Blood Test Glossary: German Health Terms Explained

Diagnostics as a Service

Akkreditiertes LaborAn akkreditiertes Labor is an accredited laboratory, meaning an independent accreditation body has assessed it and confirmed its competence for a defined list of tests at a defined site.

BefundBefund is the German word for the finished laboratory report, meaning the measured values, the reference ranges and any comment from the laboratory, and it is the document your customer treats as the product.

BiomarkerA biomarker is one measurable substance or property in a sample, such as ferritin in blood or cortisol in saliva, which a laboratory reports as one number with a reference range beside it.

Capillary panelA capillary panel is a set of blood values chosen so that a laboratory can measure all of them from a small capillary sample, such as a sample collected on the upper arm.

Diagnostics-as-a-ServiceDiagnostics-as-a-Service means buying laboratory testing as a finished service from one supplier, instead of building the test menu, the logistics and the software yourself. One contract covers the parts a testing product needs.

Dried Blood SpotA Dried Blood Spot is capillary blood applied to a filter card and left to dry before the card is posted to a laboratory. Dry material is easier to send by ordinary post than a liquid tube.

DSGVODSGVO is the German name for the EU General Data Protection Regulation, which governs how personal data is handled in Europe. For a diagnostics buyer it matters because health data belongs to a special category and the supplier relationship is written into a processor agreement.

EDTA tubeAn EDTA tube is a blood collection tube that contains EDTA, a substance that stops the blood from clotting. Laboratories use it for values measured in whole blood, such as HbA1c.

FHIRFHIR, short for Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources, is a standard for exchanging health data between systems. It defines named structures for things such as a test order, a specimen and a measured value.

FulfillmentFulfillment is the physical work around a test, which covers packing the kit, sending it to the customer, getting the sample to the laboratory and handling what goes wrong. It is the part of a diagnostics service that software cannot repair later.

HaemolysisHaemolysis means that red blood cells in a sample have burst and released their contents into the liquid around them. It can make some values unreliable, so the laboratory may not report them.

Home-SamplingHome-Sampling means the customer collects the sample at home and posts it to the laboratory, without an appointment or a draw location. It is the collection model behind most direct-to-consumer testing in Europe.

ISO 13485ISO 13485 is the quality management system standard for medical device manufacturing, so it is the standard a test kit manufacturer works to rather than a standard for a laboratory.

ISO 15189ISO 15189 is the international standard for quality and competence in medical laboratories, and accreditation to it is issued for a defined scope of named tests at named sites rather than for a company as a whole.

ISO 27001ISO 27001 is the international standard for an information security management system, and it is the certificate a security review asks a software supplier for.

KapillarblutKapillarblut (capillary blood) is blood taken from the small vessels under the skin, usually at the fingertip or the upper arm, in a small volume. It allows a customer to collect a sample without a trained phlebotomist.

LIMSA LIMS, or Laboratory Information Management System, is the software a laboratory uses to register samples, track them through analysis and release results. It decides what a diagnostics supplier can tell you about a sample and how soon.

Method comparison studyA method comparison study measures the same values in samples taken in two ways, for example from the upper arm and from a vein, and checks how closely the results agree.

PanelA panel is a fixed group of biomarkers sold together under one name and one price, which is the unit your customer actually buys and the unit a laboratory quotes on.

Partner-PortalA Partner-Portal is the web console a diagnostics supplier gives your team, for placing orders, following samples and reading results without writing code. It is the route for operations and clinical staff who are not developers.

Plug and PlayPlug and play describes a supplier setup where the working parts already exist, so your team configures and brands them instead of building them. In diagnostics it means the kits, the laboratory route and the software are ready before you sign.

PräanalytikPräanalytik, the pre-analytical phase, is everything that happens to a sample before analysis, covering fasting state, tube type, filling volume, temperature and the time to the laboratory.

ProbeProbe is the German word for the sample itself, which is the blood, saliva, urine or stool material that a laboratory analyses. It is the only physical object in a diagnostics order, so its condition decides whether a result exists at all.

REST APIA REST API is the interface a supplier publishes so your software can order tests, read statuses and retrieve results in code. It is the route most product and engineering teams choose for an integration.

RiliBÄKRiliBÄK is the Bundesärztekammer guideline on quality assurance in medical laboratory testing, which German laboratories work under, and it covers internal quality controls and regular proficiency testing.

