• Upgraded Drug Testing Random Selection and Reporting. In 2010 we partnered with Drug Free Business to bring our DOT customers an enhanced results reporting system online.  With this new partnership, our customers can now access their driver list and make changes online from any where at any time. Customers can also retrieve drug screen results and random testing notifications.  With this new partnership, not only can customers get drug and alcohol testing at HealthWorks Northwest, but at hundreds of collection sites nationwide.
• Added more availability in our Chehalis clinic. We added more appointment availability in our Chehalis office.  Customers can count on a set number of exam appointments to be available in Chehalis each week. That makes planning easier and services more convenient!
• Relocated our Chehalis office. Based on customer feedback, we relocated our Chehalis clinic back to our previous location, closer to the Chehalis Business Park. We moved back to the familiar yellow Roof Doctor building at 1522 Bishop Road. Easier to find. Easier to use.
• Added Chiropractic Care. Through our partnership with Dr. Kelly McGown and Dr. James Strange, we began offering chiropractic care for injured workers.  Some injured workers can benefit from chiropractic care and we’ve made these services easier to access through these two providers.
• Expanded online payment. Through our PayPal service, customers can pay for invoices quickly and easily online at any time. And, get a receipt instantly!  Just by using the PAID button on our homepage, our customers can take care of payments with ease!

Coming in 2011…

• Request an appointment time online
• Expanded online training services

While you’re at it, why not visit your member site at drugfreebusiness.org and update your driver list? If  you can’t remember how to do this,  just call us at 360.578.2527 and we will be happy to walk you through the process!

2011 begins a NEW random testing year.

Then again, we will close at NOON on Thursday, December 30th and will be closed New Year’s Eve, Friday, December 31st. We will re-open on Monday, January 3rd, 2011!

We wish you and your loved ones a happy and healthy Christmas and New Year’s holiday!

This new partnership brings great new services to our employer-clients.

Many of our clients already enjoy our online results reporting. Now, we’re introducing even more features through our new partnership with DFB. These features include a comprehensive array of online tools that allow you to more closely manage your lab-based random testing pool.

With these new tools you:

• Will receive immediate notification of random selections
• Can update your employee/driver list in real time
• Can check the status of any test any time from anywhere. There’s nothing to download and no program to learn. Just a simple log in and password and you’re in!
• Can store and view previous tests. Look up any drug test report any time. Print, send or review the drug test report letter and MRO result from anywhere, 24/7!
• Can review your pool’s ongoing status. Check how many drivers have been test and check the percentage of drivers who have been tested

Even with all these new features, some things will not change.  For example:

• Still only one number to call. And that’s us! You can call us with any question, information request or for advice. We’ll be here, just as we always have!
• Price. Even though we’re upgrading to a more sophisticated reporting system, there’s no change in price to you!
• Laboratory. We still use PAML, a northwest lab with great service and turnaround!

Plus, you’ll have access to hundreds of collection sites nationwide!  Got a driver in Vegas? Poughkeepsie? Los Angeles? No problem. We have access to a location site near just about any city.

All of this is designed to help you manage your random testing pool more efficiently and more quickly. You can expect great service because we are always here to help. DFB services work in the background.

We think you’ll agree that these marvelous new tools brought to you by two industry leaders further our commitment to bring you good ideas at work!

Ordering your vaccine is easy! Just go to our website http:/www.hwnw.org and click on the Flu Vaccine area. You can order online and we’ll schedule your flu clinic. It really is THAT simple.

So get your supply before we run out completely!

And don’t forget about our great resources for employers!

Is It The Cold Or The Flu? A great way to help employees determine whether or not to stay home or report to work. Download and post this easy-to-understand poster!

Get the latest information about the flu. Click on this link to get the FLU FACTS!

And here’s a handout for your employees! It lets them know how they can prevent spreading the flu!

We’ve can schedule a pre-employment, annual or DOT physical exam in either our Longview or Chehalis clinics AND, with our new partnership with Valley View Medical Center in Lewis County, we can also schedule some evening and weekend appointments. So you’re never really more than a day away from an available appointment slot somewhere in our network. No matter where your appointment: Longview,  Chehalis, or Toledo, HealthWorks Northwest will continue to be the one-stop for your employee physical exams.

We strive to make our appointments as convenient and as quick as possible, and on some occasions, same-day appointments are available. With some planning on your part as the employer and our flexibility, we are working to open more slots on more days than ever before.  And, starting in January, 2011 we’ll be building regular Saturday availability into the schedule as the demand rises.

