Rainbow phlebotomy collection and urine aliquots for emergency department add-on testing in the era of pandemic-driven supply shortages.

Background: Rainbow blood draws for add-on testing in the emergency department (ED) are a common practice at our institution. We sought to determine the prevalence of this practice among reference laboratory clients and characterize the impact of pandemic-driven supply shortages.

Methods: This cross-sectional study surveyed 354 client laboratories to understand specimen collection practices in specific clinical environments and how these practices may have been affected by supply chain shortages. Data analysis by descriptive statistics was performed in Qualtrics.

Results: A total of 138 laboratories took the survey (39% response rate) with 57% indicating that their ED performed rainbow draws. Of these, 16% have a formal policy regarding rainbow draws, and 76% of respondents indicated that their institution was required to modify practices due to pandemic-driven supply shortages. A total of 19% indicated they routinely collect multiple urine aliquots for add-on testing.

Conclusion: Rainbow draws and collection of urine aliquots in the ED for add-on testing are relatively common practices, with few institutions maintaining formal policies regarding the practice. Pandemic-driven supply chain shortages affected a majority of respondent laboratories and local cost-benefit analysis regarding extra specimen collection is recommended to limit waste of laboratory resources.