COVID-19 COMMERCIAL TESTING
LabCorp and
Quest Diagnostics have both prepared tests for COVID-19.
For both companies, swabs must be collected by physicians. Swabs will not be collected at Patient Service Centers, they will only be collected from physician offices. Proper collection requires isolation rooms and full PPE for all staff involved.
DO NOT SEND PATIENTS TO THE ED FOR THESE TESTS
. Our EDs are still using the state laboratory for this test, which provides a quicker turnaround time but requires epidemiological questions to be answered before the test is approved.
LabCorp testing is
available now.
CLICK HERE for more details.
UPDATE:
Quest Diagnostics testing has been
limited to the West Coast until Monday, March 16th.
CLICK HERE for more details.
PATIENT QUESTIONS
For all
patients with COVID 19-related questions, we are advising all members of our Medical Staff to refer their patients to the
NJ Dept. of Health COVID-19 Hotline:
1 (800) 222-1222.
The hotline is staffed
24 hours/day with trained medical professionals from the
New Jersey Poison Information and Education System, a division of the
Department of Emergency Medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. The team can accommodate callers in
multiple languages.
CURTAILED ACTIVITIES:
As part of our efforts to keep our communities and each other safe while containing COVID-19, we ask that you:
- Assess all non-essential internal and external events, as well as large-scale conferences and meetings.
- Curtail and/or cancel events as deemed appropriate.
Upcoming Medical Staff Events Cancelled/Postponed
- CHOPeration: RWJUH (scheduled for Tuesday, 3/10) - POSTPONED (until Tuesday, September 15th)
- Rutgers/RWJ Fearless Together (scheduled for Sunday, 3/22) - POSTPONED (date TBA)
- RWJUH Doctors' Day Dinner/Quarterly Meeting (scheduled for Monday, 3/30) - POSTPONED (date TBA)
- NJ Palliative Care Symposium (scheduled for Saturday, 5/2) - POSTPONED (date TBA)
RWJBH TRAVEL POLICY:
RWJBarnabas Health is instituting the following
travel restrictions for employees and employed physicians, effective immediately. The restrictions will remain in place until May 1, 2020, or until further guidance is issued.
These guidelines are recommended for all credentialed members of the Medical Staff.
Work Travel
RWJBH is establishing a
ban on all domestic and international work-related travel and business/academic attendance at meetings, conferences, etc.
Personal International Travel
If you have upcoming
personal travel plans that include time in restricted travel countries, including – as of March 6 – China, South Korea, Iran and Italy, we strongly encourage you to reschedule plans that involve traveling to or transiting through these countries.
Before leaving for
personal travel plans to these or any other
countries not listed above, you must
notify your facility’s Corporate Care/Employee Health Services before you leave and check in upon your return.
If you decide to travel to the
restricted travel countries or will be transiting through them, you must be
cleared before returning to work. You may be subject to a
14-day quarantine beginning the day after your last day in any of the countries listed above. Additional countries may be added to this list at any time, including during your travels.
Personal Domestic Travel
The CDC is
not currently restricting travel to other states in the U.S., even those with higher numbers of confirmed cases. However, if you are traveling to one of the
higher profile states, including Washington State, Oregon or California, you must
notify your facility’s Corporate Care/Employee Health Services before you leave and check in upon your return.
Please note that these decisions regarding travel restrictions are subject to change as the outbreak evolves.
CLICK HERE for more details on RWJBH's revised travel policy.
CONSUMER ACCESS TO TESTING:
Governor Phil Murphy has announced efforts to
support consumer access to
COVID-19 screening, testing, and testing-related services.
The Administration's efforts
waive consumer cost sharing for all medically necessary COVID-19 testing, as well as services related to testing. This waiver includes emergency room, urgent care, and office visits related to COVID-19 testing for the state’s individual, small and large group markets; the State Health Benefits and School Employee Health Benefits Plans; NJ FamilyCare’s CHIP population; and the state's uninsured population, eligible for the Charity Care program.
