Alcohol & Urine Drug of Abuse Testing (2024)

The laboratory will collect and/or accept specimens for alcohol and urine drugs of abuse testing when ordered by a licensed practitioner or law enforcement agency.

Physician Requests

Outpatient drug tests are generally designated as"pain management" compliancerather than “medical” tests.Inpatient drug testing is considered "medical" or diagnostic testing.

Urine specimens for drug testing may be collected at one of the facilities listed below.

Urine samples collected in physician’s offices, with the appropriate paperwork, may be taken to one of the outpatient locations listed below.Courier service may be available for urine drug pick up.

Blood alcohol samples can be drawn at the satellite locations and the hospital outpatient collection center.In general, blood is not the specimen of choice for drug testing.

Urine donors need a photo ID to provide positive identification for a drug test. Medical testing requires a 40 mL sample. Refer to Drugs of Abuse Urine Collection or call the York Hospital Laboratory at(717) 851-2511or Gettysburg Hospital Laboratory at(717) 337-4483.

Law Enforcement Agency Requests

Persons requiring legal blood or urine drug testing at York Hospital should contact the Security Operations Center at(717) 851-2604 and wait for the security office to contact the laboratory about a suitable location to collect the specimen. At Gettysburg Hospital the person should present to the Emergency Department waiting area and wait for the Triage Nurse or other staff member to contact the laboratory.

DUI (Driving Under the Influence) Requests

According to the Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle code, any individual who drives, operates or is in actual physical control of the movement of a motor vehicle is deemed to have given consent to testing for alcohol or controlled substances unless that consent is withdrawn, verbally or nonverbally.

Non-DUI Requests

Orders must be from a licensed clinician unless a court order is presented.A consent form must be signed by the person being tested before any specimens are collected.The patient has the right to refuse signing the consent form.Refusal will be documented on the form.Consent is not necessary when there is a court order for specific testing.

Work-Related Requests

Employers or employees requiring routine testing for work related purposes and/or Department of Transportation (DOT) licenses should contact one of the Occupational Health facilities in the area. The York Hospital Emergency Department will only perform a breath alcohol test on patients brought in through the Emergency Department.Gettysburg Hospital will perform post accident drug and alcohol testing on patients brought through the Gettysburg Hospital Emergency Department.

DOT (Department of Transportation) Request

If the urine drug test is to be done according to DOT regulations, the urine collection must be scheduled to be collected within 32 hours at a WellSpan Occupational Health collection site.Contact WellSpan Occupational Health. When they are closed the collection can be done at one of the ReadyCare locations.

Testing

Medical drug and alcoholtesting for a non-forensic purpose is performed at York, Gettysburg, Ephrata, and Lebanon Hospitals using approved and accepted analytical methods. Quality control procedures are defined. The laboratory engages in proficiency testing programs administered by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) and the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Documentation of all testing methods, results of quality control testing, and service and maintenance records on all testing equipment are maintained in the laboratory and are available for inspection.

Pain management compliance or drug treatment programdrug testing is referred to Quest Diagnostics Nichols Institute-Chantilly Laboratories, a CLIA certified laboratory.

Medical Review Officer (MRO) Service: WellSpan Occupational Health provides physician review of work related test results for drug testing clients.

Requests for Results of Testing

By individuals/family members:

Individuals/family membersmay contact the Health Information Management (HIM) Departmentfor release of information at(717) 851-6396. An Authorization for Release ofProtected Health Information (PHI) form must be completed andsubmitted by one of the following methods: in person; by mailing to Release of Information~GSOB, 912 S. George Street, York, PA 17403; or by faxing to(717) 812-8119.If the records requested are for a doctor's appointment, the individual/family member must provide the name of thedoctor, mailing address, date of appointment, phone and fax numbers. The patient's records will be sent directly to the doctor at no charge.Please notethat the patient/family will be charged for medical record requests for all other purposes. WellSpan Health has partnered with MRO to process medical record requests. If the patient's request is billable, the patient will receive an invoice from MRO in the mail. Their records will be mailed to them promptly upon receipt of payment.

By law enforcement agencies

For legal results:

In York County testing is performed by National Medical Services Laboratory (NMS).In Adams County testing is sent to either NMS or the Pennsylvania State Police Laboratory as perrequesting municipality. Results will be made available to thepolice department or agency by the testing facility.

For medical results:

A search warrant or court order must be presented in person to the Health Information Management (HIM) Department (Medical Records)for the result on a specific individual. Results can bereleased if the individual voluntarily agrees to sign the Authorization for Release ofProtected Health Information.

By companies:

Results will be mailed to the ordering agency upon completion of the test.