[Verified Answer]: A physician ordered a plasma metanephrine…

A physician ordered a plasma metanephrine level on a 47-year-old woman with hypertension who was responding poorly to medication. The woman took the afternoon off work to drive to the hospital to get her blood collected. Traffic was terrible because it was the Friday afternoon of a holiday weekend, and the woman had difficulty finding a place to park at the hospital. The outpatient drawing station was closing at 4:30 PM for the holiday weekend, and the woman just made it into the door at 4:20 PM. The person at the drawing station registered her quickly and drew the blood immediately. The blood was processed properly and taken promptly to the laboratory. The plasma metanephrine level was slightly above the reference interval.