04/16/2020
COVID-19 antibody testing* is available today at Tuality Physicians!
Similar to a blood sugar test, a small drop of blood is obtained from your finger and placed on a testing device. Within 15-minutes, we may help answer:
Have I ever had COVID-19?**
Are my current symptoms that started 4+ days ago caused by COVID-19? **
Am I a silent carrier? **
Am I immune? ***
Call 503-640-3724 to schedule a drive-through urgent care appointment with one of our medical providers.
Pricing: The test costs $60 plus a standard urgent care appointment fee***
Medicine, laws, and health insurance are really complex! So, I apologize in advance for these required legal disclaimers:
*At the time of writing, there are no FDA-approved COVID-19 antibody tests. However, we offer a “validated” test that has been submitted to the FDA for evaluation, but has not yet been fully reviewed. Tuality Physicians believes the test is reliable after reviewing the manufacturer's data and after performing its own small-scale internal validation. Manufacturer IgG sensitivity: 100.0%, specificity: 99.5%; IgM sensitivity 91.8%, specificity 99.2% n=902. We personally found IgG testing to be 100% sensitive and 100% specific using five negative controls and one positive. IgM was not evaluated by us.
**The FDA and Tuality Physicians agree that results from antibody testing should not be used as the sole basis to diagnose or exclude SARS-CoV-2 infection or to inform infection status. Clinical diagnosis must be made in conjunction with medical expertise and other confirmatory laboratory tests if clinically necessary. For example, at 4 days of symptoms, IgM sensitivity is approximately 70% and specificity is >90%. Accuracy of the test depends on the timing of a patient's symptoms, the prevalence of the disease in the community, and the skill of the test administrator. Interpretation and making medical decisions with the test results requires expertise. Fortunately, our medical providers are very good at it.
***For almost all other viruses, a positive IgG means that a person is immune, but this has not yet been proven for COVID-19. See last disclaimer, also.
****Urgent care “Evaluation & Management” fees are usually $265 for a new patient or $182 for established patients. Appointment fees are determined by Medicare/CMS guidelines and may (but are unlikely) to be higher depending on medical complexity. Though we believe these tests and appointments will be covered by most private and government insurance plans, it is not guaranteed. The patient owes the amount not covered by insurance. As with all medical appointments and labs, co-pays, co-insurance, deductibles, and insurance network eligibility will affect the amount you may owe after insurance.
If you don't have insurance, be sure to ask about same-day-pay discounts.
We are unable to offer the testing without an “Evaluation & Management” (i.e. an urgent care appointment) due to FDA requirements; the test be administered and interpreted by a licensed medical professional.
