Reporting of Laboratory Tests

The study results are reported to the applicant after technical confirmation and medical authorization.

NIHDI legislation

Reporting is performed in accordance with the NIHDI legislation, with reporting varying depending on whether it is a prime contract or subcontract. Reporting by telephone or non-secure mail is not permitted. In case of subcontracting, we report to the laboratory. In case of main contracting we report to the requesting physician.

Reporting speed

Reporting is done in accordance with the maximum turnaround time specifications listed in our lab guide, where TAT is defined as the time lapse between registration of arrival of the application and suitable research material in our laboratory and authorization of the determination results.
In case of strongly deviating values, the applicant is immediately contacted by phone, where we ask to be able to fax the urgent results to a fax number you specify. The effective availability of the study report to the applicant depends on how the report is effectively communicated to the applicant:

By mail

Sending by mail causes a significant delay. Reports are printed and mailed once per business day.

eHealthBox

To avoid postal delays, Belgian Red Cross-Flanders offers secure electronic reporting by sending it to the eHealthBox secure electronic mailbox of the Belgian government's eHealth platform. For more info please visit the website of eHealth
At your request, research reports can be sent electronically to the eHealthBox very soon after authorization. Reports can be either computer-readable (HL7 format) or human-readable (text or pdf file). If you are interested in this reporting we recommend, please send an email to eHealth@rodekruis.be.(For requesting physicians only, not for patients or donors; donors please refer to this page for their lab results on donation)

Real-time communication

The fastest reporting is achieved at the hospitals where Belgian Red Cross-Flanders transmits in real-time the study results electronically to the referring laboratory's laboratory information system and/or to the requesting hospital's electronic patient record immediately after authorization.

By phone

In addition to the standard reporting options listed above, it is possible to request a report by telephone in urgent cases. We then ask you to send a fax with the following information required for retrieval of the report:

• Patient's name, first name, date of birth, national register number
• Date of your application and your reference number, requested laboratory tests (application paths) with date of sample collection
• Your contact information, including your telephone and fax number, name and RIZIV number of the applicant