NTS Blog

If you’ve watched our “Understanding the Limitations of Drug Testing” webinar or have had conversations with me about that subject, you’ve heard me talk about substances that many people expect to be detected on the tests they are using, but actually are not.  An excellent example of this that we are all hopefully familiar with is Fentanyl.

Today’s subject was sparked from a conversation that our sales consultants have fairly regularly. Usually this comes up in the context of us pressing to find out why a facility is using the specific tests that they are using. The answer we get more than any other is some variant of, “it’s just the way we’ve always done it.” If you’ve had any conversations with our sales team, you know they won’t simply let that answer stand alone. It is always our mission to understand the needs of each facility we work with, but sometimes this can entail explaining why some of the thought processes behind those needs might be misguided, outdated, or missing crucial bits of information.

Something you may have noticed while browsing our product catalogs and/or listings is that some of the tests have a designation of “CLIA Waived”, while others are designated as “FUO”. What do these two designations refer to, and how does it affect you? Let us look a little deeper and find out.

If you read the instructions that are included in each box of tests (stop laughing, some people have!) then you have seen the recommendation that “positive and negative controls be tested as good laboratory practice to confirm the test procedure and to verify proper test performance”. Every instant test does have built-in procedural controls

We are frequently asked about the options for testing a powder or residue found on a participant, or at a facility for the presence of Fentanyl. In other words, if during a routine check of the property…