1) Clinic Protocol

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• To reduce the risk of spreading the contagious disease known as COVID-19, or Coronavirus we ask patients coming into the office to do the following:

  • Please stay home if you have symptoms of fever, cough, shortness of breath, loss of taste and smell, or other symptoms of COVID-19. Call the office to talk to Dr. Eaman about what to do next if you have these symptoms

    (see part 2 for information on testing when symptomatic).

  • Please use the call box when you arrive to an appointment. We would like to limit overlap of patients as much as possible. Even if the door or elevator is available, using the call box will let us know you are here. If we are running behind, we may ask you wait in the waiting room or in your car depending on patient volume.

  • Unless absolutely necessary, please do not bring friends or family members. The more people in the office, the higher the risk of infection. For those who need help (e.g. children, vulnerable elders, those who need interpreters) please limit assistance to one person or one parent.

  • Please always wear a mask over both your nose and mouth and keep this on unless asked to remove it for medical reasons. There may be exceptions to this rule, but they should be rare. Dr. Eaman and Kim will be both be wearing masks as well.

• Any office visit that can be made virtually (phone or video) will be done so (e.g. routine medication follow-ups).

 

2) Access to testing for current infection (PCR testing)

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• What is PCR testing? PCR testing for COVID-19 is a swab that goes from the nostril to the back of your nasopharynx to find evidence of the Coronavirus. A positive PCR test is very accurate in telling us if you have the infection. However, a negative PCR test doesn’t guarantee you do not have the infection and it may mean the test just didn’t get enough viral material to test positive. This test is also most accurate after several days of COVID-like symptoms.

• If you are having symptoms of infection, visit this CDC website and please contact the office by phone, text or email. Dr. Eaman can assess if testing is appropriate for you.

• You can get testing at any of the testing centers at King County listed here.

• You can also get a self-testing kit from Dr. Eaman’s office.

• If you do not have insurance, the cost of testing is free (covered by the government). If you do have insurance, the test should be covered but you may want to call the plan first to verify this.

• If you test negative but your symptoms are convincing, a retest a few days later may be helpful, or you may want to consider antibody testing at a later date (see part 3).

• Testing by PCR when you are NOT symptomatic may or may not result in a useful test but can and has been done to help find asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic carriers.

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3) Access to testing for prior or resolved infection (antibody testing)

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• What is antibody testing? Antibody testing is a blood test to for antibodies your body makes to fight off the infection.

  If you have a negative antibody test, it is very likely you did not have Coronavirus. If you have a positive antibody test, it is not entirely clear if you had COVID-19 as other Coronaviruses (such as those that cause more common colds) can make this test look positive.

• If you do not have insurance, the cost of testing is free (covered by the government). If you do have insurance, the test may or may not be covered. The cash cost for this test from Dr. Eaman’s office is approximately $56 (cost subject to change).

• Important to note, we do not know if antibodies to this novel Coronavirus are protective against future infection. This is the subject of a lot of research right now.

 

If you have any questions about how Oodle Family Medicine is addressing COVID-19 or testing please don’t hesitate to contact us.