Enterprise State Employee Drug and Alcohol Testing

The State of Ohio Department of Administrative Services (DAS) is soliciting proposals for a comprehensive drug and alcohol testing services contract to support the State Drug-Free Workplace Services Program. The procurement seeks a contractor to provide approximately 12,000-14,000 drug and/or alcohol tests annually for employees across 90 state agencies, boards, and commissions. Required services include both non-regulated and regulated testing scenarios such as pre-employment, reasonable suspicion, return to duty, workers' compensation, and random testing, with compliance mandated under Ohio Drug-Free Workforce Policy and the Federal Omnibus Transportation Employee Testing Act. The contractor must establish a network of collection sites both in and out of Ohio, utilize laboratories certified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and provide Medical Review Officers to review confirmed positive results. Evaluation criteria will be based on a total possible score of 1,150 points, with 900 points allocated to technical requirements and 250 points for cost, focusing on the contractor's technical capabilities, experience, staffing, and proposed pricing. The Request for Proposals was posted on March 19, 2025, with proposals due by April 16, 2025, and the anticipated contract term running from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2029.

While no specific set-aside designations were explicitly mentioned in the documentation, the contract appears open to qualified vendors meeting comprehensive technical and security requirements. Proposers must demonstrate robust data security capabilities, including compliance with NIST 800-53 and ISO 27001 standards, and implement extensive privacy protections for sensitive state employee information. The cost proposal indicates potential annual testing volumes that could generate significant revenue, with pricing structures including $12,000 annually for in-state five-panel drug tests and $100 per specimen for out-of-state testing. Contractors will be required to pass rigorous background investigations, maintain multifactor authentication, and encrypt data both in transit and at rest. The state will not reimburse additional expenses, and the contract includes potential renewal options for up to one additional month and potentially three additional years, contingent upon satisfactory performance and state needs. While no incumbent vendor was identified, the comprehensive collection site network spans 88 Ohio counties, suggesting an established infrastructure for medical testing services.