Greetings:

 

We are a medical center/hospital with over 4500 employees.  We presently do pre-employment drug screening for all employees with a Rapid 5 Panel Urine Drug Test that is then sent out if anything comes back positive.  We are wondering what other organizations use for pre-employment urine drug testing?  Specifically does anyone use 10 panel screens, healthcare worker specific screens, and do you do different screens for healthcare employees (nursing, providers) versus other types of employees (ie housekeeping, nutrition services, etc.).

 

Any input would be appreciated.

 

Jordana McDonald FNP-c

Salem Health Employee Health/Occupational Medicine

Salem Health Medical Group

Colleagues,

When I was an area medical director with the US Postal Service, we stopped referring to the results of on-site urine tests as "positive" or "negative". We found quite a few job applicants who insisted that their test could not possibly be "positive." We started using the term NFA, for "Needs Further Analysis." We explained that the big red + indicator on the test meant only that it could not be definitively interpreted using the on-site rapid screen alone, and that it required "further analysis" by a laboratory and review by an MRO.

It cut down pretty significantly on the hostile reactions from applicants with on-site rapid panels when the result was a big red +.

Hope this helps,

Joe Fanucchi

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Joe Fanucchi MD FACOEM
President and Medical Director
MediTrax / OHS, Inc.
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