Categories: Blog

How Quickly Can You Get Results From a Drug Test?

When you need your results from a drug test, every minute you wait can seem like a lifetime. Fortunately, by choosing Trinity Medical Laboratories in Marlton, NJ, you can get your urine test results for drugs in 24 hours.

How Quickly Can You Get Results From a Drug Test?

Accuracy and Efficiency

Results from drug test that are needed to determine if drugs are present must be accurate, especially if they’re necessary to determine a person’s employment or parole status. However, they also need to be quick so that the decisions that hinge on the results can be made in a timely fashion. With our laboratory process, we can have the results of urine tests for drugs completed in 24 hours, one of the fastest turnaround times in the industry.

Our results aren’t only fast, though; they are accurate as well. Our precise logistics process ensures that all samples follow the same exact pathway to testing to deliver quality results with superior service. It’s a system that has made us the preferred laboratory partner of numerous medical facilities, employers, and private practitioners. Our efficient, high-quality service proves that you don’t have to sacrifice accuracy in favor of quick results. You can have the best of both worlds.

A Two-Step Testing Process Provides Accuracy and Fast Results

We’ve refined our system to produce accurate and timely results in a two-step process that provides a built-in accuracy check to minimize the risk of false positives. We begin with enzyme immunoassays or EIAs to screen for substances with a positive reaction. This process is able to quickly identify a variety of drugs in the body. Then, we take any positive EIA results and proceed to the second phase of our testing process, which is liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry or LCMS.

LCMS provides an accuracy check for the EIA results, but it also can tell us how much of a substance is in the body, which isn’t a function of the EIAs. We have found that LCMS is useful for patient compliance monitoring when they are only allowed a specific amount of a prescribed medication. Based on your needs, we can also use only the LCMS drug test if you already know a specific drug will be present.

EMR Integration Improves Turnaround Time

One of the ways our results can be provided almost 50% faster than other laboratories is because we integrate with electronic medical records (EMR) systems to update you immediately when results have been returned. We know that critical decisions are dependent on these results, so we strive to have them in your hands as soon as we have them in ours. Integrating with EMRs makes this possible, as well as reduces the possibility of data entry errors.

Essentially, our integrative process allows you to have our laboratory at your fingertips. We update your patient’s information as soon as it’s available, so you don’t have to wait for a courier, email delivery, or snail mail delivery to receive the results. You simply click on the patient’s record within 24 hours of our laboratory receiving the sample, and the results will be immediately available to you. This immediacy allows you to make those vital decisions more quickly.

Transparency and Proficiency Are Valuable

Our transparent laboratory operations ensure you know exactly how our process works to provide the most accurate results for drug testing available on the market today. We are happy to explain the scientific tests we use to determine if drugs are present in urine samples, and we will also perform proficiency testing upon request to provide further evidence of the accuracy of our results. We know you have to be able to trust our results to trust us for your testing needs.

Drugs That Can Be Detected Through EIAs and LCMS

Drugs Detected Through EIAS

EIAs screen for a variety of drugs and drug metabolites using a biochemical methodology through cloned analyte-specific enzyme donors. This process allows results to be reproducible, making the outcomes more accurate and reliable, especially when those results are used to make employment, treatment, and legal decisions. Some of the drugs and drug metabolites that can be detected through EIAs include the following.

  • Alcohol
  • Amphetamines
  • Barbiturates
  • Methamphetamines
  • Benzodiazepines
  • Cannabinoids
  • Cocaine
  • Ketamine
  • PCP
  • Opioids, including Fentanyl, Methadone, Morphine, and Oxycodone

While these are the most common drugs that EIAs test for, there are many other drugs that can be screened using this method. To be classified as “none detected,” each drug must be undetectable or below a specific cutoff amount based on the individual drug. For example, barbiturates must be lower than 200 ng/mL to be considered none detected. Any substance that has an EIA response above the cutoff level is considered a presumptive positive result.

As mentioned previously, if the EIAs produce a positive result, we then move to the LCMS to confirm the EIA result. This second phase of our testing system ensures that false positives are rare and that you can make confident decisions based on our results.

