Lessons Learned from Onboarding Cannabis Breath Testing

With our cannabis breath test, Hound Labs is introducing brand new technology to drug testing, a market now more than 30 years in the making. This is a challenging, fun, informative, and exciting endeavor. What follows the launch of a new testing method is typically the same adoption curve that accompanies most new technologies. In this model of product adoption, most of the mainstream market is comprised of pragmatists, traditionalists, and skeptics. The early market, however, is often occupied by innovators, visionaries, and tech enthusiasts.

Every organization measures certain factors to determine its sweet spot on the new product adoption curve. But early adopters often find a unique advantage that gives them a competitive edge – a chance to invest in a new solution, to influence how that solution takes shape, and to gain a leg up in talent acquisition and retention.

Through initial customer onboarding sessions, our Customer Success team has the privilege of accessing direct voice of customer (VOC) feedback from our early adopters. These critical observations keep us agile and responsive as we continue to expand our product rollout. Here are three takeaways we’ve learned from clients who have successfully implemented cannabis breath testing programs.

DIGITAL TOUCHSCREEN IS AN EFFICIENT TIME SAVER

The Hound^® system is the first drug testing solution to feature a smart base station equipped with a touchscreen that displays prompts throughout the collection process. Early adopter input has been critical in the development of the user interface, contributing feedback to support an intuitive workflow and user experience. We have combined the breath test, collection equipment, on-screen instructions, and lab integration into a single system-guided process. This intuitive, easy-to-follow, guided collection eases the burden on collectors and improves transparency for those being tested.

The touchscreen facilitates easy collections even when someone is not yet familiar with the product or drug test collections in general. All steps appear automatically on the screen in the order they need to be completed. With our touchscreen, users can easily glide through the collection process at their own pace by simply following the on-screen directions.

The touchscreen helps eliminate the slow, manual, and tedious process of completing a standard 5-part chain of custody form. The screen prompts a collector to enter all the necessary information to generate the electronic Chain of Custody Form (eCCF) directly through the system. The test information, along with the eCCF, is then seamlessly sent to the testing lab and to our cloud-based Retriever^™ results portal for easy access by our customers. Once the lab completes the testing, results can be accessed on our Retriever platform or through the customer’s Medical Review Officer (MRO). The entirely paperless process streamlines the collection and potentially reduces errors associated with standard paper-based CCF processes.

TRAINING MEDIUMS MATTER

Just like students, our customers learn in different ways. Some are tactile learners and prefer to request in-person or remote assistance so they can practice collections in real-time. Some clients rely heavily on audio-visual tools like self-guided videos or on-demand webinars so they can pace themselves accordingly. But all our clients have access to, and the support of, our digital Learning Management System (LMS). Although these digital training modules are a requirement for collectors to leverage our solution, we’ve found that customers of all sizes – from small businesses to Fortune 500 organizations – appreciate the opportunity to tailor their training to best match their workplace culture and/or employee preferences.

We’ve prioritized creating and updating these deliverables since day one, but we’ve become more agile at providing the right information in the right way to meet the unique needs of a specific audience. In fact, we received feedback from customers that a la carte collector assets would be helpful. With the help of several internal teams here at Hound Labs, we created a digital collector portal containing all the assets a collector might need to successfully complete a collection.

SHOW, NOT JUST TELL

Adopting and implementing any new technology comes with a learning curve. Think of the first time you installed a smart home security system. Not only did you need to read manuals, but you likely also turned to videos to help demonstrate each step. This is precisely the feedback clients have relayed to us during their onboarding sessions.

Clients have expressed the need for written assets to help them understand the details of a collection, but they also requested supplemental videos for visual learning at their own pace. For example, a clinic in New Mexico told us, “Having videos for more self-directed learning would be beneficial when on-site trainers are not available.” So, we’ve been developing short-form, quick-hit, topically-driven videos to assist our clients and collectors when they prefer or need to be independent learners.

These videos can be found with our other training assets on our collector portal. They can be watched all together, piece by piece as supplemental education, or as a refresher when a specific question arises. Showing, not just telling, through videos is another way we’ve received and utilized early adopter feedback to create solutions that ensure long-term success for all customers.

AGILITY + FLEXIBILITY

The introduction of breath testing to the drug testing market finally presents an alternative to conventional cannabis testing methods. By isolating use to the hours specifically surrounding the workday, breath testing gives employers a way to successfully achieve the dual and previously conflicting goals of:

1. Testing for cannabis to deter use and maintain safety 
2. Establishing fair policies to recruit and retain much-needed talent 

Our early adopters support our entry to the market and align with our mission to solve one of the most complex and unintended challenges of rapid cannabis legalization: accurately differentiating between potentially high-risk workday use and largely irrelevant off-the-job cannabis use. 

Just as the drug testing industry has evolved over the past 30+ years, we will continue to listen, respond, and adapt to the needs of our customers. Together, we’ll observe the impact that accompanies the expansion of the most groundbreaking cannabis testing solution in the modern testing era. 

If you are interested in bringing the Hound ^® solution to your organization, contact our experienced team to get started.