On October 1, 2010, the Department of Health & Human Services’ (HHS) new Mandatory Guidelines, and corresponding Department of Transportation (DOT) 49 CFR Part 40 Rules will take affect. With this change, MDMA (Ecstasy) and 6-Acetylmorphine (Heroin-specific metabolite) will become required screens in regulated panels. Additionally, the screening and confirmation cutoffs for cocaine and amphetamines will be lowered.

As a direct result of these requirements, the cost of testing, equipment and other critical components necessary to process and perform this testing are increasing. While our ability to leverage economies-of-scale in purchasing will help mitigate the impact of some of these increased costs, pricing for panels which incorporate these changes will increase slightly.

When the HHS Mandatory Guidelines take affect, we will implement the following panel changes:

• HHS/DOT covered panels - test panels will automatically transfer to the new HHS/DOT panel on October 1, 2010 and pricing increases will take affect on November 1, 2010.

• Non-Federally mandated, 5-panel drug testing - test panels will NOT change unless you request it. If you wish to incorporate these changes into your current panels, please contact the National Customer Support Center at (800) 877-7484.

A few weeks, Quest Diagnostics had a booth at an annual Human Resources industry conference. A pair of women came by the booth and one of them told us about how they had recently switched from another laboratory and that her service has thus far been flawless. That same woman then asked her friend if her company used Quest Diagnostics. When her friend didn’t know, the first woman said, “Your not sure!? You’d better get sure. These guys made our problems disappear!”

We thought that this 30 second interlude was worth sharing. As it was one of many interactions that we had over the course of the three day conference that 1) reinforced the value that we provide 2) affirmed our customer service, turnaround time and overall quality 3) showed how easy it is to recommend a service or a company to a friend.

In our annual customer survey from 2009, a whopping 84% of respondents indicated that they are likely or extremely likely to recommend Quest Diagnostics drug testing services. And in this example we saw first hand how easy it can be!

The following information was published by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

OVERVIEW
The Department of Transportation (the Department or DOT) is amending certain provisions of its drug testing procedures dealing with laboratory testing of urine specimens. Some of the changes will also affect the training of and procedures used by Medical Review Officers. The changes are intended to create consistency with many, but not all, of the new requirements established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

DATES
This rule is effective October 1, 2010.

SUMMARY
The U.S. Department of Transportation Publishes a Final Rule – Effective October 1, 2010

The following is a summary of the Final Rule:

1 ) The Department is required by the Omnibus Transportation Employees Testing Act (Omnibus Act) to follow the HHS requirements for the testing procedures/protocols and drugs for which we test.

2) Primary laboratory requirements in this final rule include:

- Testing for MDMA (aka. Ecstasy)
- Lowering cutoff levels for cocaine and amphetamines
- Conducting mandatory initial testing for heroin

3 ) The Department brought several testing definitions in-line with those of HHS.

4 ) Each Medical Review Officer (MRO) will need to be re-qualified – including passing an examination given by an MRO training organization – every five years. The Final Rule eliminated the requirement for each MRO to take 12 hours of continuing education every three years.

5 ) An MRO will not need to be trained by an HHS-approved MRO training organization as long as the MRO meets DOT’s qualification and requalification training requirements.

6 ) MRO recordkeeping requirements did not change from the five years for non-negatives and one year for negatives.

7 ) The Final Rule does not allow the use of HHS-Certified Instrumented Initial Testing Facilities (IITFs) to conduct initial drug testing because the Omnibus Act requires laboratories to be able to perform both initial and confirmation testing but IITFs cannot conduct confirmation testing.

8 ) The Final Rule is effective October 1, 2010.

You can review the final rule by clicking here.

Quest Diagnostics is committed to providing your company with a complete array of drug testing options. We often receive questions from customers regarding alternative testing, specifically hair testing services. If you are not already aware, or are considering an alternative testing methodology, you might be interested to know that hair testing for drugs of abuse is available from and performed by Quest Diagnostics.

There are a number of advantages that hair testing offers over alternative testing methods:

• This is the only testing method that provides up to a 90-day detection window of drug use, making it an ideal option for pre-employment and random testing.

• Our hair testing system is FDA-cleared, and it is an accurate lab-based test.

• Specimen collection is observed, which significantly reduces the possibility of adulteration or substitution.

• Fast turnaround times are available. Negative results are reported within 24 hours of specimen reception and positive results are confirmed within 48-72 hours.

