TPA Services

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TPA Services

What is a TPA?  A TPA is a Third Party Administrator.  In regard to substance abuse testing, the employer is the 1st party and the TPA is a 3rd party…the “2nd party” could be the employee, collection site, lab, MRO, DOT Auditor, other employers, etc. 

What does a TPA do?  A good TPA (like Drug Screens Plus) “covers your back” with people who have the specific knowledge and experience to work with those 2nd parties regarding the intricacies of substance abuse testing to help you make sure that things get done right the first time and to help you remedy any glitches.  But, before we get to the “intricacies” let’s look at the “basics”…

Drug Screens Plus starts you on the right path with a Model Program: policies and procedures personalized for your company; educational and training materials for employees and supervisors; guidance and assistance with implementation and recordkeeping; help with regulatory compliance issues; random testing program; and help with a myriad of other issues that may be new to you, but with which the folks at Drug Screens Plus are very familiar.  Our program makes your program better.

What can’t a TPA do?  Under DOT regulations, a TPA can’t actually “administer” certain aspects of your substance abuse program.  For example: making a reasonable suspicion determination; receiving test results from the MRO; removing an employee from his/her duties, etc.  The employer is directly responsible for those.  However, a TPA can consult with you, give you advice, review relevant regulations with you, and generally make your job much, much easier. 

Working with Drug Screen Plus, you start out with policies and procedures that have stood the test of time vs “experimenting” with policies and procedures that “sounded good at the time”…but may lead to unanticipated potential liabilities literally in the millions of dollars.  In fact, it is not at all unusual for us to uncover one or more such potential liabilities in a company’s “home grown” policies and procedures. 

Another benefit to you is that a situation that is “new” to you is likely to be a situation that is familiar to the TPA and has a known “best practice” resolution.  And, using our program as your program puts us literally “on the same page”.  That makes you easier for us to help.  A quick phone call and we can walk you through a situation step-by-step”…the “best practice” solution (already personalized to your company) is probably already in your hands (in your Drug Screens Plus Model Program).  So, you get better help, faster! 

If you would like to have a “best practice” substance abuse testing program,
Call Jim Carlyle @ 800-459-9012 ext 787.