There are many things in life that you don’t want to be delayed, including getting that open position at your company filled with the perfect candidate. A key step to confirming that perfect candidate is an accurate–and timely–drug screening to ensure a safe, drug-free work zone. If the drug test is delayed, the whole hiring process can be delayed, and there can be consequences for both the employee and the employer such as a negative candidate experience or even the perfect candidate finding a different job instead of waiting it out.
Current Delays in Processing
The United States is currently going through a national staffing shortage in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. This staffing shortage is affecting countless industries, including all aspects of federal and workplace drug testing.
In addition to facing a staffing shortage, the U.S. is simultaneously being impacted by global supply chain issues. These two issues, in combination with the requirement for the use of the new chain-of-custody form for DOT testing, have caused an extreme backlog at every major laboratory across the country, as well as delays from Medical Review Officers (MROs), who are responsible for ensuring the validity and integrity of the drug screen.
The national staffing shortage has impacted turnaround times at each step in the drug testing process, starting from the point of specimen intake at the lab all the way to reporting the final results back to the requesting party. Currently, processing times are approximately 3 to 6 business days. Laboratories across the country are making ongoing adjustments daily to manage the ever-changing environment. These adjustments include shifting employees to different departments dependent on need, adding additional shifts, adding equipment, and attempting to over-hire to anticipate and accommodate staffing challenges.
Both Chane Solutions and our partner laboratories across the country are working closely and creatively to navigate these ongoing challenges and mitigate unnecessary delays wherever possible.
While these current staffing shortages and supply chain issues can make it seem like delays are completely out of your control, Chane Solutions has identified typical factors that can cause delays and ways employers can try to avoid them.
How Chane Solutions is Improving the Process
Chane Solutions takes pride in ensuring our clients are receiving the highest quality services and the fastest screening times possible. While we want our clients to receive their results as soon as possible, we also take pride in the quality of our work and never cut corners. We work closely with our laboratory partners to monitor their testing facilities’ performance, identify challenges and create solutions before they become issues for our clients. To learn more about our drug screening services, contact us today.
Leave a comment