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Drug Testing Turnaround Times

How long does it take to get your drug test result back? This really depends on several things but most of the time a negative result comes back in 1 to 2 business days. If you don’t receive your negative drug test results back in one to two days, you should talk to your drug testing vender and get answers. Maybe you need a new drug testing vender!

Typically, when your applicant or employees goes to the drug testing collection site and the urine is collected it is then shipped via lab courier or FedEx. Remember where your applicants or employees go for their drug testing is not the Lab doing the drug test. Applicants and employees go to a collection facility for specimen collection and the specimen is then transported to a Federal certified laboratory.

The specimen gets to the lab usually the next business day for the initial screening test. After screening all the negative results go to the Medical Review Officer (MRO). With a good MRO service, this is in real time and the MRO should be reporting these negative results back to you the same business day. Now this perfect process with quick turnaround time is about 90% of the time.

What happens the other 10% of the time when negative drug test results might be delayed? Why are some results delayed? Here are some reasons:

Weekend - most labs and MRO services are closed on weekends and shipping companies like FedEx are not shipping specimens on weekends

Holidays – same as above

Bad weather – this can affect the transport of the urine specimen and cause delays

Mechanical breakdowns – the FedEx truck or airplane transporting the specimens have mechanical failures

The specimen collector forgets to ship the specimen out on the same day as collected

The lab must conduct additional testing to provide a scientifically supportable negative result

The specimen tests non-negative at the lab and now must go on for confirmation testing which no produces a negative result.

The MRO receives a non-negative result and after review and verification reverses the result due to a valid medical explanation. This is where there is a verified medical prescription. You receive back a negative result by perhaps it was 5 – 7 days delayed. The test took a few days at the lab for confirmation testing, the MRO had the result for 3 days working with the donor and there as a weekend in-between.

What about positive drug results, what is the turnaround time?

Positive drug test results will always take longer, and we see about 5% or less drug tests are positive. The medical review officer (MRO) reviews all positive results. The applicant or employee must be called on the phone and this may take some time if the applicant or employee is not available at the time of the first call. When prescription medicine is involved the MRO must verify the Rx with the pharmacy. This process cannot be rushed and at times may take a few days.

Every effort is always made to get all drug test results reported as quickly as possible. There is no rushing as every step is important to the validation, science and defense needed to support the result.
For more info on the drug testing industry, drug and alcohol testing regulations and upcoming changes, and a whole lot more, visit the NDS Blog regularly: http://www.NationalDrugScreening.com

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