Compared with urine specimen testing, hair testing provides nearly twice the number of positive results due largely to a much longer detection window. This testing method finds its niche in a testing setting where long-term use and dependency are in question. Hair testing will not, however, detect new or infrequent use as it does take time for testable levels of the drug to enter the hair specimen.

Hair testing can be used to detect the following classes of drugs: amphetamines (including Ecstasy), cocaine and metabolites, marijuana, opiates and phencyclidine (PCP).

One of our primary goals as your workplace drug testing laboratory is to provide fast, convenient collection and testing options that fit into your donors’ schedule. With that in mind, we are happy to announce that with our online collection scheduling system, collection visits can now be booked more quickly and easily than ever. Donors can locate the nearest Quest Diagnostics Patient Service Center (PSC), set up appointments and print location maps with ease, all from the convenience of their computer. With these reduced wait times donor satisfaction is sure to increase.

1.         Click the “Collection Site Locator” icon on the right side of our home page.
2.         Enter your address and select the distance criteria using the drop-down box.
3.         Select the reason for testing and then the type of specimen being collected.
4.         Click the “Search” button.
5.         The locator will display a list of PSCs based on your selection criteria.
6.         Select a PSC that meets your requirements and that has a “Make Appt” link in the right-hand column.                         (Please note that not all PSCs offer appointment scheduling.)
7.         Follow the instructions to make an appointment for the time that best meets your needs.

Our online scheduling tool is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

If your donors do not have access to the Internet they can call 1-888-277-8772 to set up their appointments.

Patient Service Center (PSC) Checklist
Each donor must bring the following items when he or she visits a PSC:

•           A photo ID
•           The custody-and-control form he or she received when the drug screen was set up

As always, walk-ins are also welcome, on a first come, first served basis.

If you have additional questions please contact your sales representative or the National Customer Support Center at 800-877-7484.

Online specimen collection scheduling — just another way that Quest Diagnostics Employer Solutions is making drug testing more convenient.

We have more than 25 pieces of online literature available for your review. Click this link and search from our library of PDFs.

• Get started by reviewing our cornerstone piece – A Complete Line of Drug Testing Solutions.

• Learn more about the newest trends in drug testing by reading up on eReq or Instant Testing with Electronic Reporting.

• Have a question? Review our Contact Information document.

If you’re searching for drug testing information, you’re certain to find something here.

Try this litmus test, type “beat a drug test” into Google™ and see how many results come back. The number should be greater than a million.

We recently came across an interesting story and video from a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania news station. The report deals with products designed to help drug users mask their drug use in an attempt to beat a drug test. The story touches on products like “The Whizzinator” and other devices and products used in an attempt to subvert the drug testing process, and is worth a few minutes of your time to review.

As long as there are employee drug testing programs, there will be some drug using applicants and employees who will try and beat the test. At Quest Diagnostics we recommend three solutions that employers should consider to help ensure that their donors’ results are accurate and unadulterated.

1) Specimen Validity Testing. Every specimen that we test is subjected to basic validity testing ensure that the specimen has not been diluted, tampered or otherwise adulterated. We also sell a more stringent validity test called TestSure™. If you are concerned about specimen tampering or adulteration, call us at 800-877-7474 to see if TestSure™ might be right for you.

2) Collection Protocol. One way that users may try to beat a drug test is to substitute ‘clean’ urine in place of their own. Having a proper collection protocol in place including looking for suspicious behavior; displaying pocket contents, leaving coats, purses etc outside the restroom; ensuring that access to water is restricted; and correctly verifying the sample temperature at time of collection can help to detect potential cheaters.

3) Varied Test Types. One of the advantages of doing business with Quest Diagnostics is our broad panel of testing options. In addition to our standard, lab-based urine test, we also offer instant urine testing, lab-based oral-fluid testing and hair testing. Since all oral-fluid and hair tests are observed, a donor’s ability to adulterate or substitute their specimen can be greatly reduced. Furthermore, combining tests, like a urine (or oral-fluid) test with a hair test gives both a recent and a historical picture of a donor’s drug use, and renders the adulteration of one specimen type ineffective at cheating the overall program’s one-two punch.

So while drug test adulteration is a legitimate industry concern, Quest Diagnostics has a number of solutions in place to help you stay one step ahead of those who would look to undermine your testing program.