Hershey Medical Center begins all-admissions COVID-19 testing, antigen testing pilot
Hershey Medical Center began testing all admitted patients for COVID-19 on Feb. 17.
The Medical Center is using a combination of laboratory polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing and a three-day point of care COVID-19 antigen testing pilot in the Adult Emergency Department.
Through Friday, Feb. 19, Adult Emergency Department staff will test different workflows to determine the best way to bring point-of-care COVID-19 antigen testing into the Medical Center.
The antigen test in PowerChart, called COVID-19 Coronavirus Antigen POC (ED), will deliver rapid results.
Leaders hope that adding COVID-19 antigen testing to the emergency department will facilitate rapid detection of COVID positive patients, ensure appropriate use of confirmatory PCR testing and improve patient admissions flow.
Infectious Disease leaders have created a guidance document to help identify appropriate antigen and PCR testing workflows for different patient populations. Some adult patients who are admitted from the emergency department will move quickly to their rooms based on antigen testing results. Others, especially those moving to shared rooms, will need to wait for subsequent PCR results prior to room placement. The guidance document contains important details about this process.
All non-emergency department direct admissions and all pediatric admissions will begin COVID-19 PCR testing upon admission using the “COVID-19 Coronavirus Same Day” test order. These patients must be placed on contact/droplet precautions until their test results are back.
Review the guidance and related memo for further details about the pilot and use of COVID-19 antigen testing.
Questions about the Adult Emergency Department pilot should be directed to Dr. Susan Promes. Questions about the guidance document should go to Dr. Cynthia Whitener and general process questions to Gwen Howell.
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