The functions of a Medical Review Officer or MRO are imperative to both companies performing drug testing and the donors participating in the drug screen process. The primary function of the MRO is to ensure all laws governed by the D.O.T have been followed throughout the collection process through to the result determination.
This process starts with a review of the chain of custody provided by the collection site to the donor at the time of collection. After the review of the chain is performed and found to be without fatal flaws the result determination phase begins. The MRO for the drug test will receive the results from the lab to review. If the specimen is negative it will be released and signed by the Medical Review Officer to the designated employee representative that ordered the drug screen.
When the laboratory releases a positive result to the MRO the physician then contacts the donor to give the donor an opportunity to disclose a possible medication or dietary supplement that could have resulted in the current positive finding on the laboratory report. If the donor provides information regarding legal medication prescribed in their name the MRO then verifies this information to be true by asking the donor to provide either a pharmacy phone number where the medication has been filled or to provide a prescription profile verifying the medication was received PRIOR to the drug screen.
After all medications and substances have been discussed with the donor and verified accordingly, the drug screen is sent back to the employer with a positive result only if the substance involved had no reasonable explanation or could not be verified as being legally prescribed to the donor before the date of the drug screen collection. All medications verified to be of legal use to the donor remain confidential in the MRO record and are NOT released in the Medical Review Officer report.
To learn more about our MRO drug testing services, contact us today!