Sterling Healthcare Services Announces Its Name Change To Cordant Health Solutions ™

DENVER, Jan. 12, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, Sterling Healthcare Services, a leading toxicology company, announced that it is changing its name to Cordant Health Solutions™.

Since its initial formation in 2012, Cordant has rapidly expanded its geographic presence, now with five laboratories across the country, in addition to a workers' compensation division in Tampa, Florida, and a corporate headquarters in Denver, Colorado. Cordant is now one of the largest toxicology companies in the United States.

"Cordant was started with the belief that the fragmented toxicology industry could benefit from market organization and information sharing to create added value for stakeholders." said David A. Lowenberg, Chairman of the Board for Cordant Health Solutions. "Managed-care principles were lacking, and payers had not been engaged. We believe that by bringing the payer into the equation, providing our partners and clients with transparency, and having a very compliant offering, we can make a difference."

The company's geographic reach allows Cordant to provide efficient, high quality service and turnaround times to a national client base of prescribers, criminal justice entities, treatment centers, employers and workers' compensation payers.

First to join the Cordant network was Sterling Reference Laboratories in Tacoma, Washington, a leading laboratory known for its service to the criminal justice market and its certification by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Next, SECON Laboratories in Worcester, Massachusetts and Forensic Laboratories in Denver, Colorado, joined the network, both known for their pain management testing.  AFTS Labs in Long Island, New York, was acquired for its research and development capabilities and innovative testing methods using alternative modalities such as oral fluid, hair, and blood. Most recently, Cordant welcomed Norchem Laboratory in Flagstaff, Arizona, to the network. Norchem specializes in the criminal justice industry with a unique substance abuse case management program known as Norchem Sentry™.

"Medication fraud and abuse, including a lack of patient adherence to prescribed medications, has cost the United States between $250 and $300 billion annually, which is a huge strain on our healthcare system.  An even bigger side effect, though, is the lost lives," said Sue Sommer, President and CEO of Cordant. "It is our goal to bring together comprehensive tools and solutions to provide guidance to help prescribers, health plans, criminal justice agencies and workers' compensation organizations manage this problem.  We help our customers understand the right test, at the right time, for the right information, which in turn, will contribute to reducing unnecessary testing and overprescribing."

Cordant currently offers toxicology testing on all four sample modalities including blood, oral fluid, hair and urine, as well as coordinated genetic testing.

"Providing guidance on testing protocols based on well established and published guidelines has become a cornerstone of the service that we provide to our prescriber clients." says Sommer.

These protocols give options to the prescriber based on the risk level of a patient and provide guidance as to which testing modality may be the most effective. The protocols are designed to help reduce costs by reducing unneeded testing on lower risk patients and to enhance medication monitoring by testing higher risk patients more frequently, as well as using specimens other than urine to overcome some of the common issues associated with urine drug testing, such as adulteration and substitution.

"It's not just the healthcare industries that are being affected.  The criminal justice and workers' compensation industries have also felt the challenge of monitoring more people with fewer resources," said Sommer. "We are focused on all of these groups to offer solutions and testing options that help them work more efficiently and effectively."

To find out more about Cordant visit the new website at cordantsolutions.com.

About Cordant Health Solutions

Cordant Health Solutions™ is setting its sights on toxicology innovation. Its portfolio ranges from medication monitoring and criminal justice drug testing, to pre-employment drug screening, addiction and treatment-center drug testing, workers' compensation case management and reference lab solutions. As a reliable partner, Cordant provides testing protocols and digital case-management tools to help its customers become more efficient and effective. With its high-value services and intelligent solutions, Cordant strives to change the way its clients use toxicology results and assist its clients in navigating the ever-changing industries in which they operate.

For further information about Cordant, visit cordantsolutions.com

Media contact:

John Constantine
VP of Marketing
Cordant Health Solutions
[email protected]
317-538-5093

SOURCE Sterling Healthcare Services