Why One Occupational Health Program Joined the Collector Registry

The University Community Health System (UCH) in Tampa, Fla., operates four free-standing clinics that provide comprehensive services to employers in three counties.

When the UCH/Helen Ellis Occupational Health Service received a fax from LabCorp in August 2007 “suggesting” it send all drug screen collector and breath-alcohol technician training documents to the National Qualified Collector Registry (NCQR) for review, the fax never made it to the OHS program director. Later, when another fax was received on behalf of Landstar Carrier Services and their TPA, USIS, also suggesting we sign up with the collector registry in order to continue receiving referral business, we took notice.

We wondered if we could really be in jeopardy of losing coveted workers’ compensation treatment, Department of Transportation physicals and other, non-DOT related business if we didn’t join the registry?

We assembled a list of all the drug testing TPA agreements we had on file (33) and then culled our database for others that may not have been correctly entered. We found UCH had more than 50 TPA agreements representing over 1,60o employers. We also participate in the eScreen drug testing network; UCH receives more than $230,000 in annual collections revenue through e-Screen alone. (eScreen, Inc., is a member of the NAOHP Vendor Program.)

We decided to list our clinics with the registry once we discovered the compounding value of participation. We wanted to be the first and only clinics in the Tampa market to be listed. That way, when employers and TPAs used the registry, they would find our collection sites first. Another immediate benefit was the ability to submit documents verifying that our collection sites and collectors were in compliance with DOT training requirements. We had to submit these documents just once, rather than repeatedly upon request, a time-consuming and tedious task.

The registry is also useful when attempting to refer a client company to a collection site in another region or state. When an occupational health program helps an employer find an out-of-state provider, it is acting as a de facto TPA and becomes subject to federal requirements. Using the registry ensures that referral locations are in compliance with federal rules, thus eliminating liability for the referring provider.

We consider the collector registry to be an important supplement to the networking opportunities we take advantage of through our participation in the NAOHP and as an e-Screen client. We see participation in all three organizations as an investment rather than as an expense because it gives us a marketing advantage and a chance to promote service excellence with employers and TPAs who may or may not be familiar with our program. We also save money because mandatory collector refresher training is provided to registry members at no additional charge.

Contact UCH/Helen Ellis Occupational Health Services 727-942-2518 For More Information