1 Introduction
2 Manually Disposing Specimens
3 Specimens Disposed Automatically
- 3.1 Add new disposal reasons
4 Reopen Specimens
5 Dispose specimens using bulk import

Introduction

A closed specimen refers to a specimen record that still exists within the system but is no longer available for any further processing, distribution, or shipment.

Specimens can be closed for various reasons.

The entire specimen is consumed during processing or pooling
Specimen compromised (Hemolyzed, clotted, contaminated, or unsuitable for testing)
Insufficient quantity
Specimen mislabeled
Specimen expired
Improper collection or handling

Manually Disposing Specimens

You can close a single or multiple specimens in bulk. Starting v12.1, you can record the disposal reason as a dropdown value for consistency. Post upgrade, the dropdown manager will include a new attribute ‘Specimen Dispose Reason’ with few default values

Do not edit/archive the values ‘Processed’, ‘Distributed’, ‘Pooled', or ‘Not Specified’, as this will cause errors while closing or distributing specimens.

Close single specimen

From the specimen overview page, you can click on ‘More’->'Close'
This will open a popup as shown below to capture details.

Close multiple specimen

From any specimen list page, you can select specimens click ‘Actions’->'Close'
This will show the same ‘Close Specimen’ pop-up.
User can add data in the form and click submit.
All the selected specimens will closed and a disposal event will be added with the reason selected.

Specimens Disposed Automatically

There are other activities during which the specimens can be closed

Processing

The ‘Collect Specimens’ task includes an option to close parent specimens after collection. This feature is useful when parent specimens are either discarded or exhausted during the collection or processing of their child specimens.

How it works:

When selected, this option automatically closes the parent specimens upon completion of the collection task.
Closed specimens cannot be further processed or distributed but remain available for audit and historical records.

Configuration:

To ensure this option is selected by default:

Navigate to the Label Format and Print Settings of the relevant Collection Protocol (CP).
Set Close Parent Specimens to Yes
Once enabled, the checkbox in the ‘Collect Specimens’ interface will be checked by default.

This ensures consistency in workflows where parent specimens are routinely discarded or consumed after derivative specimens are created.

The closed parent specimens have a disposal event with reason ‘Processed’

Distribution

When the specimen is distributed and closed, a disposal event with below details is added to the distributed specimen.

Reason as ‘Distributed’
Comments with the name of the distribution protocol

Pooling

On pooling specimens, a disposal event with below details is added to the specimen used for pooling

Reason - Pooled
Comments - Consumed for creating pooled specimen <label>

Specimens can also be disposed of from the workflow, refer to Dispose Specimen in Workflow Batch for more details.

Add new disposal reasons

It is possible to add new values to the specimen dispose reasons if the current values do not suit you.

Log into the application as a super administrator user
Navigate to Extras->Dropdown Manager->Specimen Dispose Reason
On this page you will see the existing values.
Click on ‘Add’ to add new values to this list

Reopen Specimens

It is possible to reopen the closed specimens

If the specimens were closed accidentally you can reopen them using ‘Reopen’ option present under ‘More’ on the specimen overview page

Dispose specimens using bulk import

It is possible to bulk import the data for the specimen disposal event. Refer to https://openspecimen.atlassian.net/wiki/x/QgA-GQ for more details.