Our system is set up the same as Nancy's - if there is more than one tube for an accession, then each tube is automatically allocated an alpha suffix so that each tube can be managed individually. eg EDTA tube is usually ---A, heparin is ---B, etc. Extra tube records can be added easily if, eg, they send extra tubes, & system will give it the next letter available. The only issue we have is that if we do an unplanned aliquot then the label reprint will have the same alpha as the parent/primary tube. Maybe it's a request for the Cerner applications & configuration people?