More laboratory management system upgrades are coming soon.
Continued upgrades in 2026 will make lab ordering and reporting more consistent and efficient.
We continue to introduce upgrades that make your reference lab experience smoother, clearer, and more consistent. Each enhancement is designed to save time, reduce friction, and give you greater confidence in your workflow. Benefits include:
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Better consistency across all result report formats.
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Clearer category-based report layout and readability.
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Minor process changes to improve your interactions with the lab.
Improvements and changes to your lab ordering.
- Standardized inputs ensure consistent ordering, including critical specimen information.
- Standardized inputs increase clarity and consistency.
Updates to your emailed lab results and reporting.
- Clearer category-based report layouts improve readability.
- Standardized inputs reduce potential confusion and ensure consistent reporting.
- Updates today are building the foundation for future reporting enhancements.
Coming soon: Improvements and changes to your microbiology and parasitology ordering and reports.
Also see prior improvements and changes to your pathology testing.
Improvements and changes to your lab ordering.
- We continue to improve your ordering process including how you enter test order details. The ordering experience now includes new, revised, and consolidated specimen detail forms within VetConnect PLUS ordering. As an example, you will be able to order export examinations directly via VetConnect PLUS and important data such as a microchip number identifier will be included.
- Paper order forms will not change with the new ordering process.
Examples of situations where customer-provided ordering information has changed:
- New and edited specimen detail ordering forms are changing. Microbiology orders now include updated specimen detail forms with new required sample source and site fields, improvements that help ensure the most accurate results.
- Specific customer-provided information entered during ordering will now be displayed on the report. (See example 1)
- For example, for pathology reporting, information for source, site, and Clinical History will be included as it is submitted. (See example 2)
Note: Customer-entered free-text will not be translated. This may result in potential language mismatches on the results reporting if free-text is entered in a different language than the report is expected to be in.
Updates to your emailed lab results and reporting.
- New consistent category-based reporting. For example, all hematology tests will be presented under the “Hematology” service category.
- Changes in the lab ordering process will allow us to improve the presentation of your results and reporting as well.
- New organization and inclusion of standardized inputs from the order form.
Note: These changes will take effect for microbiology/parasitology/rabies/genetics PDFs later this year; customers who receive results via fax will also see changes.
Examples of these improvements and changes: (See example 3)
- PDF results reports will change from “sample-based” to “category-based” reporting (a familiar change for VetConnect PLUS customers).
- Changes in the order results are presented on the report.
- Cancelled tests and add-on tests are now displayed under “IDEXX Services” in PDF results reports.
- Quality / Accreditation improvements in alignment with the ISO standards, including:
- Validation approvals per service category.
- Methodology reported per category or assay level (single methodology remains the same).
- Updated reference details in the report header and footer sections for easy reference to report timestamps.
- Improved clarity, for example, the inclusion of Electrophoresis curve and results in the appropriate category. (See example 4)
Coming soon… Improvements and changes to your microbiology and parasitology ordering and reports.
- Improved display of microbiology results reporting to simplify the layout and enhance clarity. These changes allow us to deliver more consistent reporting through standardization.
- Richer and improved visualizations for clarity and increased readability in PDF emailed reports and through VetConnect PLUS.
- Clear, easy-to-read parasitology reports with consistent language and sequencing to deliver your results.
Examples of these improvements and changes:
- Expanded semi-quantitative result ranges for parasitology tests, including fecal flotation, Baermann, and sedimentation.
- Microbiology service offering standardization includes the new microbiology specimen detail ordering form.
- Microbiology result improvements include a new, easy-to-read report layout with clinically grouped organisms and a clearer antibiogram. Designed to better support clinical decision-making so you can spot what matters faster and act with confidence. (See example 5)
- Reporting on up to three organisms for cultures.
- Improved organization of data for isolates and antibiograms.
- Combined reporting for orders previously split like UCYTU (Microbiological and Cytological Examination as part of Urine profile) and DEPC (Fecal Dx as part of Preventive Care profile).
Improvements and changes to your pathology testing.
Standardised comments for specimen discrepancies
You will receive standardised comments in real time instead of phone calls. If additional input is needed before processing, there will be comments issued and separate comments provided as heads-up if we are able to move forward without stopping the process.
These comments will be called out at the top of the report with “NOTE FROM IDEXX” to highlight updates on processing specimens or actions required to complete processing.
Examples of situations that trigger notification informing that there was a discrepancy, but the specimen will continue to be processed regardless:
- We received a jar at the lab, but a cytology test code is indicated on the requisition form.
- We received a jar at the lab, but there is no test code indicated on the requisition form.
- A test code that is no longer offered is ordered.
- Two main histology test codes are submitted on the requisition form.
Examples of situations that trigger notification informing that there was a discrepancy that requires a response:
- The name on the jar and the name on the requisition form do not match.
- An incomplete requisition form is received at the lab.
- A non-IDEXX requisition form is received at the lab.
- There is no patient information on the requisition form.
- There is no species indicated on the requisition form.
- Information is needed due to a lack of formalin reagent label on the jar.
Preferred pathologist enhancement
As a part of these upgrades, we will be launching a new feature that allows us to store the names of your preferred pathologists in our database. Once a preferred list has been created and entered, the practice’s cytology and histology cases are automatically assigned to a preferred pathologist when available, giving you a more personalised experience.
Our teams are collecting preferences received over the last few months to be added to our database. If you would like to request a preferred pathologist for automatic assignment to your submissions, please call Customer Support as we will no longer be supporting handwritten requests as of November 2025.
Requesting priority testing
We will no longer be able to support priority stickers nor handwritten submissions with “ASAP” on the requisition forms. To request priority testing, please call Customer Support.