Automatic tracking of a specimen holder moved from one specimen rack to another

A method, comprising:

• providing first and second specimen racks that each include a plurality of rack slots that receive specimen holders, each rack slot having a rack slot identifier, each specimen holder including an RFID tag with an RFID unique identifier and a barcode unique identifier that are stored in a database in association with one another, the database including the RFID unique identifier and barcode unique identifier of each specimen holder in the first specimen rack in association with a rack slot identifier;
• removing a specimen holder from a particular rack slot of the first specimen rack, the first specimen rack being situated on a specimen reader, the specimen holder thus removed being designated as the newly removed specimen holder;
• optically scanning, by the specimen reader, the plurality of rack slots of the first specimen rack to determine the particular rack slot at which the newly removed specimen holder was located, thus indicating a removal change event;
• and
• updating the database to remove an association of the rack slot identifier from which the newly removed specimen holder was removed with the RFID unique identifier and barcode unique identifier of the newly removed specimen holder.