The Problem
A large amount of medical providers who offer drug testing either do not have a laboratory on site, or have only one lab. Those without a lab on site generally use third parties to test for drugs. Those with only one lab tend to encounter delays due to scheduling, but also face another bigger problem. There are several different types of tests, and using one lab can become troublesome. This becomes especially true in dealing with urine toxicology, since so many different things are tested for.
If a medical provider with only one lab ends up with more requests for tests than they can schedule, back-ups occur. This can complicate matters in the personal lives of those who sign up to be tested. Furthermore, medical providers who use third-party labs encounter what can be called the 9 to 5 problem. The majority of urine testing facilities operate during normal business hours, which can cause further delay.
Consider the following, taken from an article on LinkedIn: “Like most businesses, the drug testing business is usually a 9-5 affair, Monday-Friday as most drug tests are either pre-employment or random drug tests… …since it is not during normal business hours, the specimen can be delayed in getting to the lab by at least one business day, maybe more if it’s a weekend or a holiday.”
United Clinical Laboratory can prevent these issues for any level of medical provider.
The Answer
At UCL New Jersey we boast a 10,000-square-foot laboratory that’s full of top-notch equipment and staff. Advanced liquid handling, using state-of-the-art robotics, place us in the forefront of our industry. UCL is capable of analyzing nearly 5,000 tests per hour. Compare this to just about any other clinical lab company, let alone any standalone medical provider!
The United Clinical Laboratory staff consists of highly trained and experienced medical professionals who are able to utilize our high-end technology to its greatest effect. We utilize LC-MS, liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry. Without getting too deep into the science, LC-MS is the absolute best method for urine screening available, and we have mastered it.
Consider this, taken from an article on LC-MS published in the March 2009 issue of Drug Testing and Analysis: “The successful interface of liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry has brought a new light into bioanalytical and forensic sciences as it allows the detection of drugs and metabolites at concentrations that are difficult to analyse using the more commonly adopted GC-MS [gas chromatography with mass spectrometry] based techniques.”
This is merely one example of many that show how UCL is the industry leader when it comes to urine toxicology. We are able to test for an extremely wide range of substances, and we work with unmatched accuracy and timeliness. Medical providers who use our services find themselves at ease when it comes to their drug testing needs. Simply browse our feedback to learn more about why UCL is the answer.*
Urine Toxicology Services
United Clinical Laboratory offers urine tests for marijuana, alcohol, opiate prescription pills, benzodiazepines, stimulants, barbiturates, muscle relaxers, all illicit drugs, and even specialty drugs. Perhaps most importantly, UCL offers rigid specimen validity, ensuring both that the urine indeed came from the person being tested and that it has not been tampered with. More on this later.
Even if you are reading this and are not in the medical field, surely you can imagine some of the problems a medical provider with either one lab or zero labs could face when dealing with this many types of urine toxicology. Between scheduling, avoiding error, and ensuring specimen validity, it could get messy. This is why UCL exists.
Not only does UCL provide you with first-class urine toxicology testing, we guide and improve the clinical aspects of your patients’ analysis outcomes. Working with us ensures accurate results fast, while taking the burden off your back. We offer the aforementioned array of services with care that can only come from years of clinical experience. No other third party urine toxicology lab in Florida can compete.
Now let’s talk a little more about specimen validity.
(The Importance of) Specimen Validity)
In January of this year, a group of Taiwanese scientists performed a study titled ‘Urine specimen validity test for drug abuse testing in workplace and court settings’ in the Journal of Food and Drug Analysis. It was the first of its kind to study the urine specimen validity test. A total of 21,696 urine samples submitted either in the workplace or to a court over the course of five years in southern Taiwan were studied. All of the samples had already been tested as negative using GC-MS (see above).
Testing for urine that was diluted, substituted, or invalid, the study found that 1.09% of workplace specimens were tampered with, and that 3.81% of court setting specimens were tampered with. These numbers may seem low, but some quick math should paint a bigger picture…
1.09% of 21,696 is about 236, and 3.81% is about 827, which means that well over 1,000 of about every 22,000 urine samples (in southern Taiwan) are tampered with. That is almost five percent! Because this study was the first of its kind, nothing similar exists for samples from the US. However, given the current drug epidemic we are in, instinct says that our numbers are higher.
Consider now that approximately 75,000 urine specimens are tested every single day in “workplace drug testing laboratories certified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,” according to the study. Being modest and assuming that 10% of American samples are tampered with translates into 7,500 a day, which is over two and a half million annually.
This is the importance of specimen validity, and this is why UCL takes it so seriously. If you are a medical provider seeking the absolute best urine toxicology company, United Clinical Laboratory is the answer. If you want to add to the problem of millions of urine samples being tampered with yet passed as negative, seek service elsewhere. We promise you’re better off with us.