Lab Settings
Lab Settings is the practice catalog of lab panels and orderable tests. Setup is Edit Practice → Lab Settings. Staff use that catalog on the patient chart under Orders → Lab Orders to create and send orders (to lab, to PCP, or as an internal task). Results come back under chart Labs (and often Dashboard Results)—not inside Notes Templates. Clinical Notes can pull lab results into a note for documentation and can be attached when faxing an order.
Edit Practice
Lab Settings
Manage lab panels, orders, and assignments.
Choose a panel to view its orders.
Location: Main Office branch one
Available Panels (0)
No panels available. Create a panel to get started.
What Lab Settings Is For
Configure Available Panels (groups such as Metabolic), Lab Orders/Templates (individual tests), and relationships that link tests into panels. This is what appears when someone creates a Lab Order on a patient. It is not Clinic Services Types (labs)—those schedule lab-style appointments. It is not Clinical Notes templates.
How to Set Up Panels and Orders
Open Edit Practice → Lab Settings → create Lab Panels → create Lab Orders (titles) → assign orders into panels (single or bulk; quick-add under a panel speeds setup). Edit or unlink carefully if tests are already used on patients. Without panel–order links, the create-order picker looks empty.
Where Staff Use It on the Chart
Orders → Lab Orders: create and manage orders (main place to place a full lab order). Labs: Lab Results viewer—upload, view/sign, download results (documents filed as Labs). Dashboard Results: practice inbox for inbound results; can start Order or Referral actions. Do not use the Labs results tab as the only place to build a complex new order.
Usage: Create a Lab Order
Open patient → Orders → Lab Orders → Create → select panels/tests from Lab Settings → add diagnosis/procedure/comments as the form allows → Choose Send Option → save/send. Track the order on the Lab Orders list (view/download PDF, delete when allowed).
Usage: Send Options (To LAB, To PCP, Create Task)
To LAB: send the order package toward the performing lab (task + fax when configured). To PCP: notify/send to referring or primary care with assignee as your form requires. Create Task: internal staff follow-up without treating it as the fax-to-lab path. Fax packages can include the order PDF, attachments, and clinical notes as supplements. Preview the package before send when the screen offers it. Failures often mean missing fax number, encrypted PDF, size limits, or permissions.
Usage: When Results Come Back
Results are filed to the patient as Lab results (upload Upload Lab Document, IntelliMed/fax/dashboard filing, or related result inbox). Staff open chart → Labs to review, sign, and download. Dashboard Results may show the same inbound work for the day. After results are on the chart, Clinical Notes templates that include Labs/Imaging sections can pull them into the visit note—still documentation, not a new order.
End-to-End Lab Cases
(1) Setup panels/tests → order from chart → To LAB → result returns → sign on Labs → mention in Clinical Note. (2) Order To PCP for outside coordination + optional task. (3) Create Task only for internal “draw later” follow-up. (4) Dashboard Results → Order when staff start from an inbound result. (5) Referral/fax from Results attaches result PDF and often the latest clinical note. (6) Self-pay vs insurance visit does not replace Lab Settings—ordering still uses this catalog when clinical orders are needed.
Notes vs Lab Settings (Staff Cheat Sheet)
Notes Templates / Clinical Notes = document the visit (can display lab results in the note). Lab Settings / Orders → Lab Orders = order the test and send the package. Labs tab = read/sign results. Faxing an order can attach a note; writing a note never replaces Create Lab Order.
Relation to Clinic Services Types
If you schedule lab appointments, configure Clinic Services Types with category labs. Lab Settings remains the source of orderable panels/tests on the chart. You often need both: a visit on the calendar and an orderable catalog for Orders.
Permissions and Common Issues
Setup needs lab settings management permissions (or Super Admin). Ordering needs patient Lab/Orders permissions. Empty picker: no relationships. Result missing: wrong patient, filed under Documents, or still only on Dashboard. Send/fax fail: PCP/lab fax, attachments, permissions. Looking for SOAP note setup: Notes Templates / provider note templates—not Lab Settings.