We do have a limited quantity of rapid tests available. Because these are scarce and need to be used on the proper patient population, we must adhere to the FDA EUA guidelines. In order to get the test, you must either:

Have symptoms (cough, sore throat, body aches, fever, chills) or Have had an actual exposure (someone you were in contact with who has tested positive for COVID-19)

The provider will talk to you and decide if you qualify. If you qualify, we will also send another swab out (molecular or PCR swab) to our lab for additional confirmation. Because this virus is so new, all rapid tests are not as accurate as our lab sent PCR tests, so we want to ensure that you get an accurate result.

We use the Sofia SARS-CoV-2 antigen FIA by Quidel test. This tests for the presence of the COVID-19 RNA. We usually do nasopharyngeal swab to detect this (although we can also do oropharyngeal, as well). According to the FDA EUA, they have a 99.5% agreement with the PCR lab swabs. However, we do not feel as confident as those numbers (which were self-reported and a very small sample size of 209 patients to the FDA). We feel that they have more like an 85% accuracy (per our own data of over 20,000 patients). This is the reason we ALWAYS send the PCR lab swabs to the lab on every patient. This is because if you are positive for with the rapid, it could be a false positive. Likewise, if you are negative with a rapid test, it could turn out that your PCR is positive and you do have COVID-19. This is why it is important to continue to isolate even after the rapid if you are having symptoms.

Please read the fact sheet for patients here and posted around our testing facility. We may ask you to verbally consent that you have read the fact sheet prior to getting the test.