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Lab Workflow decides which laboratory module your staff see. It is the one settings tab that exists only on a Diagnostics workspace. This page is about choosing and switching the mode — for running DOT testing itself, see DOT drug testing.

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What this tab controls

The card’s own scope note reads: “Determines which laboratory module is shown to your staff. Switching modes does not delete any data — orders remain in their original workflow.” Choose on the work you actually receive. Donors coming to you means you need collection — full DOT. Sealed specimens arriving by courier with the chain-of-custody form already complete means you do not — reference lab. Doing both means Both, rather than switching back and forth.

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Set it up

1

Open the tab

Under the LABORATORY section, open Lab workflow → Lab Workflow — “Clinical, DOT/SAMHSA or intake-only mode”.
2

Select a mode

Choose one of the four options.
3

Read the alert, if one appears

Choosing Reference Lab — Intake to Report Only shows an alert headed Reference Lab mode: “This mode hides the collection, MRO review, and DER reporting modules from the DOT-LIMS sidebar. Orders move from intake → screening → confirmation → finalized PDF report. Existing in-flight orders are unaffected.”
4

Save

Select Save Workflow Mode. The toast reads Lab workflow updated — Reload your DOT-LIMS pages to see the new mode.
5

Tell the bench to reload

Anyone with a laboratory page already open keeps the old mode until they refresh. Say so in the room rather than waiting for someone to notice a menu that no longer matches the work.

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What changes once you save

The navigation renames itself. In Reference Lab mode, DOT Testing in the sidebar becomes Lab Intake and DOT History becomes Intake History. In Standard Clinical Lab mode both entries disappear entirely — there is no DOT workflow to reach. Page headings and status filters change to match the shape of the work. A reference lab’s queue filters by intake, analysis and finalized states rather than collection and MRO review. Reference Lab mode reveals two more cards on this same tab — Lab Report Branding and Custom Panels. Set both up before your first report goes out to an external Medical Review Officer. Nothing migrates. Orders already in flight stay in the workflow they were raised under and finish there, so a lab that switches mid-week runs both shapes side by side until the older orders clear. That is intended, and it is what makes the switch safe to make and safe to undo. Nobody sees it until they reload. The change is not pushed to open tabs. For the full reference on intake-only working, including booking in a sealed specimen and everything the mode renames, see Reference lab mode.

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Check it worked

  • The sidebar matches the mode: Lab Intake and Intake History in reference-lab mode, DOT Testing and DOT History in full DOT mode, neither in standard clinical mode.
  • The queue’s status filter offers the states that belong to your mode.
  • In reference-lab mode, Lab Report Branding and Custom Panels now appear on this tab.
  • An order raised before the switch still shows its original stages.

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Common issues

They have not reloaded. The success message says so directly: Reload your DOT-LIMS pages to see the new mode. A refresh is all it takes.
Orders raised before the switch finish in the workflow they started in. Nothing was migrated and nothing was lost — let them run out.
It exists only on a Diagnostics workspace. From a clinic or pharmacy workspace, a link to it lands on General Settings instead.
Settings needs an owner, manager or accountant. A bench scientist cannot open the screen at all. See Roles.
They are hidden, not deleted — that is what the mode does. Switch back to DOT / SAMHSA — Full Workflow or to Both and they return after a reload.
Build it under Custom Panels on this tab, which appears in reference-lab mode. See MRO review and the employer report.