In the last five to ten years there has been an emerging trend for organizations to employ FDA-approved instant drug screening products as opposed to the traditional lab-based urinalysis. Instant technologies are, by their nature, faster (instant!), harder to "cheat", and can be just as accurate as traditional drug screening, while remaining far less expensive.

Aforementioned benefits aside, cost savings remains the single largest motivator for organizations which choose to employ instant drug screening as opposed to traditional lab-based urinalysis. As an example, if you send 100 job applicants with Chain of Custody Forms to a lab for a 5/7/9 Panel Drug Screen, the average fee is $35.00 each, totaling $3,500.00. Consequently if you are able to employ an Instant Oral Drug Screen at $15.00 each for those same 100 applicants, you will realize a savings of $2,000.00!

Granted for any applicant whose instant drug screen shows a positive or non-negative result, depending on individual state hiring laws, you may need to send off the instant drug screen appliance for lab-based confirmation. But even if one in ten oral screens comes back non-negative, there is no question your company is saving money.

In addition, there is an immediate red flag raised if you attempt to administer an instant drug screen and the donor refuses to take the test...

As far as time-to-result is concerned, results from a lab-based urinalysis typically range from 3 and 5 days. Conversely, an instant oral or instant urinalysis result is available within three minutes.

You have probably heard stories about the devious methods in which applicants attempt and do cheat traditional urinalysis. Everything from having a friend provide a clean sample, which they sneak into the bathroom to diluting their own sample to collecting the sample 'late' in the flow (the metabolites in urine which cause a positive result are 'passed' in the first few seconds). Some even purchase "guaranteed clean" powdered urine.

Yes, if you are using an instant urinalysis drug screening product, most of the cheats above may work on occasion, with the exception being dilution. Most instant urinalysis drug screening appliances have a gravity indicator that will show an abnormal reading if the sample has been diluted with water or any other liquid.

If you are able to use an instant oral drug screening product then none of the cheats above apply, as the donor must uncap the appliance and swabs their cheeks and gums in front of the administrator. Gum, mouthwash and mints do not impact the accuracy of the test.

Other things that you need to consider when deciding if instant drug screening is right for your organization include:

• Is instant drug screening prohibited by your states' hiring laws? A full listing is available at http://www.dol.gov/asp/programs/drugs/said/StateLawList.asp. Check the list to review your state's policy in regard to drug screening.
• Just like traditional urinalysis, false positives can occur if the sample donor is taking certain prescribed medications. It is always recommended that the test administrator ask the donor what if any prescription drugs they are taking. The supplier of the instant drug screening appliance should provide you with an easy-to-use online search so that you can check to confirm if any of the donor’s prescriptions may cause a false positive. For example, Vicodin can result in a false positive for Opiates.

Faster, harder to cheat, just as accurate and cheaper than traditional lab-based drug screening – instant drug screening may be an excellent alternative for your organization.