Phlebotomy Requirements in Georgia

No individual state credential, but a documented-training rule applies. Georgia licenses clinical laboratories rather than phlebotomists: under Rule 111-8-10-.06(7) a laboratory may employ specimen collectors qualified by training and/or experience approved by the laboratory director, with that documentation kept in personnel files. National certification (ASCP, AMT, NHA, NCCT, or ABB) is not required to draw blood, but is required by rule before a phlebotomist may perform point-of-care testing.

Georgia issues no phlebotomy licence or state certificate to individuals. It does, however, regulate the laboratories that employ phlebotomists, and those rules say specific things about who may collect specimens — which makes Georgia different from a state with no rules at all. Under the Rules and Regulations for Licensure of Clinical Laboratories, Chapter 111-8-10, adopted by the Department of Community Health under O.C.G.A. Title 31 Chapter 22, Rule 111-8-10-.06(7) provides that a laboratory 'may employ specimen collectors, qualified by training and/or experience approved by the laboratory director, to perform, under general supervision, collection procedures requiring understanding and skills in the procurement of specimens for clinical laboratory analysis', and requires that 'Documentation of qualifying training and/or experience must be available in the laboratory's personnel files.' The definitions rule, 111-8-10-.03, defines a 'Specimen Collector and/or Phlebotomist' as 'any person who has been trained in procedures requiring understanding and skills in the procurement of specimens for clinical laboratory analysis in Clinical Chemistry, Hematology, Immunohematology, Microbiology, and Immunology/Serology and who works under the general supervision of the laboratory director, supervisor or technologist.' So the state standard is training approved and documented by the laboratory director, not a state credential — the director, not a licensing board, is the gatekeeper. National certification becomes mandatory in one specific situation. Rule 111-8-10-.06(7) continues: 'Phlebotomists certified by the American Society for Clinical Pathologists (ASCP), the American Medical Technologists (AMT), the National Healthcareer Association (NHA), the National Center for Competency Testing (NCCT), the American Association of Bioanalysts (ABB), or another professional credentialing organization that has been approved by the Department, may perform Point of Care Testing in accordance with these rules.' An uncertified specimen collector in Georgia may draw specimens but may not perform point-of-care testing; a nationally certified one may. Separate and stricter personnel rules apply in blood donor and plasmapheresis centres: under the donor-centre provisions of the same chapter, phlebotomists in the blood collection area 'must be persons who have a minimum of one month training in a plasmapheresis or blood donor center and who meet no lesser qualifications in phlebotomy and/or reinfusion than that of Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), Clinical Laboratory Technician, or equivalent level of training and/or experience', with staffing ratios of one phlebotomist per one to six donors on automated equipment or one per one to four for manual processing, and a minimum of two phlebotomists on the floor whenever donors are processed. Typical Georgia employer requirements outside those settings are a high school diploma or GED; a phlebotomy training programme of roughly 4-12 weeks combining classroom hours with a clinical externship; documented live venipunctures and capillary sticks; a national certification at hire or within a grace period; BLS/CPR; immunisation records; and a background check and drug screen. Georgia's technical colleges commonly deliver phlebotomy technician certificate programmes built around one of the national exams.

No state renewal, since there is no state credential. What must be kept current is the national certification: NHA CPT every 2 years with 10 continuing-education credits; ASCP PBT via the Credential Maintenance Program, 9 points every 3 years; AMT RPT via the Certification Continuation Program, 24 points every 3 years plus the AMT annual fee; NCCT NCPT annually with NCCT continuing education. Independently of certification renewal, Georgia's laboratory rules require the employing laboratory to keep current documentation of each specimen collector's qualifying training or experience in its personnel files, and to verify competency before allowing anyone to perform point-of-care testing — so lapsed certification can cost a Georgia phlebotomist point-of-care duties even though it costs no state licence.

No state licence fee for individuals, because Georgia issues no phlebotomy credential. The fee schedule in Rule 111-8-10-.05 applies to clinical laboratory facility licensure, not to phlebotomists. Individual costs are the training programme and the national certification exam: ASCP PBT application fee $155 and NCCT NCPT exam fee $119 as of the accessed dates; NHA and AMT publish CPT and RPT exam fees through their application systems rather than a fixed public fee page, so no figure is asserted here.