Understanding Ask on Order Entry (AOE) Questions

Ask on Order Entry (AOE) questions are additional information requirements that labs may need when processing certain biomarkers. These questions are set by the laboratory (not Junction) and are required to complete the order successfully.

What are AOE Questions?

AOE questions collect clinical or demographic information needed by the lab to properly process and interpret test results. Common examples include:

• Ethnicity and Race - Used for population data and reference ranges

• Pregnancy Status - Required for certain hormone tests

• Specimen Source - Collection method (e.g., "Clean catch urine" or "Venous")

• Test Purpose - Whether this is an initial, repeat, or follow-up test

Who Should Answer AOE Questions

AOE questions are clinical in nature and are intended to be answered by the clinician placing the order - not by engineering teams, support staff, or end users.

In other words:

• If you’re an engineering or implementation partner, your responsibility is to surface and transmit these questions and responses correctly through the API.

• The ordering provider or clinical team is responsible for knowing and supplying the appropriate answers.

If your customer is unsure how to answer, they should defer to their medical director or ordering provider.

How to Identify Which Markers Require AOE

To check if a biomarker has AOE questions, use the Get Biomarkers endpoint. Look for the aoe object in the response:

{
  "aoe": {
    "questions": [
      {
        "id": 3000000001410,
        "required": true,
        "code": "75400658|SOURCE",
        "value": "SOURCE:",
        "type": "text",
        "sequence": 1,
        "answers": []
      }
    ]
  }
}

If the aoe object contains required questions, you'll need to provide answers when creating orders.

Handling AOE Questions

Question Types

For detailed implementation guidance, see the AOE documentation.

Using Default Values

If you don't collect specific demographic information, you can provide default responses:

• For ethnicity/race questions: Use "Unknown" or "Not Provided" options

• For pregnancy questions: Default to "No" if not applicable

• For text fields: Provide appropriate defaults (e.g., "Urine" for urine tests)

Important Considerations

Environment Differences

AOE questions are the same in both sandbox and production environments for specific markers, but IDs may differ between environments. Test your AOE implementation before going live.

Lab-Specific Codes

AOE question codes (like C039 for ethnicity) are consistent within the same lab but may differ between labs. For example, Bioreference uses different codes than Quest.

Troubleshooting AOE Errors

If you receive an error like "Missing required questions. IDs - ['C042']", it means:

1. The biomarker requires AOE questions to be answered

2. You need to fetch the questions using the API

3. Provide the required answers in your order payload