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A test request is the record everything else hangs off: the specimen you accession against it, the results you enter, the report you release and the invoice you raise. This page covers the two ways to create one.

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The full ordering form

Use this when you are ordering for a patient at the desk and want the price and the parameters in front of you.
1

Open the form

Go to Lab Station and select New Lab Test.
2

Choose the patient

Fill in Patient Details. If the patient has no record yet, create one first — see Register your first patient.
3

Pick the tests

Under Select Lab Test (“Choose a test to order”), use Search lab tests… to find each test. Everything you add builds up in the Order Summary rail on the right under Order Items, priced from your catalogue.
4

Fill in what you already know

Test Parameters lists every analyte on the test, with a counter reading {n} / {n} parameters filled and a Critical badge on the ones that trigger a critical flag. You do not have to complete these now — the bench normally does, on Enter and verify results.
5

Add context and submit

Use Additional Notes for clinical details the scientist needs — the indication, current medication, a fasting state. Submit the order. The toast reads Lab test orders created successfully.

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The quick way, from the table

The Test Requests table is the working list of everything ordered. Its toolbar carries Search for patient, New Test Report, Refresh and View Columns (“Toggle columns”). Select New Test Report to raise a request without leaving the list. Each row’s menu offers View Details, Conduct Test and Update Results. Selecting one opens a sheet whose header changes to match what you are doing — Conduct Lab Test, View Lab Results or Update Lab Results — with Patient Information and Laboratory Tests cards and a field per parameter (Enter test result, Enter {parameterName}, Select value).
Only lab scientists may conduct or update a test through this path. Everyone else who opens the sheet gets read-only view mode and the message Only lab scientists can conduct or update lab tests. That is a role limit, not a fault — see Roles.

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Raising a request with no connection

Order capture works offline. Raise the request as normal and it queues on the device, then syncs when the connection returns. The offline bar reads Offline · reference data {staleness} — new lab orders queue and sync on reconnect and carries a Sync now button. Two things change offline. Patient search is reduced to name and patient number and returns at most 25 matches, so search precisely. And payment is never taken offline — a replayed order arrives unpaid and settles at the desk. Accessioning, screening, result entry and verification all stay online. See Working offline.

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Check it worked

  • The request appears in Test Requests with the status Pending and a payment badge of Paid, Partial or Pending.
  • The Lab Station Analytics tab counts it under Total Lab Tests and Pending Tests (“Awaiting processing”).
  • The patient’s record lists the request.

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If something goes wrong

The search only offers tests in your catalogue. Add it under Lab Station › Test List — see Add your tests and panels.
Price lives on the catalogue test, not the request. Open the test in Test List and set a price on the Basic Information tab; new orders then price themselves.
You are not signed in as a lab scientist. Ask an owner or manager to change your role, or hand the request to someone at the bench. See Permissions.
Open the offline bar and select Sync now. If the bar shows a rejected count, the order needs a person to look at it — rejected items are never retried silently. See Working offline.
Regulated collections go through the DOT workflow, which carries its own chain of custody and forms. See DOT testing and Lab intake mode.