MARRCH 2020 State of the State Addiction Summit

Health Law attorney Christianna Finnern will speak at the MARRCH 2020 State of the State Addiction Summit on January 10, 2020 to address compliance issues in addiction care.

The importance of incorporating urine drug testing into substance use disorder treatment is widely recognized and acknowledged.  Periodic random screening can be effective in planning and reviewing ongoing treatment, supporting completion of treatment goals and justifying the need to make changes to treatment plans.  Both providers and clinical laboratories have legal obligations to maintain documentation to support urine drug screens, including signed physician orders and documentation in the treatment record of medical necessity.  All too often, claims for urine drug screens are rejected because of a lack of required documentation.  In addition, patterns of repeated confirmation testing coupled with a lack of supporting documentation often leads to audits of clinical laboratory claims, resulting in overpayment requests in large dollar amounts.  In order to avoid claims processing and payment disruptions that can ultimately lead to delayed or even restricted access to care, it is crucial that both providers and clinical labs understand what their respective obligations are for maintaining documentation supporting the ordering or and medical necessity for drug screens.

Attorney David Aafedt and  Government Relations Manager Andrea Rau of Winthrop & Weinstine’s Advocacy & Lobbying practice will also attend to deliver a legislative update as we look towards the start of the 2020 Legislative Session.

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