The Medical Review Officer, often referred to as MRO, serves as the common point of contact between all participants in a drug test (i.e., the donor, the collector, the test facility (lab), and the employer). MRO’s at National Drug Screening provide MRO services consistent with the requirements outlined by the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). These services include:
- Review all specimens reported as positive, adulterated, substituted, invalid, or rejected for testing, and report the verified result to the employer or Federal agency;
- Ensure that specimens reported as negative or as negative and dilute are properly reviewed (i.e., at least 5% personally and the remainder by staff under the MRO’s direct, personal supervision) and reported to the employer or Federal agency;
- Review the results of all employer Federal agency blind samples and perform the initial investigation into discrepant results;
- Discuss potential invalid results with the laboratory to determine whether further testing at another HHS-certified laboratory is warranted;
- Conduct or facilitate a medical evaluation of the donor when a collector reports that the donor was unable to provide a urine specimen;
- Perform an initial investigation of problems identified in the drug testing process and notify the employer and appropriate regulatory authority of findings;
- Monitor the frequency of errors and notify responsible parties to take corrective action to prevent recurrence; and
- Maintain records and confidentiality of drug test information.
Why is it important to have a Medical Review Officer (MRO)?
Two important reasons:
- To comply with regulations – DOT, Federal and State laws
- To reduce exposure to liability in your drug testing program
Call 866-843-4545 for MRO drug testing services from National Drug Screening.
What You Can Expect From Our Medical Review Officers
With MRO services from National Drug Screening, you get a team of four full time Medical Review Officers and a team of twelve full time Medical Review Officer Assistants. You will have access to the same system in which the MRO reviews and verifies the results. MRO coverage is available 8am to 8pm – 12 hours a day. Does your MRO service have these features which save you time and money?
- 4 Full Time MRO’s, Coverage 8am – 8pm EST
- Over 60 Years MRO Experience
- 12 MRO assistants
- Software integrations with Quest, Labcorp, Medtox, Alere, CRL
- State of the Art Technology Web Based Reporting System:
- Your web based reporting system branded with your company logo
- All results and reports branded with your company logo
- Electronic Scheduling of non-DOT tests with electronic CCF
- Extensive network of electronically capable collection sites (over 3500)
- Real time status updates of all testing available to you and your customers
- Qualified third party translator service for interviews with non-English speaking donors
- Fast turnaround – our clients say we are the fastest in the industry
- Automated e-mail notifications of difficulty in contacting donors
- Scanned CCF attached to all result records
- Automated reporting via fax, e-mail and web results
Licensed Physicians
Licensed physicians performing medical review officer (MRO) services for National Drug Screening are trained and certified by the American Association of Medical Review Officers (AAMRO) and The Medical Review Officer Certification Council (MROCC).
Dr. David Nahin is the chief Medical Review Officer for National Drug Screening. As the chief MRO, Dr. Nahin oversees the medical review officer team. Dr. Nahin has been practicing medicine for over three decades, and possesses over 18 years of Medical Review Officer experience.
In addition to being board certified in emergency medicine, Dr. Nahin is certified by the American Association of Medical Review Officers (AAMRO) and the Medical Review Officer Certification Council (MROCC).
In November 2010, Dr. Nahin was appointed to the Medical Review Officer Certification Council Examination Development Committee, with responsibilities to write the MROCC certification exam questions. The Committee, appointed by the Board of Directors, is made up of recognized leaders in the workplace drug and alcohol testing industry and are selected from the fields of substance abuse, occupational medicine, toxicology and the legal profession.
Review And Verification Of Drug Test Results
The MRO review and verification in the drug testing program prevents an employee from being labeled as a drug user with a positive drug test result in situations where the employee is taking legally prescribed medication. All employees with a positive drug test will be called by the MRO and asked about any medical explanation for a positive drug test result. This eliminates false positive drug test results.
There is, however, a public safety issue associated with information that a donor may provide to an MRO during the review of a test result. That is, the donor may be taking a legal prescription medication as treatment for a medical condition and the medication may have possible side effects that may impair the mental and/or physical abilities required for the performance of potentially hazardous tasks (e.g., driving a car or truck, operating machinery). In this situation the MRO will provide a notation to the employer on the drug test result indicating a safety issue.
All employers have a responsibility to inform employees of the requirement to notify the employer to when the employee is taking medication that could have an impact on safety aspects of the work performed by the donor. Additionally, some occupations have restrictions that prohibit an individual from taking specific medications which may, otherwise, be allowable for other occupations. If there is any doubt, the employer should require the employee to have written authorization from the prescribing physician as to whether or not the employee can safely perform their job duties.
National Drug Screening’s MRO Manager
Myranda Roys services as the MRO Manager for National Drug Screening’s MRO service. Myranda Roys has over 6 years of experience in the drug testing industry. She manages the MRO department’s day-to-day operations including document management, drug test scheduling and MRO services. She oversees additional functions including blind specimen program management, DOT audit support to customers and vendor management communication protocol.
Additionally, Myranda facilitates complete account management assisting in setup guidance and customer policy review and execution. She is certified as a Medical Review Officer Assistant by the Medical Review Officer Certification Council (MROCC) and is a Certified Designated Employee Representative Trainer (C-DERT) through the Drug & Alcohol Testing Industry Association (DATIA).
Why Choose National Drug Screening For MRO Service
With MRO services from National Drug Screening, you get a team of four full time Medical Review Officers and a team of twelve full time Medical Review Officer Assistants. You will have access to the same system in which the MRO reviews and verifies the results. MRO coverage is available 8am to 8pm – 12 hours a day. Our company continues to be an industry leader in drug and alcohol testing and services.
Great service, technology and a team of Medical Review Officers available to you as needed. For more information about MRO service for drug testing, call National Drug Screening today at 866-843-4545.