Leading Retail Pharmacy Saves $1 Million with Instant Oral Fluid Employee Drug Screen Solution

Executive summary

For assistance supporting its corporate mission of streamlining internal processes while minimizing spend, a leading pharmacy and retail chain looked to First Advantage, its partner of more than 15 years. They selected instant oral fluid drug screening technology for its ability to provide quicker, more affordable results than traditional lab-based testing. As a result of implementing the solution, the retail chain has:

• Streamlined the company’s administrative processes with end-to-end same day hiring
• Reduced drug screening costs by more than $1 million annually
• Accelerated time-to-hire by expediting drug screening and results
• Optimized corporate-wide logistics and costs

The challenges

The long-standing lab-based urine drug testing model no longer served as a viable solution that could scale to meet their corporate growth objectives while streamlining drug screens and prompt access to screening results.

For non-federally regulated employees and candidates, drug testing required the scheduling of lab appointments – a process that could take several days for test results to become available. For recruiting and management teams, lab-based testing and results caused lags, disrupting their ability to achieve their desired process efficiencies.

The solution

In January 2021, the company implemented instant oral fluid drug screening from First Advantage. The solution reduces the end-to-end drug screening time from several days to just a few minutes. Using a combination of an easy-to-use web application to order, conduct screening, and review results, the management team is experiencing improved administrative efficiencies and less processing time than traditional, lab-based testing.

Equally important, the company minimizes supply chain costs. The leading pharmacy and retail chain distributes the oral fluid screening devices throughout its network leveraging its internal supply chain logistics. This strategy has helped to minimize implementation costs.

The technology

The instant oral fluid solution leverages intuitive technology which enables management to efficiently administer employee drug screening. The technology gives step-by-step guidance through the collection process, facilitating quick, in-person oral fluid collection with results in just a few minutes. The solution triggers a confirmatory lab test in the event of a non-negative result. Less paper and fewer administrative procedures provide a seamless collection experience for collectors and donors alike.

The oral fluid collection device also helps minimize the chance of collecting adulterated samples, and detects recent drug use with reliable results. The retail chain’s ATS integration to the First Advantage Collection Portal pre-populates donor information for a seamless ordering, sample collecting, and reporting experience with its single sign-on and electronic chain-of-custody capabilities.

Conclusion

Workplace drug testing is essential to the wellness, safety, and productivity of employees. The company’s need for rapid results in an affordable and reliable drug screening solution has outpaced the benefits of traditional lab-based urine testing. In partnership with First Advantage, the retail chain turned to the instant oral fluid drug screening solution to lower screening costs, improve turnaround times, speed time-to-hire, and reduce the administrative burden.

Talk with a First Advantage representative to learn more.