Updated: Lexington doctor resumes drive-through coronavirus testing Wednesday
A Lexington physician is running a drive-through coronavirus testing center outside his office for the second time in a week.
Dr. John Richard of Bluegrass Extended Care Medicine will provide drive-up testing Wednesday from 9 a.m to around 4 p.m., the health care provider announced on its Facebook page. Testing will take place at 989 Governor’s Lane.
“If you are currently having symptoms, exposure, or [are] a healthcare worker and would like to get tested just come on by,” the post said.
The post also said that patients must be symptomatic to qualify for testing, and that those with insurance would be tested for free – as ordered by Gov. Andy Beshear.
Providing results to patients tested is “going to be very helpful to continuing social distancing we need, to identifying the people that need to be quarantined and diminishing the risks to people’s families and such,” Richard said as he worked at his first drive-through area Friday.
The Blue Grass announcement came one week after Integrity Extended Healthcare in Danville, Kentucky, launched a rare drive-through coronavirus testing program.
“We’re very busy and getting busier,” said Dr. Pallaki Ravi, a primary care physician at Integrity. “The coronavirus thing is kind of a shock to the whole world. It’s a shock to the community and health care workers as well.”
The facility’s drive-through program allows for about 40 to 60 tests per day after patients are prescreened by phone, Dr. Pallaki Ravi said, but with proper funding to take full advantage of Integrity’s resources, the facility could do as many as 100 tests per day if needed.
“The issue with drive-through testing is funding,” Ravi said. “We don’t get funding for specimen collection, personal protection equipment, or phone call screening.”
Ravi is also using Solaris Diagnostics for tests, but his practice is using Quest Diagnostics as well Patients are charged for the test by the lab, not Integrity, Ravi said. Results are coming back in 24 to 48 hours, he said.
Integrity announced on March 12 that it was introducing the new testing method, one that is not readily available nationwide yet.
The drive-through testing is available by appointment, but those looking to be tested have to be prescreened to assure they need of a test, according to a Facebook post from the provider.
“We’re only testing prescreened individuals who are having higher clinical suspicion which is the policy and recommendation per CDC,” Ravi said in a comment on the post.
Integrity Extended Healthcare cited the viral symptoms it checks for in the post:
- Fever
- Shortness of breath
- Cough
- Muscle aches
- Sore throat
- Runny nose
Ravi said he developed a screening tool that allows nurses to total signs of the virus up on a point scale and then determine if the patient needs to be tested.
“I’m actively changing that every day because I’m finding new things that need to be incorporated into that system,” Ravi said.
Prescreening and appointments are handled over the phone. Integrity Extended Healthcare’s number is (606) 303-4389.
“Call volumes are high,” Ravi said. “If we can’t immediately assist you, we will take your information down and call you.”
This story was originally published March 19, 2020 at 12:40 PM.