License Information and Courses from MediaLab, Inc.

One of the most important aspects of a urine drug screen collection is the correct identification of the donor. It is the responsibility of the donor to provide the collector appropriate identification upon arrival at the collection site.Acceptable forms of identification include: A photo identification such as a driver's license, an employee badge, or any other picture ID issued by either a federal, state, or local government agency. Identification made by an employer or a representative of the employer. In this latter case, the employer or employer representative can describe the donor to the suitability of the collector via a phone call.

The Board of Clinical Laboratory Personnel oversees clinical laboratory affairs in the state of Florida. The Board's seven members are appointed by the Governor of Florida to serve four-year terms. Five of the seven members are licensed clinical laboratory practitioners and the remaining two, referred to as "consumer members," have never been licensed as clinical laboratory personnel and have no connection to the laboratory profession. The Board has the authority to: Establish rules for clinical laboratory science Set the necessary qualifications for clinical laboratory science personnel, including higher education, training programs, and examinations administered by the Board Oversee clinical laboratory training program and continuing education providers Issue licenses to clinical laboratory personnel Collect fees for licensing, license renewals, and delinquent licenses Enforce penalties, including license suspension and fines up to $10,000, for violations of Board rules governing ethics in clinical laboratory science

To practice as a clinical laboratory scientist in the state of Florida, you must have an appropriate Florida license. Without a license, you cannot conduct clinical laboratory examinations or report test results. You do not need a Florida license to work in: Laboratories run by the federal government. Labs that perform only waived testing. Labs run exclusively for research and teaching purposes that do not report patient results.These laboratories may have other licensing and training requirements.

Licenses must be renewed every two years. To have your license renewed, you must show documentation that you have met competency and continuing education requirements and paid the renewal fee, which varies by license type: Director: $150Supervisor: $143Technologist: $121Technician: $82 Part of renewing your license is demonstrating your competency. This is done by completing Board-approved continuing education programs (such as this one). Depending on your license type, you'll have at least 24 hours of continuing education for each renewal period (two years). You'll find more information about this in the next section.

Committing any violation listed on the prior pages carries severe penalties. An individual's clinical laboratory license can be put on probation or permanently revoked, and fines can range from $300 to $10,000 per offence. A license can also be put on probation, meaning the individual may continue to practice but under limited circumstances. In addition, some violations listed in the previous pages carry criminal charges. These include: Felonies (3rd degree)Practicing as clinical laboratory personnel without an active license Using a suspended or revoked license to practiceAttempting to obtain a license by misrepresentationMisdemeanors (1st degree)Concealing information relating to violations on the preceding pagesLying to the BoardMisrepresenting one's self as a licensed clinical laboratory practitioner

When you apply for a license at any level, you must indicate one or more specialties. Each specialty has slightly different requirements, including which exams you can use to qualify for licensure. You can later add more specialties to your license by taking the appropriate exam. The following is a partial list of specialties available to clinical laboratory personnel: MicrobiologySerology / ImmunologyChemistry HematologyImmunohematologyRadioassay HistocompatibilityBlood BankingBlood Gas AnalysisCytologyCytogenetics HistologyMolecular PathologyAndrologyEmbryology

If a license is not renewed or placed on inactive status before the expiration date, it is considered delinquent. The license holder can remedy this by paying the delinquency fee and fulfilling continuing education requirements within two years. If this is not done, the license will be cancelled, and the former license holder will have to reapply for a license to work in a clinical laboratory in the future.

Clinical laboratory personnel licenses are divided into four types: director, supervisor, technologist, and technician. Each type has different roles, responsibilities, qualifications, and continuing education requirements. When you apply for a license, you must apply for one of these four types. All licensed clinical laboratory personnel are permitted to collect, process, store, and ship specimens and perform manual pretesting procedures. Clinical laboratory personnel qualified as director (either physician director or licensed director), supervisor, technologist, or technician can perform testing within the specialty(ies) for which they are licensed. Each license is valid for one or more specialties. Directors, supervisors, and technologists are permitted to interpret and report test results.

CEBroker is the Florida Department of Health's online system for tracking continuing education requirements. Companies and colleges that provide continuing education, whether through online programs, lectures, seminars, or other methods, will report your completed credits to CEBroker. All courses you complete through MediaLab that carry Florida credit will be reported to CEBroker and automatically credited to your license. For that reason, make sure you keep your license number up-to-date with MediaLab. Even though CEBroker tracks your credits, keep copies of all Certificates of Completion that you receive in case of an audit. You are responsible for maintaining proper documentation of your completed courses. CEBroker's website is www.cebroker.com.

Technicians perform laboratory testing under direct and general supervision, as required by the test and the conditions of the technician's license. Other duties include:Performing tests only as authorized by the director and the technician's licensed specialty.Following the laboratory's procedure for specimen handling and running testsParticipating in proficiency testing and demonstrating that proficiency samples are tested in the same manner as patient samplesFollowing quality control and instrument calibration policiesDocumenting corrective action taken when results exceed the laboratory's acceptable performance valuesIdentifying potential problems with tests or report resultsNotifying a technologist or supervisor if results are outside the laboratory's acceptable performance levels

Clinical laboratory personnel must be licensed and competent to perform their duties. This means holding the appropriate type of license for the task being performed (director, supervisor, technologist, or technician) and being certified in the appropriate specialty for any testing being performed. For example, an individual licensed as a technician in hematology may not perform the duties of a technologist in hematology, nor may that individual perform testing in the microbiology specialty. Showing a lack of competence to perform even licensed duties is a violation of Board rules. Consistent errors can tarnish a laboratory's reputation, and even a single error can harm patient care. Licensed personnel must be certain that they can perform their duties accurately and competently. All of the following are violations of Board rules:Performing clinical duties for which one does not hold a license.Performing services one knows one is not competent to perform.Showing lack of competence or making consistent errors in testing or reporting.Having a license revoked or suspended in another state.

