Time-to-Result is the elapsed time between a defined start and the moment the report is available to your customer. The figure is only useful when both ends are named, because a supplier can count from sample receipt at the laboratory while your customer counts from the day the kit was posted.
Every supplier in this market publishes a single headline promise, but none of them publishes a distribution, which means the median and the worst case are both unknown to you as a buyer. That matters because your support team handles the slowest cases and not the median, so a customer who waits twice the promised time writes to you and never to the laboratory.
The honest version of this conversation is a definition, a median, a worst case and a failure rate, so ask for all four and accept a range where the supplier gives you one.
- Ask which two moments the published figure is measured between.
- Ask what the median is and what the ninetieth percentile is.
- Ask what share of samples need a repeat and how that repeat is counted.
- Ask what your customer is told while a sample is being repeated.
In this glossary, Präanalytik explains the handling rules that decide whether a sample survives, Befund covers the report your customer waits for, and Fulfillment covers the logistics either side of the laboratory.
This glossary entry is general information, not medical advice, and it is not intended to diagnose, treat or rule out any condition. Discuss your own results with a clinician who knows your history.
