Provider Resources & Trainings

Quality Assurance of Blood Spot Specimens

Introducing a new resource for facilities submitting the dried blood spot (DBS). This tool gives reasons for deeming a specimen unsatisfactory and provides corresponding pictures for the most frequent unsatisfactory reasons. Each facility can and should perform quality assurance checks of the blood spot before shipping out specimens. The "Spot Check" should be performed by two trained personnel following these steps:

• Check the front and back of each card to make sure the blood has dried in an even manner. Use this resource as a tool to deem if the blood has been collected and dried properly.
• Send all acceptable specimens in to the state lab following the directions at the bottom of this resource.
• If you believe the specimen is unsatisfactory, please follow one of two actions:
  • If the patient is in your facility, recollect and send in another specimen.
  • If the patient is not in your facility, treat the specimen as irretrievable and send it in to the state lab.

Timeliness Goals

Kansas Newborn Screening has created a graphic to depict timeliness goals (PDF) within the Newborn Screening process. This timeline corresponds with the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children national standards for Timeliness.