology comparison.
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Reminders:
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Lab Portal Information
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All of our lab portal procedures and access paperwork can be found on our website. Here is the link to the direct page with all of our forms and procedures: https://dphhs.mt.gov/publichealth/LaboratoryServices/onlineorderingandresults.
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There is also a link in our lab portal that will take you directly to this page. This link can be found under quick links. "MT PHL Lab Portal Procedures and Forms".
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Courier
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Previous Laboratory Sentinels
- All previous Laboratory Sentinels can be found on our website on the column on the left hand side by selecting "Public Health Laboratory Newsletter". Here is a link to all our previous Laboratory Sentinels.
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