So next time you need to schedule that pre-employment exam,  remember that we are working to make it as easy and convenient as possible!

During my recovery, however,  we found it necessary to adjust our operating hours in our Longview clinic during my recovery. So we changed our hours (formerly 7:00 am to 6:00 pm) to 8:00 am to 5:00 pm during the summer. We adjusted the hours for a couple of reasons; during my recovery,  it didn’t make sense to staff the clinic for that many hours and we looked at how many patients we actually saw between 7:00 am and 8:00 am and between 5:00 pm and 6:00 pm. We found that during those two extra hours, only 1 to 2 patients would be inconvenienced by changing our hours.

So we adjusted our hours for the summer.

For the time being, we will continue with an 8:00 am to 5:00 pm schedule.  HOWEVER, we are happy to schedule patients earlier by appointment, if necessary. And we still do offsites as early as 5:00 am and as late as 10:00 pm–that hasn’t changed.  So if, on occasion we need to open early or stay a little later, please let us know. I’m sure some arrangement can be made to accommodate!

If you have questions or concerns, please call me at 360.578.2527 or on my cell phone at 360.442.8742.

P.S. Thanks to all of you who called, sent letters and emails. You were very encouraging and I really appreciated your acts of kindness during what I can only characterize as a difficult time for my family! Thank you all!

–Steve

The Department is required by the Omnibus Transportation Employees Testing Act (Omnibus Act) to follow the HHS requirements for the testing procedures/protocols and drugs for which we test.

Primary laboratory requirements in this final rule include:

1. Testing for MDMA (aka. Ecstasy);
2. Lowering cutoff levels for cocaine and amphetamines;
3. Conducting mandatory initial testing for heroin;
4. The Department brought several testing definitions in-line with those of HHS.
5. Each Medical Review Officer (MRO) will need to be re-qualified – including passing an examination given by an MRO training organization – every five years.  The Final Rule eliminated the requirement for each MRO to take 12 hours of continuing education every three years.
6. An MRO will not need to be trained by an HHS-approved MRO training organization as long as the MRO meets DOT’s qualification and requalification training requirements.
7. MRO recordkeeping requirements did not change from the five years for non-negatives and one year for negatives.
8. The Final Rule does not allow the use of HHS-Certified Instrumented Initial Testing Facilities (IITFs) to conduct initial drug testing because the Omnibus Act requires laboratories to be able to perform both initial and confirmation testing but IITFs cannot conduct confirmation testing.
9. The Final Rule is effective October 1, 2010

So, what does it really mean?

• The cutoff levels for both screening and confirmation tests for the 5-panel drug test have been lowered
• There is a revised Custody and Control Form (also called Chain of Custody Form) to be used. Here’s what it looks like.
• The drug panel has been expanded to included Ecstacy (it’s part of the Amphetamine family,  so it’s still considered a 5-panel test)

And these changes will most likely:

• Result in MORE positive drug test results
• Affect the cost of the drug test itself, although initially most labs are not making ANY pricing changes
• Take time to gradually replace the Custody and Control Forms. Until April, 2011 the current form can be used

This year’s price is only $16 per vaccination–a much lower price than last year and the year before! (Other places are charging up to $24.99!) So now it’s even more affordable than ever to keep your employees (and their family members) healthy.

You can schedule your flu clinic online only at our website (www.hwnw.org). It’s easy and fast. Just visit our homepage and click on the item “Flu Clinics Are Ready To Be Scheduled. Start Here.” It’s right on the home page and easy to find. Just complete the Flu Clinic request form, give us a couple of desired dates and we’ll confirm the clinic with a return phone call! It’s that easy.

Because our supply is limited (in fact, we’ve already committed almost half of our allotment this year) we suggest you complete your form soon.

And, we have some terrific new educational and information tools for you and your employees–brochures, posters and informational sheets chock full of useful information about Seasonal Flu, H1N1 and how to prevent the spread of the flu at work and at home.

It’s all on our website!

We will maintain the same services and the same hours (8:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday) but we’ll be a lot closer to many of our clients that are located at or near the Chehalis Industrial Park.

Meanwhile, access to our location is easier with the new Exit 74 offramp from Interstate 5 that was recently completed.

So remember, we are back in the familiar yellow “Roof Doctor” building on Bishop Road!

We’ll see you there!