{"id":50899,"date":"2014-10-10T14:40:13","date_gmt":"2014-10-10T14:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nationaldrugscreening.com\/?p=50899"},"modified":"2023-09-06T10:36:02","modified_gmt":"2023-09-06T15:36:02","slug":"why-use-an-mro-for-nondot-drug-testing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nationaldrugscreening.com\/blogs\/why-use-an-mro-for-nondot-drug-testing\/","title":{"rendered":"Why use an MRO for Non-DOT Drug Testing?"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

The Indispensible, Irreplaceable, Invaluable Role of Medical Review Officers…<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

By Bill Current<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

President of the Current Consulting Group…<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The science of drug testing, as well as the practical day-to-day practice of screening job applicants and employees for substance abuse, has come a long way in the last 30 years.\u00a0 Today there are myriad drug testing methods to choose from including urine<\/a><\/strong>, oral fluid<\/a><\/strong> and hair testing<\/a><\/strong>, point-of-collection devices that yield near-instant results<\/a><\/strong>, and electronic chain-of-custody processes, all of which combine to give employers a multitude of options toward achieving their drug-free workplace<\/a><\/strong> objectives.\u00a0 But in the end it always comes down to one thing: an accurate result. And when it comes to ensuring an accurate result, nothing can replace the hands-on, personal involvement of a trained and licensed medical review officer (MRO) whose job it is to ensure that at least positive drug test results are, in fact, accurate.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Back in the early 1990s there was a popular mantra among drug testing providers: “do it right or don’t do it all.”\u00a0 And the U.S. military is often credited as the origin of the saying regarding drug test results: “If in doubt, throw it out.” For many years the gold standard of drug testing involved sending a urine specimen to a laboratory for analysis. If the initial screen was non-negative it would be confirmed at the lab with a second testing method, usually gas-chromatography\/mass spectrometry (GC-MS). If it was confirmed positive it would be reviewed by an MRO who would contact the donor to eliminate any legitimate explanations for the positive results before it was reported to the employer.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Some employers are tempted today to skip the confirmation test and rely solely on the result of instant test device or to bypass the verification of the result by an MRO to save money. Both supposed shortcuts are not only ill-conceived, but they may be illegal in some states, and in the end cost employers even more money.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

3 Reasons to Use an MRO<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The use of qualified MROs<\/a><\/strong> achieves three important objectives:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

1. They create a layer of protection from liability between the employer and the drug test result.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

2. They help employers comply with legal requirements imposed by many state drug testing laws and federal drug testing regulations.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

3. They help avoid accusing someone of failing a drug test when there was a legitimate medical explanation such as the use of a prescribed drug.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Protecting the integrity of a drug-testing program should be every employer’s goal. MROs<\/strong><\/a> help achieve this objective. As they interview an individual whose sample is confirmed positive they can discover something that results in a reversal of the laboratory result\u2014reporting a confirmed positive test as a negative.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

One major drug testing provider confidentially shared that MROs reversed 17% of confirmed positives from traditional 5-panel tests and 21% from expanded panels that included illicit and prescription drugs. Further, this company discovered that more than 70% of donors who test positive for prescription drugs can produce a valid prescription.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

MROs<\/strong><\/a> also review custody and control forms to ensure proper protocols were followed. Review of the CCF enables the MRO to ensure that the specimen test result received by the employer is in fact for the specimen that the employee provided.”<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

State Laws<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Perhaps because of this reversal rate some state drug testing laws actually require the use of MROs.\u00a0 When reviewing state drug testing laws consider these key issues:\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n