Coronavirus Home Testing to Help People Avoid Trips to the Emergency Room

Telemedicine is becoming very popular in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. One company is now bringing COVID-19 testing to your home. The goal is to provide urgent care immediately and help patients avoid trips to the emergency room.

Katrina Ward has had a cough, a fever, and other symptoms of COVID-19. “I’ve been losing like my taste buds. I lost like about 12 pounds. I haven’t been able to eat,” she says.

Katrina lives in the New Orleans area, a hotspot for cases. She scheduled an appointment with Ready Responders, an on-demand service that usually treats common non-emergency conditions from colds to blood pressure issues in the home.

Since Katrina may have the coronavirus, responders arrived wearing gowns, gloves, and specialized masks to protect themselves and patients.

According to Olan Soremekun, the chief medical officer of Ready Responders, “Getting into the home, our responders will perform an assessment, talk to the patient about their signs and symptoms, and at that point in time we’ll initiate a telehealth visit with a provider on the other end of the platform to help guide the care that the patient receives in the home.”

And just this week, Ready Responders is now able to perform coronavirus testing at home. The COVID-19 test being used by Ready Responders is available under the FDA’s emergency use authorization. The goal is to have patients avoid the emergency room if possible, while still getting the care they need. “We screen patients and we ensure that they don’t have an emergency that requires them to be in a hospital,” says Soremekun. “We do believe that our model is actually well suited to help decompress the hospitals, help keep patients at home.”

The test is sent to a certified lab. Katrina can expect her results in one to three days.

Ready Responders says it accepts insurance, including Medicare and Medicaid, even if considered an out-of-network provider. Right now the company’s services are available in Louisiana and Nevada, and it’s working to expand to other parts of the U.S.