Helping another person commit any of these violations of Board rules is also a violation, with substantial penalties. If you know about a violation, you must report it to the appropriate authorities, perhaps your supervisor or lab director, or the Board itself. If you know about a violation and don't report it, you may have your license suspended or have to pay a fine.

The table below summarizes the qualifications for the four types of clinical laboratory personnel licenses. DirectorPhysician certified in clinical pathology OR Non-physician with: Doctoral degreeCertification in a lab specialtyCompleted course on administrationContinuing education in HIV/AIDS and medical errorsSupervisorOne of the following:Doctoral degree + 1 year experienceMaster's degree + 3 years experienceBachelor's degree + 5 years experienceLicensed as a technologist or meets the requirementsOne of the following:Completed course on administration25 hours of CE in administrationCE in HIV / AIDS and medical errors.TechnologistOne of the following:Bachelor's degree + medical technologist training program OR 3 years experienceAssociate's degree + Florida technician's license and completion of a medical laboratory training program OR 5 years experienceCompleted exam in 1+ specialtiesCE in HIV / AIDS and medical errorsTechnicianMeets one of the following:Completed medical lab technology training programHigh school or equivalency diploma + 5 years experienceAssociate's degree + 4 years experienceBachelor's degree + 3 years experienceBachelor's degree in medical technologyCompleted exam (certain specialties only)CE in HIV / AIDS and medical errors

A courier is making a routine stop in a client's office and is approached by the office manager with whom he is very friendly because he has been going to this office for years. The office manager asks the courier if Dr. John Smith is a regular stop on his route and the courier answers yes. She then asks the courier if he would do her a little favor since he stops at Dr Smiths office regularly anyway and drop off an x-ray for her so she won't have to call a courier service. The courier knows that this is a big account for the laboratory and customer service is a high priority for the laboratory. This courier should:Correct Answer: Refuse to do it for the customer and explain to the customer that the laboratory has a policy that says he must only provide courier services related to laboratory.Discussion: Even though this is a single incident, by doing this favor the courier is giving the office manager license to ask these kinds of favors in the future. Since the provision of this free courier service is a form of inducement or kickback to the client, both the client and the laboratory would be involved if the such a practice were to go on regularly and be discovered by the government or by the laboratory. Hiding the incident and asking the office manager to conspire with him to do this will only make it worse for the employee and would lead to serious discipline action up to termination. The courier's best course of action, for the protection of his friend the office manager and himself, the physician practice and the laboratory is to not do this and explain the reason to the office manager so she is aware of the consequences of asking this favor.

A courier is making a routine stop in a client's office and is approached by the office manager with whom he is very friendly because he has been going to this office for years. The office manager asks the courier if Dr. John Smith is a regular stop on his route and the courier answers yes. She then asks the courier if he would do her a little favor since he stops at Dr Smiths office regularly anyway and drop off an x-ray for her so she won't have to call a courier service. The courier knows that this is a big account for the laboratory and customer service is a high priority for the laboratory. This courier should:Correct Answer: Refuse to do it for the customer and explain to the customer that the laboratory has a policy that says he must only provide courier services related to laboratory.Discussion: Even though this is a single incident, by doing this favor the courier is giving the office manager license to ask these kinds of favors in the future. Since the provision of this free courier service is a form of inducement or kickback to the client, both the client and the laboratory would be involved if the such a practice were to go on regularly and be discovered by the government or by the laboratory. Hiding the incident and asking the office manager to conspire with him to do this will only make it worse for the employee and would lead to serious disciplinary action up to termination.

In order to prevent errors that affect specimen quality, the phlebotomist must pay close attention to detail during the entire venipuncture process. All steps of the phlebotomy procedure must be included for every venipuncture. This will help to maintain specimen integrity during the collection, transport, and handling of blood specimensProperly identify the patient every timeThe phlebotomist is responsible for correctly identifying the patient using two unique patient identifiers that include the patient's complete first and last name, medical record or hospital number, and/or date of birth. The patient location or room number, bed tag and chart are not reliable forms of identification and should not be used for patient identification. Every patient must verbalize his/her name to the phlebotomist, if able to do so. It is unacceptable for the phlebotomist to ask the patient to confirm his/her name that was verbalized by the phlebotomist. For example, the phlebotomist should say, "Would you please tell me (or spell) your name and birthdate. " The phlebotomist should NOT say, "Are you Sally Brown, and is your birthdate June 1, 1925?" If this is a hospital inpatient, check the information on the patient's wristband and confirm that the name and hospital number or medical record number matches the patient information on the test order. Never rely on identification attached to a bed, chart or door. NEVER draw a patient whose identity is not established or is in conflict. If there is a discrepancy, the phlebotomist must STOP and seek assistance to have the discrepancy resolved before proceeding with the venipuncture. If this is an outpatient that does not have a wristband, ask the patient (or guardian/caregiver) to state the patient's date of birth. A picture ID, such as a driver's license, can also be used for positive patient identification.