please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . july 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message type private industry urine drug monitoring founded midland tx headquarters baltimore md united states key people a. scott walton ceo todd garner coo jay zimmerman senior vice president and chief laboratory officer tony pino senior vice president managed care mike ziegler senior vice president sales thomas smith m.d. chief medical officer barbara senters chief compliance officer products rx guardian rx guardian cd website http www.ameritox.com ameritox is a company that provides physicians with urine drug monitoring and reporting services . headquartered in baltimore maryland the company also has a clia certified laboratory in greensboro north carolina . 1 ameritox offers urine drug testing and reporting services to help physicians determine if their chronic pain patients are taking their pain medications correctly . physicians use this information to identify potential medication misuse and abuse and make more informed decisions . ameritox s customer service and patient management support tools permit physicians to integrate medication monitoring into their practice . 2 contents 1 history 2 products 2.1 rx guardian cd 2.2 rx guardian insight report 3 research 3.1 patterns of drug use in the older chronic pain population 2012 3.2 healthcare costs and nonadherence among chronic opioid users 2011 3.3 high rates of inappropriate drug use in the chronic pain population 2009 4 civil settlement 5 references 6 external links history edit ameritox ltd. was founded in 1996 in midland texas as universal toxicology laboratories utl a federally certified drug testing facility and medical examiner toxicology laboratory . 1 utl identified a growing need for a more detailed way of monitoring the use of long term pain medications used by patients . the company became ameritox ltd. in 2003 . today ameritox claims to be the nation s largest provider of pain medication monitoring solutions for physicians . 3 products edit rx guardian cd edit rx guardian cd sm is now part of the rx guardian sm process . rx guardian cd sm features a unique reference database supported by a proprietary normalization algorithm . patients normalized results are compared against the reference database giving added confidence in assessing whether patients are taking their medications correctly . rx guardian insight report edit in 2012 ameritox launched the rx guardian insight report which according to a press release provides a concise summary of the most important elements of a patient s medication monitoring results . it also helps clinicians assess a patient s medication adherence over time by showing a chronology of previous rx guardian cd sm standard scores . 4 research edit ameritox s clinical research program investigates topics related to managing patients on chronic opioid therapy . studies include patterns of drug use in the older chronic pain population 2012 edit this poster was presented at the american pain society s annual meeting and showed a significant rate of potential non adherence in the older population supporting the need for routine urine drug monitoring in older adults in order to improve clinical decision making and enhance patient safety . 5 healthcare costs and nonadherence among chronic opioid users 2011 edit this study assessed the health economic burden of chronic opioid users and determined whether potential opioid regimen nonadherence is associated with increased healthcare costs . the study concludes that patients on chronic opioid therapy who were likely to be nonadherent to their prescription regimens according to urine drug monitoring results had significantly higher overall healthcare costs than patients who are likely adherent to their prescription regimen . 6 high rates of inappropriate drug use in the chronic pain population 2009 edit ameritox and the jefferson school of population health at thomas jefferson university conducted a national study to determine the rates of inappropriate use and likely abuse misuse and diversion of opioids among chronic pain patients as measured by urine drug testing in the clinical setting . the results showed that 75 % of patients in the study may not have been taking their pain medication consistent with their prescribed regimen . 7 civil settlement edit in 2010 the united states attorney robert e. o neill and ameritox ltd. reached an agreement to pay 16.3 million in a civil settlement that addressed allegations that it paid kickbacks to providers in order to induce them to refer medicare business . ameritox also entered into a 5 year corporate integrity agreement cia with the department of health & human services office of inspector general hhs oig . among other things the cia requires the company to engage an independent review organization to scrutinize its contractual relationships . 8 references edit a b businessweek profile of ameritox llc . hancock jay january 23 2011 . ameritox lab case shows why health system bleeds money . the baltimore sun . ameritox s history . 1 http www.ameritox.com wp content uploads older chronic pain population poster final1.pdf http www.ajmc.com media pdf ajmc 2011jan leider 32to40.pdf permanent dead link high rates of inappropriate drug use in the chronic pain population population health management . august 2009 . tampa bay business journal external links edit ameritox official website rx guardian microsite national study confirming the importance of routine pain medication monitoring for chronic pain patients rx guardiansm with next generation rx guardian cdsm technology helps clinicians provide safe appropriate treatment for chronic pain sufferers retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title ameritox & oldid 743842395 categories companies based in baltimorehidden categories all articles with dead 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