Pathology Collection Guides

Drugs of abuse

Urine testing

Urine Drug Screening (UDS) categories

UDS may be performed as a Medicare rebatable test for:

Medical assessment of patients

Monitoring of patients participating in a drug abuse treatment program

(up to 36 episodes in a twelve month period)

A Medicare rebate does NOT apply to the following:

Medico-legal testing

Pre-employment screening

Occupational health and safety testing

Surveillance of sports people

Testing at the request of a medical board, court of law, parole board or any similar agency

Specimen collection

Medicare rebate:

No Medicare rebate:

Screw-capped sterile urine container – Random collection – min vol 10mL

Special collection kit (refer patient to specialised collection centre)

Note:

Specify any particular drugs of interest in clinical notes.

Routine panel includes:

1. Amphetamine Group:

methylamphetamine, amphetamine “ecstasy” compounds, MDMA, MDA, pseudoephidrine

2. Benzodiazepines:

diazepam, temazepam etc.

3. Cocaine metabolite

4. Opiates

5. Cannabinoids

6. Methadone metabolite

Specify other drugs if required such as barbiturates, alcohol, naltrexone, phenothiazines, tricyclic antidepressants.

Note:

Specimen collection for non-Medicare UDS is not performed at all collection centres but is limited to

designated centres where specially trained staff are available to carry out a supervised collection. If required, non-

rebatable specimens can be collected under chain-of-custody conditions and screening and confirmatory testing can

be performed under conditions specified by AS/NZS 4308: 2008. For further information about UDS and designated

collection centres, please contact (02) 98 555 368 or your local regional laboratory.