Handling newborn screening specimens

• Dry the filled card at room temperature in a horizontal position.
  • Use a clean, dry, nonabsorbent surface for laying out the collection cards.
  • A drying rack can be convenient if you have a lot of specimens to dry.
  • Allow specimens to dry, away from direct sunlight, for at least three hours.
• Once the specimens are dry, fold the protective flap over the blood spots and package the specimen for delivery to our laboratory.
  • Never tape or staple the flap closed.
  • Don't fold the form when inserting it into the envelope.
• Place the form in a paper envelope labeled "Dried Clinical Specimen."
  • Don't place recently collected newborn screening sample cards in plastic bags for sending, as this will damage the specimens. (This includes zip-lock bags, poly bags and plastic shipping bags.)
  • Make sure all specimens lie flat in the envelope and haven't been folded.
• ​If you're sending more than one specimen in an envelope, alternate the cards end to end so that the blood spots don't touch.
  • Don't hold onto newborn screening cards to ship together as a batch shipment.
• Health care providers should deliver the completed newborn screening collection cards to our laboratory within 24 hours of collection.
• ​The Colorado Board of Health passed revisions in 2012 to the rules and regulations concerning transport of the initial, or first, newborn screen.
  • The revised Regulation 1.3.1.2 reads, in part: "The specimens, after air drying, will be forwarded to the laboratory within 24 hours of collection, by courier or overnight delivery if available."