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A friend gave me a great tip tonight! I don't know how I was unaware of this for the past two years![CR-LF][CR-LF]Create a user account with LabCorp and Quest Diagnostics, the two big medical companies. Then go into the Apple Health app, tap the Health Data tab, and then the Health Records. Under the Accounts section, Add Account and connect to LabCorp and Quest. In a minute or so, it will suck down all your medical records, from routine health checks (cholesterol and blood pressure) to whatever you've got special to your health situation.

resident and chief executive officer of Quest Diagnostics, Rusckowski is a keen conceptual thinker and his experience and knowledge of the issues facing the industry make him the ideal leader to capitalize on the opportunities that lie ahead in a dynamic health care environment. Before Quest, Rusckowski was CEO of Philips Healthcare, the largest unit of Royal Philips Electronics. During his time with Philips, revenues increased from approximately 6 billion euros in 2005 to approximately 9 billion euros in 2011, accounting for approximately 39 percent of Philips consolidated revenues, from 21 percent when he became CEO. Before joining Philips, Rusckowski held numerous management positions with the health care division of Hewlett-Packard/Agilent Technologies. He joined Philips when it acquired Agilent’s Healthcare Solutions Group in 2001.

Why do companies use pre-employment drug testing? There are three circumstances in which workers encounter drug tests during the hiring process.[CR-LF][CR-LF]The first is when workers have applied for jobs subject to federally mandated safety testing. Some of those positions are government jobs, such as Customs and Border Patrol agents, while others are in private sector industries such as transportation and nuclear power production.[CR-LF][CR-LF]Urine is the most common sample type, and it's currently the only type permitted by federal testing rules, says Barry Sample, senior director of science and technology at Quest Diagnostics, a clinical laboratory that performs drug testing for employers.

For most of the nearly 30 years I’ve been covering trucking, the industry has been trying to get a federal clearinghouse put in place that will help prevent drivers who test positive for illegal drugs at one company from simply going down the road and getting a job at a different fleet.[CR-LF][CR-LF]It looks like the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will finally have one in place in 2020. It’s none too soon, as several factors point to the likelihood that there are more drivers out there under the influence of drugs than the official statistics indicate – and that it’s getting worse.[CR-LF]Last year, Quest Diagnostics, one of the primary labs used to conduct employment drug and alcohol tests, reported that the transportation and warehousing industry saw a 21% increase in positivity rates between 2015 and 2017. And that was before four semi-synthetic opioids (including hydrocodone) were added to the federally mandated drug-testing panel for safety-sensitive workers in January 2018.

For most of the nearly 30 years I’ve been covering trucking, the industry has been trying to get a federal clearinghouse put in place that will help prevent drivers who test positive for illegal drugs at one company from simply going down the road and getting a job at a different fleet.

It looks like the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will finally have one in place in 2020. It’s none too soon, as several factors point to the likelihood that there are more drivers out there under the influence of drugs than the official statistics indicate – and that it’s getting worse.