Addiction medicine has progressed from a largely therapeutic, isolated field into an integrated part of the healthcare system and the practice of medicine. As the field of addiction treatment evolves, drug testing has become a key component of diagnosis, treatment and monitoring. Health care providers, including toxicology laboratories, should work to balance the need for excellent customer service, delivery of quality services and regulatory compliance. 

LND embraces a drug testing policy that is directed to performing medically necessary and accurate testing as ordered by a patient’s treating provider. To help ensure delivery of quality standards in testing and reporting test results and in complying with applicable regulatory standards, toxicology labs are expected to play a more active role than merely receiving test requests and fulfilling those orders without regard to acceptable standards of practice in addictions medicine. In an era of public policy focus on health care costs, an increasing challenge for toxicology labs is to not only identify each every drug that a laboratory is technologically capable of detecting, but to do so in a manner that is strictly driven by medically necessity of the testing ordered so that patient needs are addressed and treatment centers can continue to provide the best services possible for those in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction.

Compliance Plans help laboratories to fulfill their fundamental mission of providing quality services while assisting physicians and health care facilities with regulatory compliance by helping to ensure internal systems and management are driven by medical necessity as determined by treating heath care providers. The United States Office of the Inspector General (the “OIG”), the regulatory authority tasked with fighting waste, fraud, and abuse of health care dollars, has stated that a laboratory with an effective Compliance Plan demonstrates the laboratory’s commitment to honest and responsible corporate conduct. Further, the OIG has stated that “a sincere effort by clinical laboratories to comply with applicable Federal and State standards, as well as the requirements of private health care programs, through the establishment of an effective Compliance Plan, significantly reduces the risk of unlawful or improper conduct.”

Through its administration of this Compliance Plan, LND demonstrates its commitment to compliance with all applicable Federal and State laws. LND has designed and implemented this Compliance Plan with the expectation that it will (1) help ensure compliance with applicable Federal and State laws; (2) discourage non-compliant activities by its employees and agents1; (3) proactively identify areas of risk; and (4) ensure the maximum degree of quality and effectiveness for patients is reasonably available.

In this Compliance Plan, LND sets forth standards of conduct, and internal policies and procedures. LND requires each employee or agent of LND to strictly comply with this Compliance Plan.

LND recognizes that all information, policies and procedures contained in this Compliance Plan may not apply to each of its employees and agents. In the event that a person or entity is unsure of whether to comply with any portion of this Compliance Plan, it is the responsibility of that person or entity to contact the Compliance Officer or his/her designee in order to obtain a written statement of any policies and procedures that do not apply to such person/entity. Until such written statement is

The person or entity in question shall comply with all aspects of this Compliance Plan and shall affirm in writing such compliance when requested by LND.