What is Titer Testing?
A titer test is a blood test that detects the presence and levels of certain antibodies in an individual’s blood stream. The test is often done to determine if the individual is immune to a certain virus or if they require a vaccination to increase their immunity. You may already have immunity to the virus that is being tested due to previous vaccinations or if you had contracted the disease in the past.
If a titer test reveals that your antibody count is lower than the acceptable immunity threshold, you may require a vaccine or booster to increase your immunity to that virus.
Why You’re Being Asked to Titer Test Your Employees
If your company operates in one of these industries, there is a good chance that your employees will need to prove immunity to certain viruses.
- Medical Device Sales and Repair
- Pharmaceutical Sales
- Hospitals or Medical Facilities
- Healthcare or Nurse Staffing
- Schools or Universities
- Public Health Organizations
- Hospice, Assisted Living, Nursing Homes or Home Care
While servicing these industries, you may be required to keep records of your employees’ proof of immunity against one or several different viruses or diseases. This is not a guideline but could be required by the Department of Health or specifically the facility that you’re servicing.
Your employees are being asked to provide documentation of their immunity in order to both protect the people they will encounter and to reduce liability for both your company and the facility they’re servicing. If your employees are not properly vaccinated, your company could face large fines for noncompliance and can be a direct cause of the spread of dangerous contagions. It is important to be compliant with these requirements in order to protect certain at-risk populations such as the sick, elderly and students.
What are Common Types of Viruses Titer Tests are Done For?
- Hepatitis A
- Hepatitis B
- Hepatitis C
- Chickenpox (Varicella)
- Rabies
- Measles, Mumps or Rubella
Your Employee has Low Titers, Now What?
Low Titers? No problem!
This is easily fixed be having a vaccination or booster for the virus they were being tested for. Some vaccinations require multiple doses that are spread apart over time to get the body to what is considered an acceptable immunity level.
Proving Immunity for Your Employees:
You have likely been made aware of which immunities your employees must have in order to access the facilities they must service. The credentialing requirements of each facility or industry will vary.
Your employees’ immunities can be displayed through proof of immunity documents. These documents include blood titer tests and / or previous or recent vaccinations. If your employee has insisted that they have had a certain vaccination, but has no record of that vaccination, then a blood titer test should be performed as a new record of immunity.
Once either you or your employee has obtained records of their vaccinations being up-to-date and/or a blood titer test demonstrating immunity to the necessary viruses, they should be medically cleared for the immunization portion of medical clearance.
Titer Testing Employees Can Be Time Consuming:
If your company decides to begin titer testing your employees, your team may be faced with several new administrative tasks (see examples below).
- Finding convenient labs or clinics for your employees to complete testing at
- Pre-screening your employees’ medical records to see if they do or do not require certain immunizations or titer tests
- Scheduling your employees for blood draw appointments
- Chasing down facilities for results
- Following-up on low titer results to complete vaccinations
- Oversee and ensure additional vaccine doses are administered to ensure your employees stay in compliance
NMS Health offers a solution for all titer testing, vaccination and vendor credentialing needs. While managing these processes in-house takes an average of 60 minutes per employee, NMS Heath shortens the process to just a few minutes. Within our ordering and tracking platform, Pod, your can quickly order the tests your employees need for anywhere in the U.S.
If you’d like to see if we could help your company, request more info here.
