Medical Review Officer Service

What is a Medical Review Officer (MRO)?

The professional MRO is a licensed physician (M.D. or D.O.) who is an expert in drug and alcohol testing and the application of federal regulations to the process. Medical review includes confidential contact with donors by the MRO, verification of all medical and dental treatments which may affect a drug test, review of laboratory reports for scientific accuracy, prompt turn-around time and notification of results to management, records management and secure records maintenance. When called upon, the MRO also serves as a consultant to business, industry, labor, government or academia on issues relating to prevention, detection and control of drug abuse in the workplace.

The results of workplace drug use can be serious - to both the employer and the employee. An employee who uses illegal drugs is a definite obstacle to the stability and safety of the workplace. However, proper evaluation of a test result in light of the employee's medical history while protecting his or her privacy is essential to avoid falsely accusing an employee of illicit drug use. For this reason, business, industry and government agencies have seen the need for qualified Medical Review Officers (MROs) to evaluate work-related drug tests, and to act as a consultant and resource in achieving a drug-free workplace.

The certified MRO protects the donor from a false accusation of illicit drug use when there is an alternate medical explanation for the laboratory result. At the same time, the certified MRO protects the Company from obtaining medical information about an employee and thus buffers the Company from the employee’s medical history.