Special Handling Instructions

Inpatient Collection:  Deliver to the Laboratory.  If unable to deliver to the Laboratory within 1 hour of collection, centrifuge and separate plasma to be analyzed as plasma K.  Specimens (unspun) greater than 4 hours will be rejected due to analyte stability.

Outpatient Collection: Due to the limited stability of whole blood potassium, outpatient collection is limited and must have prior approval based on diagnosis (abnormal platelet diagnosis).