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Collection is where the custody chain starts. You complete the federal custody and control form with the donor in front of you, take the specimen, read its temperature, seal both bottles in the donor’s sight, and dispatch it. Everything downstream — the screen, the confirmation, the MRO’s verified result — rests on this half-hour being done properly.
These screens exist only in DOT / SAMHSA — Full Workflow and Both — Standard + DOT Full Workflow. A lab running Reference Lab — Intake to Report Only has no collection module at all, by design — see Reference lab mode.

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Complete the custody and control form

Open the order from the queue. The CCF is a five-step wizard, and the steps run in the order the federal form does:
1

Confirm employer and donor

Step 1 Employer & Donor Info carries the employer’s details and the donor’s identity forward from the order. Check them against the donor’s photo ID before you go on — a mismatch found here is an inconvenience, and one found at MRO review is a cancelled test.
2

Verify the test type

Step 2 Test Type Verification confirms which agency the test falls under and why it is being run. The donor is entitled to know both.
3

Record the collection

Step 3 Collection Information captures the collection site, the collector and the circumstances. Your signature belongs here — a missing collector signature at Step 3 is one of the flaws that lets an MRO cancel the test outright.
4

Certify as the collector

Step 4 Collector Certification is your attestation: “I certify that this collection was performed in accordance with all applicable Federal requirements…”. Do not sign it for a collection you did not personally perform.
5

Read the donor certification to the donor

Step 5 Donor Certification quotes the statement the donor is agreeing to: “I certify that I provided my specimen to the collector; that I have not adulterated it in any manner; that each specimen bottle used was sealed with a tamper-evident seal in my presence…”. Tick Donor has read and acknowledged the above statement only once they have. Without it the wizard refuses to finish with Donor must acknowledge before completing CCF.
6

Finish the form

Completing step 5 gives CCF complete — order advanced to Collected, and the order moves on in the queue.
Step 5 is a federal attestation by the donor, not a formality you tick to clear the screen. The donor must see each bottle sealed with a tamper-evident seal before they acknowledge it. Ticking it on their behalf, or after they have left, makes the specimen indefensible and the test cancellable.

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Record the collection itself

The Specimen Collection form is where the physical detail goes.
1

Enter the collection time

Collection Date & Time * is the moment the donor handed the specimen over, not the moment you reached the keyboard. Every elapsed time on the chain of custody is measured from it.
2

Read and record the temperature

Temperature Reading (°F) * must be taken within four minutes of collection. A reading outside the acceptable band raises a Temperature Out of Range alert — that is a finding to act on with the donor present, not a validation message to dismiss.
3

Record the volumes

The Specimen Volumes block takes Bottle A, Bottle B and the Total Volume. Undocumented volume is a correctable flaw an MRO will come back to you about, so fill all three.
4

Describe the specimen

Specimen Condition records anything unusual about what you received — colour, sediment, odour, foreign matter.
5

Record a directly observed collection

If the collection was observed, complete Direct Observation with the observer’s name and gender. The observer must be of the same gender as the donor, and the reason for observation belongs in the record.
6

Confirm the seals

Seal Confirmation records that both bottles were sealed, initialled and dated in the donor’s presence. This is the entry the accessioning clerk will check the physical seals against.
7

Ship the specimen

Choose a shipping carrier, enter the Airway Bill / Tracking Number and the shipped date, then mark it shipped. The toast reads Specimen marked as in transit. Trying to ship without a carrier is refused with Select a shipping carrier before marking as shipped.

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Drawing down your collection supplies

Each collection consumes cups, seals, bottles and forms, and you can have ClinikEHR account for them automatically. The Collection supplies sheet — “Configure the inventory supplies one specimen collection consumes” — links the consumables to the collection event, so your stock falls as you work rather than as someone remembers to count. See Reagents and consumables.

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If you work at a collection centre

A site registered as a collection centre carries a banner reading This site is a collection center — register specimens and dispatch them to your laboratory. Accessioning, screening and reporting are done at the full lab and are disabled here. That is correct behaviour, not a permissions problem. A collection centre draws and dispatches; the full lab receives, screens, confirms and reports.

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Check it worked

  • The order has advanced to Collected, and then to in transit once you marked it shipped.
  • The Chain of Custody tab shows CCF Completed, Specimen Collected and Specimen Shipped events under Specimen Intake, each with your name and a Seal Intact pill.
  • The tracking number on the order matches the airway bill in your hand.

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If something goes wrong

Step 5 needs Donor has read and acknowledged the above statement ticked. The guard reads Donor must acknowledge before completing CCF and there is no way past it, deliberately.
Treat it as a possible substitution while the donor is still with you. Follow your own site’s directly observed recollection procedure, record what happened in Specimen Condition, and complete Direct Observation on the recollection. Do not simply re-read the strip until it agrees with you.
A carrier is required — the guard reads Select a shipping carrier before marking as shipped. Choose the carrier, add the Airway Bill / Tracking Number, then try again.
Do not ship it. Seal a fresh collection under a new CCF and record what happened. A specimen whose seal cannot be vouched for is rejected at accessioning anyway — see Accession an incoming specimen.
Your lab is on Standard Clinical Lab mode, or on Reference Lab — Intake to Report Only where the entry is renamed Lab Intake and collection is hidden. An owner or manager can check under Settings › Lab Workflow — see DOT and workplace drug testing.