SAMSHA vs CLIA Labs

To be in compliance is to know the difference…………

“There are two types of lab certifications you’ll hear about — SAMHSA and CLIA. A SAMHSA-certified lab meets strict federal forensic standards, which means the results are legally defensible and required for DOT and many court cases. A CLIA-certified lab meets medical standards for patient care, which is great for healthcare, but those results often won’t hold up in court or for DOT compliance.

SAMHSA-Certified vs. CLIA-Certified Labs for Drug Testing

Feature	SAMHSA-Certified Lab	CLIA-Certified Lab
Purpose	Forensic & legally defensible drug testing	Medical & diagnostic laboratory testing
Certification Body	Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (HHS)	Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) under Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments
Primary Use	DOT-regulated testing, federal workplace programs, court-ordered testing	Patient care, clinical diagnosis, medical  monitoring
Chain of Custody	Required-strict documentation for every transfer of specimen	Emphasizes overall quality assurance but does not specify exact forms or processes for custody
Testing Standards	Must meet federal forensic standards & undergo rigorous proficiency testing	Must meet medical laboratory quality standards
Conf Method	GC/MS or LC/MS/MS required for positive results	Confirmation optional depending on test purpose cutoff levels differ from SAMSHA
Legal Defensibility	Yes-results hold up in court & meet DOT/federal guidelines	No-results may not be accepted in legal or DOT contexts
Specimen Types	Urine, oral fluid per (DOT & federal guidelines)	Blood, urine, saliva, other clinical specimens
Example Use	Pre-employment DOT test, probation drug screen	Hospital toxicology panel for a patient