Massachusetts General Hospital
Center for Regenerative Medicine
Harvard Stem Cell Institute
Flow Cytometry Core Facility
Scheduling and Billing Policies
Usage Rates
Training or FACSAria Sorting
| CRM/Cancer Center/HSCI | $50.00/hr |
| Other MGH/BWH with Peoplesoft Dept. ID# | $60.00/hr |
| All Others | $120.00/hr |
LSRII Self-Run Analysis
| CRM/Cancer Center/HSCI/Other Affiliates | $25.00/hr |
| Other MGH/BWH with Peoplesoft Dept. ID# | $25.00/hr |
| All Others | $120.00/hr |
FACSCalibur Self-Run Analysis
| CRM | $15.00/hr |
| Other MGH/BWH with Peoplesoft Dept. ID# | $20.00/hr |
| All Others | $120.00/hr |
Canceling Appointments
FACSAria Cancellation Policy
If you cancel...
- Outside of 7 days: No charge
- Less than 7 days, more than 48 hours, and no one takes any of the time: Full charge
- Less than 48 hours and no one takes any of the time: Full charge
- Less than 48 hours and someone takes the time: Half charge for the time that was taken
- But if you find someone to take the time: No charge to you
Failing to show up for an appointment is billed in full as a "No Show." We encourage you to let us know as soon as possible if you cannot use your appointment.
If you must cancel within 48 hours of your appointment time, you will not be able to do it yourself on the online scheduler. Please come by the lab and speak with us, e-mail us at crm.flow.cytometry@gmail.com, or call us at 617-643-0790 and leave a voicemail message.
Occasionally we will send out emails letting users know that last-minute sort time is available. If you would like to be excluded from these mailings, please let us know.
LSRII Cancellation Policy
Failing to show up for a booked appointment is billed in full as a "No Show." We encourage you to cancel your appointments as soon as possible if you cannot use the time.
You must cancel LSRII bookings more than 24 hours prior to your appointment. If you find someone to take your time, whomever takes the appointment will be charged; otherwise you are billed for the entire appointment. If you must cancel within 24 hours of your appointment time, you will not be able to do it yourself on the online scheduler. Please come by the lab and speak with us, e-mail us at crm.flow.cytometry@gmail.com, or call us at 617-643-0790 and leave a voicemail message.
FACSCalibur Cancellation Policy
There is no advance cancellation policy in place for the FACSCaliburs at this time. However, failing to show up for a booked appointment is billed in full as a "No Show." We encourage you to log into the scheduler and cancel your appointment if you are unable to use it.
Scheduling Time
How much time do I need to book?
The goal of the facility is to provide time to as many users as possible. Users are encouraged to make reasonable time estimates when scheduling, and to contact us with any questions regarding their appointment time.
The first 10-15 minutes of your sort or analysis appointment will be spent configuring gates and adjusting your settings. Additionally, the last 10 minutes of every appointment on every machine are spent decontaminating the machine. Please keep this in mind when determining how much time your experiment will take.
All billing is in half hour increments, and is rounded up to the nearest half hour (10 minutes is billed as 0.5 hour; 40 minutes is billed as 1.0 hour). The minimum time slot for FACSAria sorting or analysis is 1.0 hour, and for self-run analysis 0.5 hours. You are charged for the time reserved or the time used, whichever is greater.
Invoicing
Users are billed on a monthly basis. All users must provide contact information for their department's financial coordinator/grants manager. At the end of each month, an invoice will be e-mailed to this contact person and to the user. After invoices have been sent, each lab and institution must provide us with payment in a timely manner as indicated in the invoice. Failure to do so may result in denial of further services at our core facility.
Initially all invoices are sent and billed according to the information written in the profile on the online scheduler. To change any of this information, please let us know directly at crm.flow.cytometry@gmail.com so we may update our records.
Online Scheduler Accounts
Prior to booking an appointment, you must create an account on our online scheduler (available at http://harvardstemcellinstitute.org/CRM_Flow/Scheduler). If this is your first time at the website, click on "First Time User? Click Here" to generate your account. Please accurately and completely fill out all required information.
All users must have contact information (at the very least name, e-mail, and phone number) for their financial coordinator or grants manager. If you are at Massachusetts General Hospital or Brigham and Women's Hospital, you will need to know your six-digit department ID and four-digit GL business unit to make an account. Before creating your account, please check and ensure you know what numbers these should be.
After you make your account, log in and choose "Go to the Online Scheduler." Choose the instrument you need from the dropdown menu. Click on the timeslot you want. Times that are white are available. Times that are light blue are booked by other users. Times that are red are unavailable.
Please keep your contact information up to date. If there is a problem prior to your appointment or during your sort we will use the information stored in the scheduler to contact you. Please be sure to leave an e-mail address and phone number with which we can reach you. We highly recommend you put your cell phone number in the scheduler. Please note - only core staff will have access to your phone number and email address.
To change your profile:
- Log into the online scheduler.
- Click "Update Profile/Billing Information."
- Confirm all information is correct.
Scheduling time on the FACSAria and FACSAriaII
Go to the online scheduler and choose FACSAria from the dropdown menu.
Scheduling begins 14 days in advance, starting at 9:00 AM. You may schedule time from 2-14 days in advance. Appointments may be modified or canceled within this time. To schedule a new appointment or change an appointment less than two days in advance, you must contact the facility.
When you make your appointment, please give us an idea of what your experiment is so we can prepare the machine accordingly. Select the fluorochromes you will use from the list, and choose the appropriate information from the drop down boxes. Write any other information in the "Summary" box.
If your samples clog any machine, you are charged for all time necessary to remove the clog.
FACSAria and FACSAriaII Cancellation Policy
Scheduling analyzer training time
We offer training classes on a regular basis. These training classes are two hour overviews of either the FACSCalibur or LSRII. After this session you must run either with an already trained member of your lab, or, if no one is available, arrange appointments with us to run your samples. When you are comfortable and competent running samples without any assistance you will have an account on the appropriate self-run machine.
Experienced users must set up a review session with us to go over the rules and operating procedures, preferably at the same time they are running samples.
Please check the announcements on the main page, or contact us for more information at crm.flow.cytometry@gmail.com if you are interested in becoming a self-run analyzer user.
Scheduling independent analysis on the LSRII or FACSCalibur
You may schedule self-run appointments for the FACSCaliburs and LSRII up to eight weeks in advance.
To schedule independent LSR II use, go to the online scheduler and choose LSRII from the dropdown menu. Self-run time must be booked more than 24 hours in advance on the online scheduler. Only trained self-run users are given access to the LSRII Self-Run schedule.
To schedule independent FACSCalibur use, go to the online scheduler and choose FACSCalibur from the dropdown menu. Self-run time must be booked in advance on the online scheduler. From 9:00AM to 5:00PM you are limited to two hours on the FACSCalibur. Only trained self-run users are given access to the FACSCalibur schedule.
If your samples clog any machine, you are charged for all time necessary to remove the clog.
LSRII and FACSCalibur Cancellation Policy
Scheduling offline analysis
Independent FlowJo or ModFit analysis does not need to be booked in advance, and is on a first-come first-served basis. However, if possible, please let us know ahead of time if you need to use our software so we can ensure that a computer or dongle is available. For software training or assisted analysis you please contact us directly for more information.
Self-run autoMacs sorting does not need to be booked in advance. Please let us know ahead of time if you need to use our autoMacs so we can ensure the machine is available.
Independent FlowJo analysis and independent autoMacs cell sorting are not charged at this time.