Payment

This test incurs an out-of-pocket fee, which must be paid at the time of collection unless a third party has been nominated to cover the costs.

If you nominate a third party, you must provide Abbott Pathology with a written statement (on letter-headed paper) or a pre-printed chain of custody form from the third party, clearly stating that they will accept responsibility for the payment.

Important:
The collection will not proceed without either payment or confirmation that a third party will cover the costs.

What to Expect

• Photo ID must be shown to the collector for the collection to proceed.
• You will need to sign all tamper-evident labels, seals, and forms. Please follow the collector’s instructions on where to sign.
• You will be asked about your current medications and other personal information. This information is recorded on the chain of custody form.
• You will need to be in the presence of the collector until the last sample is sealed in a tamper-evident bag. Please be patient and wait until the collector instructs you to leave.

Sample Collection – General Steps

1. It is important that the required amount of hair is collected to enable the full drug screen to be performed.
2. Head hair is preferred, with at least 3 cm in length and the thickness of a pencil, regardless of whether it is chemically treated or not.
3. The sample will be taken from the nape (back of the head) as this has the most regular growth pattern and is cut straight and as close to the scalp as possible.
4. If no head hair is available, permission from the testing laboratory is required to collect an equivalent amount of body hair.
5. The hair sample is then divided into two equal portions, sealed for security, and sent to the testing laboratory.
6. Testing is performed weekly, and the expected turnaround time for results varies:
   • 10-14 days for Drugs of Abuse
   • 4 weeks for Alcohol testing