Substance Abuse Testing

While we were happy to take part in the observance of National Patient Safety Awareness Week, the truth is, we pursue patient safety every single day at PreCheck. Although there are opposing views on the topic of healthcare worker drug testing, I think this is the perfect time to address this issue due to recent events.

The second part of Employer Considerations for Drug Testing (Link to Part One here) has to do with the methods you would use to enforce your drug testing policy. A quick online search shows a wide array of options from the type of specimen to collect to who will collect and how the testing is to be conducted. This blog entry is to provide you with a quick guide to help you make informed decisions about each step of the process. (Please note that the methods discussed here mostly pertain to non-regulated (NDOT) drug testing.)

A typical drug test involves the three steps below.

2013 was a very special year for PreCheck. We celebrated our 20th anniversary exclusively serving the healthcare industry and our Blog also had its first birthday last summer. As we look forward to another great year of new milestones, here’s a look back at ten of our most popular blog articles from last year.

At PreCheck, we’ve noticed that a large number of our healthcare clients have initiatives in place for creating a smoke-free workplace environment. After all, isn’t it reasonable for patients to expect to be treated at a hospital that is free of secondhand smoke? Secondhand smoke is considered a serious health hazard by the American Lung Association and is estimated to cause about 50,000 deaths each year. According to a 2001 study by researchers Halpern et al.

This past weekend, I travelled to Phoenix, Arizona with my colleague Vu Do, PreCheck’s Vice President of Compliance, to participate in the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS) tenth anniversary annual conference.  The conference not only covered the evolution of the association but also the background screening profession as well. The following are just a few of my selections from the conference I thought might be of particular interest to employers and our readers.

We began this month by discussing the topic of physician impairment and the call for drug screening standards in healthcare. A comprehensive employee drug screening program is a great tool to mitigate risk and reduce overall costs for your organization. Whether you are reviewing your organization's drug screening policy or starting from scratch, here are five recent articles covering advice for employers, industry reports and survey findings concerning drug testing in the workplace. 

In our featured article last month we addressed the issue of the importance of performing routine criminal background checks for physicians as a condition of licensure and appointment. We discussed how these checks could play a vital role in ensuring patient and workplace safety, and contribute to improved healthcare outcomes.

Just in case you missed it, the November 2012 elections legalized recreational use of marijuana in the states of Colorado and Washington. If you enjoy reading legislative documents, you can find marijuana laws in your state here. Many employers now ask how these new laws will affect their drug-free work policies; and it will be very interesting to watch this unfold as employers try to balance federal and state requirements.

Drug screening has become a vital tool to promote a safe working environment and mitigate risk connected to drug-related issues. Countless studies from both the private sector and SAMHSA (DHHS - Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)   have shown that implementing a drug screening program reduces the over-all costs associated with substance abuse including health care costs, absenteeism and lost productivity.