This field contains a unique identifier for the specimen as referenced by the Placer application, the Filler application, or both.

This field is not required, as there are use cases in which a unique specimen identifier may not exist. In the first scenario, a placer application may initiate an observation request against an existing specimen without uniquely identifying the specimen. Additionally, in the case of the TCU_U10 message structure, used in Automated equipment test code settings messages, the SPM segment is used to define required characteristics of the specimen. As such, TCU_U10 uses SPM to define a virtual specimen, and a specific specimen ID would not exist. Filler applications would be expected to assign a Specimen ID and populate this field accordingly.

This field contains the identifiers for the specimen or specimens that contributed to the specimen that is described by the segment instance.

If this field repeats, then SPM-11-Specimen Role should be valued with "L" (pooled). The repetitions of this field then carry the specimen IDs of the parent specimens contributing to the pool.

This field describes the precise nature of the entity that will be the source material for the observation.

Any physical entity that may have observations made about it may qualify as a specimen. The entry in this attribute describes the specific entity as precisely as possible, whether that is a complex organism (e.g., an ostrich) or a specific cellular mass (e.g., a specific muscle biopsy).

This attribute corresponds to the first component of OBR.15 – Specimen Source and SAC.6 – Specimen Source component 1 – Specimen source name or code. These components, and the SPS data type, were deprecated upon the development of this segment.

A nationally recognized coding system is to be used for this field. Valid coding sources for this field include:

• HL7 table 0487 – Specimen Type (replaces HL7 table 0070 – Specimen source codes)
SNOMED, etc.
• Veterinary medicine may choose the tables supported for the components of this field as decided by their industry.

This field contains modifying or qualifying description(s) about the specimen type

The use of this attribute is to modify, qualify or further specify, the entity described by SPM-4 -Specimen Type. This is particularly useful when the code set used in SPM-4-Specimen Type does not provide the precision required to fully describe the specimen. For example, if the specimen was precisely described as ‘capillary venous blood’ but the code set employed only provided ‘venous blood,’ this attribute could be employed to add the modifier ‘capillary.’

Refer to User-Defined Table 0541 Specimen Type Modifier for suggested values.

Describes the procedure or process by which the specimen was collected.

Any nationally recognized coding system might be used for this field including SNOMED; alternatively the HL7 defined table 0488 may be used. Veterinary medicine may choose the tables supported for the components of this field as decided by their industry.

Specifies the source from which the specimen was obtained. For example, in the case where a liver biopsy is obtained via a percutaneous needle, the source would be ‘liver.’

Any nationally recognized coding system might be used for this field including SNOMED; alternatively the HL7 defined table 0070 may be used. Veterinary medicine may choose the tables supported for the components of this field as decided by their industry.

This field contains modifying or qualifying description(s) about the specimen source site

The use of this attribute is to modify, qualify or further specify, the entity described by SPM-8 – Specimen Source Site. This is particularly useful when the code set used in SPM-8 does not provide the precision required to fully describe the site from which the specimen originated. For example, if the specimen source site was precisely described as ‘left radial vein’ but the code set employed only provided ‘radial vein,’ this attribute could be employed to add the modifier ‘left.’

Veterinary medicine may choose the tables supported for the components of this field as decided by their industry.

Refer to User-Defined Table 0542 – Specimen Source Type Modifier for suggested values.

This field differs from SPM-8-Specimen Source Site in those cases where the source site must be approached via a particular site (e.g., anatomic location). For example, in the case where a liver biopsy is obtained via a percutaneous needle, the collection site would be the point of entry of the needle. For venous blood collected from the left radial vein, the collection site could be “antecubital fossa”.

Veterinary medicine may choose the tables supported for the components of this field as decided by their industry.

Refer to User-Defined Table 0543 – Specimen Collection Site for suggested values.

This field indicates the role of the sample. Refer to User-defined Table 0369 – Specimen role for suggested values. Each of these values is normally identifiable by the systems and its components and can influence processing and data management related to the specimen.

If this field is not populated, then the specimen described has no special, or specific, role other than serving as the focus of the observation. Such specimens include patient, environmental and other specimens that are intended for analysis.

A grouped specimen consists of identical specimen types from multiple individuals that do not have individual identifiers and upon which the same services will be performed. If the specimen role value is “G” then the Grouped Specimen Count (SPM-13) must be valued with the total number of specimens contained in the group.

If the specimen role is “L”, the repetitions of Parent Specimen ID (SPM-4) represent the individual parent specimens that contribute to the pooled specimen.

Refer to User-defined Table 0369 – Specimen Role for suggested values.

This describes how the specimen and/or container need to be handled from the time of collection through the initiation of testing. As this field is not required, no assumptions can be made as to meaning when this field is not populated.

Refer to User-defined Table 0376 – Special Handling Code for suggested values.

In chain of custody cases where specimens are moved from lab to lab, the status of the container that the specimen is shipped in must be recorded at each receipt. If the container is compromised in any way (seal broken, container cracked or leaking, etc) then this needs to be recorded for legal reasons.

Refer to User-defined Table 0544 – Container Condition for suggested values.

For child specimens, this field identifies the relationship between this specimen and the parent specimen. If this field is populated, then SPM-3-Specimen Parent ID must be populated. This field differs from SPM-15-Specimen Role in that this field refers to the role of this specimen relative to a parent role rather than the role of this specimen to the ordered service.

Refer to HL7 Table 0494 – Specimen Child Role for valid values.