[Histonet] Slide and block retention -Peds seperated?

[Greg Dobbin]

Hello all,
I would like to find out what other clinical path labs are doing in Canada
in particular but in the US as well with regard to retention of blocks and
slides. Are other labs filing pediatric cases separately from adult cases?

I am required to archive specimens from pediatric cases separately from
adults because our retention schedule states that specimens for adults will
be retained for *20 years* while specimens from pediatric cases will be
retained for *20 years after the patient reaches the age of majority* (18
years old). So for example, a specimen on a newborn will be kept for 38
years while a specimen on a 17-year-old will be kept for 21 years.

This is no small task to achieve. We must generate a list of pediatric
cases 4 times a year, pull these cases out of the file, file them by birth
year in another area separate from our regular archived material, maintain
and update a separate hardcopy case list, etc.

I am proposing to management that we keep all cases for 38 years so that we
can eliminate this task of separating peds from adults. However, before my
request will be entertained, I must be able to point to other path labs
that are not separating their peds cases.
Thank you for your time!
Greg

-- 
*Greg Dobbin​, MLT*
Chief Technologist,
Anatomic Pathology
Dept. of Laboratory Medicine,
Queen Elizabeth Hospital,
P.O. Box 6600
Charlottetown, PE    C1A 8T5
Phone: (902) 894-2337
Fax: (902) 894-2385