What Are Consortium / Third Party Administrators (C/TPAs)?
Third Party Administrator and Consortium Definition
- The term “Third Party Administrator” is an entity that coordinates several services for employers to maintain a drug testing and/or drug free workplace program.
- The term “Consortium” stands for a grouping of employers in the drug testing arena. The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) coined the phrase Consortium/Third Party Administrators, or C/TPA when they rewrote the USDOT drug and alcohol testing regulations (49 CFR Part 40) in 2001.
What Do C/TPAs Do?
“Consortium/Third-Party Administrators (C/TPAs) manage all, or part, of an employer’s DOT drug and alcohol testing program, sometimes including maintaining required testing records. They perform tasks as agreed to by the employer to assist in implementing the drug and alcohol testing program and to help keep the employer compliant with the DOT/FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Testing rules and regulations”, according the FMCSA website. In one random testing pool, the C/TPA manages the USDOT required random testing of multiple employers and owner operators. It is a requirement for owner operators to be enrolled in a C/TPA Consortium for random drug and alcohol testing. Non-DOT employers can also engage a C/TPA for management of random testing programs. This usually occurs within a union as an example.
C/TPAs are expected to be a professional company with advanced knowledge and expertise in drug and alcohol testing regulation and best practices. Employers hire C/TPAs to keep them safe and in compliance with all federal regulations. Some C/TPAs are local, some regional, and some national. Compliance with regulation is ultimately the employers’ responsibility even when an employer is hiring a C/TPA to manage and administer the aspects of the drug and alcohol testing program. Employers can be held responsible for service agent (including C/TPA) errors and resulting civil penalty actions for not being compliant with regulations.
What is a Service Agent?
Service agents are vendors that are involved in providing various drug and alcohol testing services. Vendors help the employer to implement USDOT regulations.
These might include:
- Urine Collector
- Laboratory
- Medical Review Officer (MRO)
- Screening Test Technician (STT)
- Breath Alcohol Technician (BAT)
- Substance Abuse Professional (SAP)
- Drug Free Workplace Policy Consultant
The TPA coordinates a variety of drug and alcohol testing services for employers and is also considered a service agent. These services can include random selections, preparation of annual Management Information System (MIS) reports, as well as coordinating urine collections, lab testing, MRO services, alcohol testing, and SAP evaluations. A C/TPA must ensure that its service agents are qualified and the services it provides comply with USDOT regulations.
What Is the Difference Between TPA and C/TPA?
There isn’t a difference. TPA is the original name used for companies back in the 1990s, the early adopters of selling drug testing. Consortium was added by the USDOT in 2001 when the USDOT drug testing rules were rewritten, mainly for clarity. The term “Consortium/Third Party Administrator” came about with the 2001 version of 49 CFR Part 40.
Consortium / Third Party Administrators and the Clearinghouse
Employers will be able to delegate some of their Clearinghouse responsibilities to the C/TPA. The employer will need to authorize and designate their C/TPA in the Clearinghouse to allow the C/TPA to perform Clearinghouse functions. If an employer uses a C/TPA to comply with its reporting responsibilities, the employer remains responsible for ensuring that the C/TPA makes the required reports. Employers utilizing the C/TPA other than owner operators is optional.
All users in the Clearinghouse, employers and C/TPA’s, must obtain their own unique login.gov credentials to access the Clearinghouse, this is an important security feature of the Clearinghouse database. The Consortium / Third Party Administrator (C/TPA) typically helps employers manage their drug and alcohol testing programs. This includes the drug testing policies, random drug testing, guidance and consultation. The C/TPA is coordinates all drug and alcohol testing services including collection, laboratory testing and medical review officer verification and reporting. T the C/TPA can also assist employers to maintain compliance with the Clearinghouse.
10 C/TPA Clearinghouse Responsibilities
- The C/TPA registers as a user in the Clearinghouse and assigns any staff as assistants in the Clearinghouse
- The C/TPA can assist the employers in requesting drivers to go into the Clearinghouse and consent for full queries
- The C/TPA can request driver queries on behalf of the employer
- The C/TPA will report on owner operator drug and alcohol testing violations. This is required for the owner operator to select the C/TPA and have the C/TPA report violations
- The C/TPA can assist employers in reporting employer determined refusals to test
- The C/TPA can assist employers in reporting alcohol test violations
- The C/TPA can assist employers in reporting actual knowledge violations
- The C/TPA can assist employer in reporting on the negative return to duty test
- The C/TPA can assist employers in reporting the completion of the SAP required follow-up
- The C/TPA can offer to employers’ guidance, consultation and training to help employers navigate the Clearinghouse
What to Look for in a C/TPA
When looking for a C/TPA, list what services you need. This will depend greatly on your operation, along with some other questions:
- Do you have DOT-regulated employees?
- Do you have both DOT and non-DOT regulated employees?
- Are you in a state with Drug-Free Workplace program requirements?
- Do you operate in one state or multiple states?
As you answer these questions and clearly list what services you need, you can then start matching up qualified C/TPAs that can provide these services.
Some of the basics in evaluating a prospective C/TPA to work with you help to ensure your employer drug testing program includes:
- insurance coverage
- qualification
- certification
- experience
- the ability to handle your specific needs as an employer
Depending on the state(s) in which you are located for your non-DOT drug testing program, the C/TPA must have knowledge of the state law and expertise in any state Drug-Free Workplace program requirements. Many states offer discounts on workers’ compensation insurance when the employer implements a comprehensive drug-free workplace program; if you are taking advantage of these programs and receiving the discount, you will want a C/TPA who has knowledge and experience with that particular state program.
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