Employee Health Drug Screens

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My health system is in the process of opening Employee Health in house again. One of the POC tests that they want is a drug screen. I am trying to research what regulations apply to pre-employment drug screens. The director wants to use a key cup drug screen, but when I look those up, they are all moderately complex. I would like to keep this a CLIA waived lab if possible.

Does anyone currently oversee an employee health setting? What do you do for drug screens?

4 Replies

Kathleen David

Tue Oct 14, 2025 at 12:06PM

Urine drug screens used for pre-employment are considered forensic and are not covered by CLIA. There are waived UDS that can be used for this purpose. I would look up the regulations for forensice testing, as these are not used for medical drug screening.

Steven Wilson

Tue Oct 14, 2025 at 1:01PM

Drug testing employees at a hospital presents a unique set of challenges related to legal compliance, patient safety, and ethical considerations. Hospitals must balance the need to ensure a sober workforce for patient care with respect for employee privacy and legal rights. Key difficulties include navigating complex state and federal laws, managing the risk of false test results, and handling prescription drug use among staff.

Peggy Mann

Tue Oct 14, 2025 at 1:57PM

Hi Melissa, I can’t contribute related to employee health use but recently implemented a waived drug screen test for a Substance UserDisorder clinic. This is first use of a UDS test in our POC Program.
Feel free to reach out to me if you want info on that waived test and parameters we put in place in the clinical environment where collection and performance occurs.
pmann@utmb.edu
Peggy

MELISSA INCORVIA

Fri Oct 31, 2025 at 9:20AM

So, the cups that I want to use (key cups) are listed as moderate testing when you are looking at 10-12 analytes. The 5 analyte cups are waived. The office wants to use the 10 panel. I am not sure why something would not fall under CLIA for employee health screening? I asked CLIA directly, but it seems like if we are using a moderately complex cup, that we would need to apply for a moderately complex certificate (which I am trying to avoid!)

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Employee Health Drug Screens