Serum tubeA serum tube is a blood collection tube in which the blood is allowed to clot, so the clear liquid above the clot, called serum, can be measured. Many hormone, vitamin and blood fat values are measured from serum.

SpeichelprobeSpeichelprobe (saliva sample) is saliva that a customer collects into a small tube, most often for hormone measurements. It needs no needle, but the time of collection is part of the result.

TAP Micro SelectTAP Micro Select is a collection device applied to the upper arm that uses very small needles to collect capillary blood into an integrated container. It lets a customer collect a blood sample without a fingertip stick.

Tasso+Tasso+ is a small device that a customer presses onto the upper arm to collect capillary blood into an attached tube. It replaces the fingertip stick in at-home blood collection.

TestkitA Testkit is the box a customer receives for a test, containing the collection device, the tubes or card, the instructions, an identifier and a return envelope. It is the physical product your customer holds in their hands.

Time-to-ResultTime-to-Result is the time between a defined starting point and the moment a customer can read the report, and it is comparable between suppliers only when both ends are defined the same way.

Upper-arm blood collectionUpper-arm blood collection means taking a small blood sample from the skin of the upper arm with a single-use device, instead of pricking a fingertip. The customer can do it at home without trained staff.

VenenblutVenenblut (venous blood) is blood drawn from a vein in the arm by trained staff into collection tubes. It gives the largest volume and the widest choice of parameters, but it needs an appointment at a draw location.

WebhookA webhook is a message a supplier's system sends to a web address you provide, as soon as something changes. In diagnostics it is how your product is told that a sample was received or that a result is ready.

White-LabelingWhite-labeling means the supplier delivers the kit, the software and the report under your brand, so your customer sees your name throughout. The laboratory work behind it stays with the supplier.

White-Label-KitA White-Label-Kit is a test kit produced under your brand, with your logo, colours and text on the box and on the instructions. The laboratory work behind it belongs to the supplier.

Blood test basics

DifferentialblutbildThe Differentialblutbild is the part of a blood test that splits your white blood cells into their five types: Neutrophile, Lymphozyten, Monozyten, Eosinophile and Basophile. The pattern between them helps a doctor tell a bacterial infection from a viral one or an allergy.

Großes BlutbildA großes Blutbild is a blood test that counts and describes your blood cells: red blood cells, platelets and all five types of white blood cells. It contains around 18 values, and nothing else.

Kleines BlutbildA kleines Blutbild is the basic blood count. It contains eight values: red blood cells, haemoglobin, haematocrit, the red cell measures MCV, MCH and MCHC, platelets, and white blood cells as one total number.

NüchternblutabnahmeA Nüchternblutabnahme is a blood draw done on an empty stomach, usually after 8 to 12 hours without food, though water is fine. It matters for values like blood sugar and blood fats rather than for the blood count itself.

ReferenzbereichThe Referenzbereich is the range printed next to each blood value on your lab report, and it shows where the values of most healthy people fall. It belongs to the laboratory that ran the test, so it is an orientation rather than a verdict.

Costs and insurance

Check-up 35The Check-up 35 is the preventive health exam paid by the gesetzliche Krankenkasse: once between 18 and 34, then every three years from age 35. It includes a talk, a physical exam, and a blood test for cholesterol and blood sugar.

IGeL-LeistungAn IGeL-Leistung is a medical service you pay for yourself because the gesetzliche Krankenkasse does not cover it. The name is short for individuelle Gesundheitsleistung, and a großes Blutbild without a medical reason is a typical example.

Female health

PCOSPCOS, the polyzystische Ovarialsyndrom, is one of the most common hormonal conditions in women of childbearing age, affecting roughly 1 in 10. Typical signs are irregular periods, raised male hormones and many small follicles on ultrasound.

WechseljahreThe Wechseljahre are the years in which a woman's body slowly ends its fertile phase. Hormone levels change step by step, usually between the mid 40s and mid 50s, and the last period comes on average around age 51.

Male health

TestosteronmangelTestosteronmangel means the body makes too little testosterone. In men it counts as a real deficiency only when clear symptoms and repeatedly low values in morning blood samples come together, rather than when a single value looks low.

Glossary of German blood test and health terms

See the values behind the words