Drugs Detected Through LCMS

The LCMS test allows drug metabolites to be separated from the sample, in this case, urine. When the sample is combined with a solvent, the mixture passes through the container at different rates, allowing for the metabolites to be separated. The results from an LCMS can be obtained in as little as 10 minutes, making it one of the most efficient and widespread drug testing methods available. Nearly all laboratories employ LCMS when testing for drugs.

All of the drugs that can be detected by EIAs can be detected by LCMS as well; however, the results are much more precise. We’re able to determine exactly a specific drug compound that may be in a person’s body with LCMS, which can be helpful in monitoring prescribed medications to ensure patients aren’t taking more than they should. Additionally, LCMS is beneficial for monitoring methadone treatment in drug abusers who are addicted to opiates such as heroin.

Synthetic Urine Detection

Our laboratory is the only one in New Jersey that provides synthetic urine detection, which is critical for catching fake urine samples that are being used in an attempt to circumvent tests designed to detect drugs in a person’s system. The use of synthetic urine is gaining in popularity as more drug users realize the rarity of catching fake samples. You need to know whether your patient or potential employee is truly drug free, and our lab provides that assurance.

The test we used to detect synthetic urine searches for specific markers that are only present in human urine, and no fake urine is able to replicate these markers. However, many labs are tricked by synthetic urine, especially if it’s made by a chemist and designed to perfectly imitate the composition and properties of human urine. Without our synthetic urine detection process, you may not be making decisions based on actual results, which can put yourself and others in danger.

There is an entire industry centered on producing synthetic urine to evade tests that are meant to detect drugs in the body. Depending on how convincing someone needs it to be, fake urine can be easily purchased on the Internet or through local sources found through word of mouth or other nefarious sources. Luckily, you don’t have to worry about being fooled because our synthetic urine detection test ensures your results are real and accurate.

Purposes for Urine Tests for Drugs

Urine tests that detect the presence of a variety of drugs are used for many purposes, but typically, they are used to help make decisions that hinge on a person’s drug use or lack thereof. It’s a painless type of test that requires the subject to do nothing more than urinate into a sterile container to collect their sample. This makes it a popular method for testing because it is quick and painless, and urine tests provide accurate results.

Employment

Many employers require a urine test to be performed to determine if a potential employee is taking drugs, especially if the position requires a person to be alert and focused for safety reasons. For example, construction companies often require a urine test because employees frequently operate heavy equipment that can be dangerous if the operator isn’t completely clean and sober. Testing for drugs helps lower the risk of workplace accidents and liability claims.

Even companies that don’t require employees to operate equipment may choose to have their potential workers tested for drugs. This is because drug abuse is related to higher absenteeism rates, increased turnover, and lower productivity. Employers are looking to make good hiring decisions from the start to reduce training and onboarding costs, which means eliminating applicants who get positive results on a urine test designed to detect drugs that could impact their ability to be a reliable and safe employee.

Drug Rehabilitation Centers

People who are receiving treatment for drug or alcohol abuse at rehabilitation centers are frequently tested for drugs to ensure they’re remaining sober. Many times, these facilities will refuse to continue treatment if a patient is unable or unwilling to refrain from using drugs. Rehab centers may also use urine tests to monitor the amount of methadone in a person’s system if they are using that drug to help with opiate addiction.

Initial tests during patient intake are also necessary to help drug rehabilitation centers determine the proper course of treatment for a patient. These facilities need to get a baseline for drug use to assess the patient and make the treatment decisions that are most likely to succeed.

Parole and Probation Departments

Many people who are on parole or probation are required to get regular drug screens as a condition of their release from jail or prison. These tests could be scheduled, but are more likely to be random to ensure they’re staying clean even when they don’t know they’re going to be tested for drugs. While an instant urine test can provide quick results, they aren’t always accurate and should be confirmed through a laboratory.

Personal Reasons

Family members may want to have their loved ones tested for drugs to ensure they’re clean or to determine a potential cause for abnormal behavior. There are at-home tests available, but again, the accuracy of these tests can be questionable. It’s better to get tested through a medical facility that can offer results you can rely on. False positives and false negatives can have a devastating impact on families, which is why our testing system is recommended for this purpose.

Become a Partner Today

If you have a need for a quick turnaround on accurate drug testing results, we can deliver what you need to achieve your goals. Contact Trinity Medical Laboratories in Marlton, NJ today to discover how our testing processes can help you make better treatment, employment, and legal decisions.

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