About the Specimen Tracking Field Guide

SpecimenTracking.com is a practical resource for leaders who need a reliable chain of custody, fewer pre-analytic errors, and faster recovery when something goes off route. We focus on real-world adoption of barcode and passive RFID, temperature controls, and integrations with LIS and EHR to strengthen safety, compliance, and turnaround across Pathology, Histology, and Cytology. Articles are written by working experts at ID Integration, Inc., with select guest contributors.

Our Editorial Standards

Useful first: Every article answers an operational question and closes with the next steps you can take.

Standards-driven: We reference common data and interface patterns across LIS, EHR, and integration engines, maintaining vendor neutrality.

Plain language: Brief, structured, and jargon-light for lab operations, perioperative services, supply chain, and IT.

Privacy by design: We describe models that keep PHI in the LIS and use non-PHI keys for tracking.

Evidence-oriented: Where possible, we cite benchmarks, pilot patterns, or de-identified outcomes.

Meet the Authors

Troy Waller, VP Healthcare

Portrait of Troy Waller, healthcare lead focused on specimen tracking, pre-analytic error reduction, and passive RFID workflows.

Educational Focus:
Specimen chain of custody, pre-analytic error reduction, courier and transport visibility, and buyer enablement for multi-site health systems.

What Troy writes:
Playbooks, executive explainers, and KPI-focused guides that help teams plan a pilot, scale to additional routes and sites, and measure impact.

Representative topics:

Where to start with specimen tracking across inpatient, ambulatory, and outreach
Read-zone design at unit exits, tube ports, and receiving thresholds
Building a recovery model that finds a missing specimen in minutes
Cross-enterprise track and trace between hospitals, distributors, and manufacturers

Gary Moe, CEO & President

Portrait of Gary Moe, systems integrator specializing in RFID specimen tracking, chain of custody, and LIS/EHR integration.

Educational Focus:
Passive RFID fundamentals for labs, fixed and handheld workflows, public sector healthcare programs, and secure deployments in regulated environments.

What Gary writes:
Adoption roadmaps, governance and security checklists, and real-world program narratives from pilot through long-term support.

Representative topics:

Passive RFID in labs: why it scales and where it fits with barcode
From pilot to program: training, support, and change control that lasts
Public sector lessons for VA and federal health: approvals, network readiness, and security by design
Integrated digital asset models in government labs that link equipment, consumables, and ELNs for traceability

Mark Brown, Director of Business Development

Portrait of Mark Brown, RF/RTLS specialist optimizing RFID accuracy for specimen tracking and courier routes.

Educational Focus:
RF engineering in live hospital spaces, passive RFID versus BLE and Wi-Fi RTLS, interference mitigation, tag choice, and read-zone validation.

What Mark writes:
Technical guides and checklists that de-risk deployments and prove signal quality before go-live.

Representative topics:

Overhead antennas, doorway thresholds, and corridor reads that hold up at volume
Liquids, metals, and cold storage: label placement that works
When BLE or Wi-Fi complements a passive RFID backbone

Gene Anderson, Director of Engineering

Portrait of Gene Anderson, engineering lead for barcode + RFID labeling, LIS interfaces, and specimen identification accuracy.

Educational Focus:
Barcoding for label accuracy and UDI parsing, error blocking, scan-to-system workflows, and when to layer RFID on barcode-led processes.

What Gene writes:
Engineering explainers and step-by-step diagrams that improve data quality at the point of capture and feed LIS and EHR cleanly.

Representative topics:

Labeling that prevents relabels and mixed specimens
Mobile computing that combines scanning, messaging, and checklists
Bridging barcode identifiers with RFID movement events to keep custody complete

How We Choose Topics

We prioritize repeated questions from lab leadership, perioperative teams, supply chain, and IT: preventing mislabels and swaps, proving custody from unit to receiving, confirming temperature requirements, shortening locate time, and integrating events with LIS and EHR without adding extra steps for staff.

Contribute or Collaborate

We welcome guest perspectives from hospitals, health systems, manufacturers, and partners. Proposed articles should be practical, vendor-neutral, and aligned with these standards.

To pitch an idea, contact info@id-integration.com or (425) 438-2533.

Attribution

SpecimenTracking.com is produced by ID Integration, Inc. (Mukilteo, WA), a systems integrator with more than 25 years of experience in automated data capture and integration for healthcare and regulated laboratories.