How to send samples to a testing lab on a manifest

List the samples in a package on a manifest, so the testing lab registers the whole package by entering one code.

The manifest menu exists only on the central system (STS). A lab running its own InteLIS (LIS) never sees it. Use this guide on the STS, at a health facility sending samples or at a lab referring samples on.

Before starting:

• Register a test request for every sample in the package. See How to register a viral load test request. The manifest is built from requests that already exist.
• Set the testing lab on each request to the lab the package goes to.

The steps use viral load. For another test, open the manifest menu under that test's group.

Menu group	Manifest menu
HIV VIRAL LOAD	VL Manifest
EARLY INFANT DIAGNOSIS (EID)	EID Manifest
TUBERCULOSIS	TB Manifest
COVID-19	Covid-19 Manifest
HEPATITIS	Hepatitis Manifest
CD4	CD4 Manifest
OTHER LAB TESTS	Lab Test Manifest

Choose the situation that fits, then follow its steps from top to bottom.

New packageChange a manifestMove manifests to another lab

Build the manifest

1. Go to HIV VIRAL LOAD → Request Management → VL Manifest.
2. Select Add Specimen Referral Manifest. The Manifest Code is filled in and cannot be changed.
3. Choose the Testing Lab the package goes to.
4. Choose the Operator/Technician packing the samples.
5. To narrow the list, set any of Sample Collection Point, Sample Type and Sample Collection Date Range.

6. Select Search. The samples waiting to be sent appear in the left-hand list.

   If a sample is missing from the list

   The list shows only requests that:

   • were registered on the STS
   • name the chosen testing lab
   • are not on another manifest
   • are not cancelled
   • were collected within the Sample Collection Date Range, which starts at the last 28 days. Widen it for older samples.

   Open the request and check its testing lab. Then select Search again.

7. Move each sample that is in the package to the right-hand list. Use the arrow buttons between the two lists. The search box above each list finds a Sample ID.

8. Check that Number of selected samples matches the tubes in the package.

   Select only samples that are physically in the package. The receiving lab records every listed sample as received.

9. Select Save. The manifest list opens.

Print the manifest

10. Find the manifest in the list. Check its Testing Lab and Number of Samples.
11. Select Print Manifest PDF.
12. Put the printed manifest in the package. Keep a copy at the sending site.

The receiving lab enters the manifest code from this sheet. See How to receive samples sent on a manifest.

1. Go to HIV VIRAL LOAD → Request Management → VL Manifest.

2. Select Edit on the manifest row. The samples already on the manifest appear in the right-hand list.

   If Edit is greyed out

   The testing lab has already received the package, so the manifest can no longer change. If it is wrong, tell the testing lab. The lab can reject the affected samples.

   If a sample was cancelled after it went on the manifest, the edit screen lists it under Cancelled samples will be removed from this manifest. Saving removes it.

   The Testing Lab cannot be changed on this screen once it is set.

3. To add samples, move them from the left-hand list to the right-hand list. To narrow the left-hand list, change the filters and select Search.

4. To remove samples, move them back to the left-hand list.
5. Check that Number of selected samples matches the tubes in the package.
6. Enter the Reason for changing manifest. It is required.
7. Select Submit.
8. Select Print Manifest PDF on the manifest row.
9. Replace the old printed manifest in the package with the new one.

About the Manifest Status field

Manifest Status changes by itself and is locked on this screen:

Status	Set when
Pending	The manifest is created.
Dispatch	The manifest is printed for the first time.
Received	The testing lab takes in the package. From then on, the manifest cannot be edited.

Use this when a testing lab cannot take the packages already sent to it. Move Manifest has its own permission. If the button is missing, ask the administrator.

1. Go to HIV VIRAL LOAD → Request Management → VL Manifest.
2. Select Move Manifest.
3. Choose the lab the manifests were sent to in Manifest From Testing Lab.
4. To narrow the list, set a Date Range. It filters on the date each manifest was created.
5. Select Search Manifests.
6. Move each manifest to be reassigned to the right-hand list.
7. Choose the new lab in Assign to Testing Lab.
8. Enter the Reason for Moving Manifest(s). It is the only record of why the samples went to a different lab.
9. Select Save Changes. The manifest list opens.
10. Send the physical packages to the new lab. The move changes the records only.

If the first lab already activated the manifest

The move clears the Sample IDs the first lab issued. The new lab activates the manifest and issues its own Sample IDs. The identifier the sending facility used stays the same.

Confirm it worked

The manifest appears in the list with the right Testing Lab and Number of Samples.

After the receiving lab activates it, each sample carries a lab Sample ID next to the identifier the facility used.