Concentra drug test: everything you need to know
Table of Contents
Concentra is the third biggest drug testing company in the USA behind LabCorp and Quest Diagnostics. What you’re going to learn here is everything you need to know to pass a Concentra drug test.
We will cover what happens with a drug test, what the cut-off levels for Concentra drug tests are, and when and how you get drug test results from them.
On top of that, you’re also going to learn how you can minimize your chances of failing a drug test, including false positives, and specialist products you can use to make sure you stand the best chance of passing.
Who is Concentra?
Concentra is one of the big three drug testing companies in the USA alongside LabCorp and Quest diagnostics
They can cover all the types of drug tests that people would want to commission: pre-employment and employment drug testing, alongside drug testing for things like medical and insurance purposes. They are also fully compliant with federal regulations on drug testing, including DoT (Department of Transport) drug testing.
Department of Transport drug testing is slightly different because these employees can legally be observed when a drug test is administered. That basically means somebody will be in the room with you when you urinate, making it far more difficult to adulterate or tamper with the sample.
Also, Department of Transport drug testing is slightly different because in most states they have to take a more advanced 10 panel drug test which looks for the following substances: Marijuana (THC), Cocaine, Amphetamines, Phencyclidine (PCP), Opiates, Barbiturates, Benzodiazepines, Methadone, Oxycodone, Methamphetamine.
How a drug test is conducted
The physical process for doing a Concentra drug test is no different to going to LabCorp or Quest:
- On arrival at one of your local Concentra drug test locations, you will check-in. Sometimes this is automated, but most of the time you will need to speak to someone. You will need to take your driving license or another form of government-issued ID, any health insurance details you might have if it’s a private test (which will not be needed for pre-employment), and any other paperwork you asked to take along with you.
- You will be led into another room where the phlebotomist will conduct the test. Unless it’s for law enforcement or Department of Transport purposes (and some other federal positions), then it will be an unobserved urine sample drug test in most instances.
- You’ll go behind a screen, or more usually into a completely separate cubicle or room, and you will pee into a cup. There will usually be a fill level to show you have submitted the minimum amount (two or three fluid ounces), and often there will be a temperature strip on the cup as well (although this is not always the case).
- You will then hand over the sample to the phlebotomist. They will record the temperature and put your sample into a container and it’s then labeled up in front of you.
- This may happen, but it doesn’t always. The phlebotomist could actually do the preliminary panel drug testing in front of you. If it’s negative, you are told on the spot, and this is confirmed in writing as a follow-up. But mostly, you will just leave, and they will test it after you have left.
- If it’s negative you will usually find out within 24 hours. If it’s tested positive on the panels for any substance, it will then be sent off for a full lab analysis which can take another 2-5 days.
One thing I want to point out you here is that Concentra is a bit different from LabCorp and Quest diagnostics. They conduct drug tests on behalf of other companies, and they also use third-party labs to do advanced analysis testing. So you could submit your sample at Concentra, but it’s actually LabCorp or Quest who do the lab work, or you could be commissioned for a LabCorp test, but because there isn’t a location near you, it’s done at Concentra instead and the sample is then sent off to LabCorp.
So they might do the initial panel drug test themselves, but if it needs further analysis, it could be sent to third-party lab, or the whole testing process could be done by somebody else. Not everything is done in-house with Concentra.
Concentra drug test levels (cut-off levels)
I’m not sure of the whole situation, but it appears that Concentra nearly always send off samples to third-party labs if they require a full analysis beyond the basic panel drug test.
This seems to mean that they use places like LabCorp and Quest, among others, to actually analyze samples that have initially tested positive.
So it’s impossible to know what Concentra drug test levels are because the cut-off levels are defined by the labs and not Concentra. There’s actually no information online I can find relating to Concentra drug test cut-off levels specifically.
But here are the cut-off levels that Quest and LabCorp use for their basic five panel drug test analysis:
- Amphetamines 1000 ng/mL
- Cocaine metabolites 300 ng/mL
- Marijuana metabolites 50 ng/mL
- Opiates 2000 ng/mL
- Phencyclidine (PCP) 25 ng/mL
As the cut-off level minimum is actually federally regulated, it’s pretty safe to say that if Concentra do have cut-off levels that they will be incredibly similar to those stated above.
How to deal with Concentra drug test results
Depending on the circumstances, you may get told it’s a negative result straight away. This is quite rare though, as the initial panel testing is usually done once you have left.
If it’s a negative result, you could be told directly, or the person whose commission the test could be told first. So it could be your doctor, or prospective employer (or an existing employer).
That’s the same with a positive result. You could be told directly, or the person who has commissioned the test can be told. Whoever tells you, it should happen within about 48 hours, although Concentra do state that it can take up to 7 days to get the test results to you (this is longer than LabCorp or Quest, and I think that’s because they use third-party labs rather than in-house ones).
If you fail a drug test, you should obviously talk to the person who’s told you about it. If Concentra contact you, get back to them directly. Ask for a contact name and number, do your research on what could have caused a false positive, and ask to make an appointment to go in and see them try and rectify it.
If your employer, or prospective employer, tells you, then you need to talk to them first and say that you think it’s a false positive. Ask what their policy is, and how you can proceed.
How to ensure you always pass a test
So the basic Concentra drug test results process is pretty straightforward, and you shouldn’t have any problems as long as you test negative.
If you do test positive and you know it’s a false positive result, then just keep calm, talk to your prospective employer, talk to Concentra, and try and get evidence together to show what has caused it. It could be a supplement, it could be a medication, it could be even food or drink (few people know that poppy seeds in enough quantities can cause a false positive for opiate use).
It is possible to ensure you pass any type of drug test though.
The obvious way is to make sure you don’t have drug metabolites in your body, even if you are a regular weed smoker or whatever. But if you are a regular smoker it could take two weeks for you to get all the metabolites out of your body using a natural detox. This can be sped up by about 50% by using high-quality detox pills though.
If you don’t have that amount of time, you can pass a urine sample drug test by submitting a fake sample. The high-quality fake urine will definitely pass, and Concentra may pat you down on the way in, they will definitely take a bag and coat from you, but they won’t do a full body search. As long as the fake sample is tucked discreetly in your crotch, it won’t be found.
Alternatively, you could mask the toxins for a few hours with a good quality detox drink, although this method has a higher failure rate if you have lots of drug toxins in your body.
They do also do mouth swab testing. The way around this type of drug test is to use an oral cleansing mouthwash, or a specialist gum that neutralizes your saliva for about 30 minutes. Either of these taken in advance of walking into the test center will be enough to make sure that you always test negative after a drug test.
