Ontario form
Ontario laboratory requisition
The Ontario Ministry of Health laboratory requisition is how you order insured (and, when marked, uninsured) lab work in the community. It is not a consult letter. It tells the collection centre who the patient is, who is ordering, what to draw, and why. A requisition without an indication, a billing number, or a test that matches the diagnosis box is how tubes get rejected or billed to the patient.
What the requisition is for
Community labs in Ontario run on this form (or the electronic equivalent your EMR sends). OHIP covers medically necessary tests ordered by an authorized practitioner. Screening panels copied from a wellness website, medico-legal fishing, and employment drug screens do not become insured because you used the yellow requisition.
Use the current Ministry requisition or your EMR’s current mapping to it. Do not order on a photocopy so faded the lab cannot read the OHIP number. If you need a test that is not on the standard form, follow the lab’s add-on process rather than handwriting a mystery abbreviation in the margin.
Indication is part of the order
The clinical information box is not optional colour. Labs and OHIP use it. “Fatigue” for a 40-test panel is how you get a call. “Monitor lithium, last level 6 weeks ago” is an order.
Who may order
- Physicians and nurse practitioners with a valid Ontario billing number, within scope.
- Other practitioners only for tests they are authorized to order. Midwives, dentists, and others have limited panels — stay inside them.
- Do not let a staff member stamp your number on a requisition you did not review.
- If you are covering, order in your own name for the patient you are responsible for that day.
How to complete the requisition
- Patient: legal name, DOB, sex as the lab needs it for reference ranges, address, OHIP number and version code. A wrong version code is a rejected claim.
- Ordering practitioner: name, billing number, address, copies to the MRP if you are not them.
- Tests: tick what you need. “CBC, ferritin, TSH” is better than “bloodwork.”
- Diagnostic / clinical information: the reason this test is medically necessary now.
- Fasting, timed, or peak/trough when the test requires it. A random lithium drawn as a “CBC add-on” is wasted.
- Uninsured / third-party: mark it when the test is not OHIP-insured (immigration, insurance, some genetics). Tell the patient they may be billed.
- WSIB or other payer: use the payer the injury actually belongs to. Do not put a work-injury lead level on OHIP out of habit.
- Priority: “stat” in the community still means someone has to collect it. If they need a hospital draw, send them there.
Do not order last year’s annual panel on every adult because the EMR macro exists. Match the test to the question. If you are monitoring a drug, write the drug and the last date.
Worked example (fictional)
Community follow-up — family practice
Fictional 61-year-old. Do not copy as a standing order.
Patient identifiers completed; OHIP version verified today. Clinical: type 2 diabetes, on metformin and empagliflozin; last A1C 4 months ago; new nocturia. Also on ramipril — check electrolytes. Tests: A1C, electrolytes, creatinine/eGFR, urine ACR. Not fasting required for this set. Not ordered: whole-body “wellness” panel, vitamin panel without indication. Copy to: MRP (same). This is an OHIP-insured medically necessary order, not WSIB or third-party.
Why labs reject the draw or the claim
- Missing OHIP version code, DOB, or ordering-physician number.
- No clinical indication, or an indication that does not match the tests.
- Uninsured tests left marked as OHIP.
- Illegible ticks, duplicate tests, or “as per protocol” with no protocol.
- Wrong patient sticker — the error you will not forgive yourself for.
Build the requisition from the visit, then check identifiers
In Scribeberry, open Forms, search for the Ontario laboratory requisition, or upload the official Ministry PDF. Generate from the encounter and your notes, then review every field before it is printed or sent. The clinician still signs the order. Scribeberry does not submit requisitions to the lab or to the Ministry of Health.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use this requisition for WSIB injury labs?
Work-injury investigations belong on the workers’ compensation payer, not as a default OHIP community draw. Follow WSIB and the lab’s third-party process. Do not hide a work injury on an OHIP requisition.
Who can sign the requisition?
The ordering practitioner authorized to order that test in Ontario, with their billing number. Staff may prepare the form. They may not borrow your number for an order you did not make.
What if the test is not on the standard form?
Use the lab’s process for write-in or referred-out tests, and tell the patient if it may be uninsured. Do not invent an abbreviation the bench will not recognise.
Does Scribeberry send the requisition to LifeLabs or the Ministry?
No. Scribeberry helps you complete the form from clinical context. You (or your EMR) send it to the collection centre. You keep a copy in the chart.
Forms
