As another tool in reducing the
costs of drug abuse in the workplace, AMC offers employers
the advantages of hair testing. |
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Greater Ability
to Detect Drug Users – Hair Testing’s greater
sensitivity detects common drugs of abuse used
in the last 60 – 90 days. |
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Less Invasive – Using a
small sample of hair, specimen collection is fast
and easy without the embarrassment some associate
with urine collection. |
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Collection Convenience –
Because of the ease of specimen collection, many
employers choose to perform the collection at
the worksite. |
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Patented Technology – AMC’s
contracted laboratories hold patents on state-of-the-art
hair testing technology. |
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A Typical Case Study |
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Hair and Urine specimens were collected
from 4,500 individuals leading to the following results: |
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11.2% of hair
samples tested positive (504) |
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6.5% of urine samples tested
positive (293) |
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14.4% of individuals tested
positive (648)
(Hair or Urine samples or Both) |
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A New Testing Tool |
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Employers now have another tool
in detecting drug use by potential employees. Unlike
urine testing, hair testing can detect drug use in the
last 60 – 90 days. While using accepted test methods,
hair testing gets its biggest advantage from the fact
that the hair strand becomes a permanent record of drug
use whereas urine is quickly excreted from the body.
In side by side comparisons, hair testing frequently
identifies more drug uses than does urine testing.
The testing methods used in hair testing are well documented
in the scientific literature and accepted by the legal
system. These methods include radioimmunoassay (RIA),
enzyme immunoassay (EIA), and Gas Chromatography/Mass
Spectrometry (GC/MS). Additionally, our contracted laboratory
utilizes the newest generation, most sensitive tandem
mass spectrometer (MS/MS) for result confirmation. |
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How it Works |
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After clipping a small amount of
hair and placing it a unique tamper proof specimen package,
the sample is sent via overnight courier to our contracted
laboratory for analysis. Specimens can be collected
by the employer or one of 12,500 clinics in AMC’s collection
site network. Once reaching the laboratory, test results
are usually available in 1 to 3 business days. Reports
are only released when all testing is complete including
confirmation of all positive screen results by state-of-the-art
MS/MS or GC/MS technology. |
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Appropriate Uses |
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While appropriate for any business
in any industry, hair testing is most often used for
pre-employment screening. Employers who understand the
risks and costs of employee drug use have found hair
testing to be their most effective tool in the employee
selection process. While drugs are detectable for long
periods of time in the hair sample, it takes several
days for the hair to grow out long enough to be included
in the sample. Therefore, hair samples are not appropriate
for post-accident or probable cause testing which are
concerned only with recent drug use. In these circumstances,
urine testing is more appropriate. |
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AMC Advantage |
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When compared with any other providers
offering hair testing, AMC offers many advantages including: |
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Lower Cost –
AMC’s large volume assures lower pricing. |
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Faster Turnaround – Confirmed
results in 1 to 3 days. |
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Increased Sensitivity – Our
contracted laboratory utilizes patented technology
to help identify more drug users. |
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Fully Accredited – Our contracted
laboratory is fully accredited by the College
of American Pathologists (CAP) and Substance Abuse
& Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA),
formerly NIDA, for forensic urine testing. |
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