Patients provide a urine sample at every scheduled clinic visit as a standard part of ongoing addiction care.

Urine drug testing (UDT) frequency matches your visit schedule:

• Initial & Stabilization Phases: Weekly or bi-weekly tests during early care.
• Maintenance Phase: Monthly tests during routine follow-up visits.

Urine screens test for prescribed treatment medications, illicit opioids (fentanyl, heroin, morphine), stimulants (methamphetamine, cocaine), sedatives (benzodiazepines), kratom/7-OH, and other controlled substances.

Target panels are customized based on drug-drug interaction risks, reported history, medication compliance monitoring, and community overdose trends.

Blood testing is performed to identify underlying health conditions—such as liver inflammation, kidney strain, or infectious diseases—that could impact medication safety.

• Initial Draw: Blood is typically drawn during your second clinic visit.
• Ongoing Frequency: Re-screenings are conducted annually or as clinically indicated.
• Target Panels: Tests assess liver function, kidney health, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), HIV, and Hepatitis B & C. Patients needing specialized care for detected conditions receive direct referrals to primary or specialty care providers.

Evidence & Authoritative Reference: The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend baseline screening for Hepatitis C and HIV in all patients entering substance use treatment to enable early medical intervention (NIDA Viral Hepatitis & HIV Guidelines).

Breathalyzer testing ensures alcohol is not currently in your system, preventing dangerous central nervous system depression when taking prescription medications.

Combining alcohol with buprenorphine, sedatives, or illicit substances significantly increases the risk of severe respiratory depression and accidental overdose.

Evidence & Authoritative Reference: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns against combining central nervous system depressants like alcohol with opioid use disorder medications due to heightened risks of sedation, respiratory failure, and death (FDA Buprenorphine Safety Information).

No. Ideal Option operates on a non-judgmental, non-punitive harm-reduction model, and patients are never expelled for return-to-use episodes or positive drug tests.

Addiction is recognized as a chronic, relapsing brain disorder. A positive test result triggers a collaborative review of your treatment plan—such as adjusting medication dosage, increasing visit frequency, or adding behavioral counseling—to better support your recovery.

Evidence & Authoritative Reference: Guidelines from SAMHSA and NIH explicitly advise providers against discontinuing MOUD solely due to positive drug screens, as maintaining patients on medication saves lives and reduces fatal overdose risk (NIH NIDA Science of Addiction).

You can access your lab results through the secure Healow mobile app or the Ideal Option Patient Portal desktop site.

• Provider Review: Your care provider reviews all lab results with you during scheduled visits.
• Healow Mobile App: Download the Healow app (App Store/Google Play), enter Practice Code DJHFAD, verify your identity, and navigate to My Records.
• Patient Portal (Desktop): Log in here, select Medical Records > Personal Health Record, choose your date range, and view, save, or print your results as a PDF.

Note: You must have an email address on file with Ideal Option in order to access the portal. You can add your email using the kiosk in the clinic at your next visit or contact us to provide your email. 

You can also complete this form to request your records. Please note that processing can take up to 3 weeks.