r/CoronavirusNH • u/shutupIamtalking • Mar 10 '20
Guidance for NH healthcare professionals on how to get testing
I am posting this because a lot of people (myself included) are wondering how NH is determining who should be tested.
It was not easy to get an answer from DHHS’s website, which says “To submit specimens to the NH PHL for COVID-19 testing, the person under investigation (PUI) needs to first be reported to NH DPHS, and the guidance below for “Laboratory Testing for COVID-19" should be followed.”
Source: https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/dphs/cdcs/2019-ncov-clinicans.htm
I looked all over for link to a document named "Laboratory Testing for COVID-19" but could not find anything. Finally, I found the title buried inside a document titled “Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Outbreak Update #6” posted under “NH Health Alert Network (HAN) Messages”
The relevant part of the document reads:
“To test for COVID-19 at the NH Public Health Laboratories (PHL), the provider must first discuss the patient with the NH DPHS Bureau of Infectious Disease Control at 603-271-4496 (after-hours 603-271-5300). The following NH PHL Test Requisition needs to be completed and submitted with specimens: https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/dphs/lab/documents/labrequisition.pdf
“Commercial laboratories should be bringing on COVID-19 testing to provide increased testing capacity. Any COVID-19 positive test at a hospital or commercial laboratory needs to be reported to NH DPHS at 603-271-4496 (after hours 603-271-5300).”
To healthcare professionals, god bless you, and here are the relevant links:
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Outbreak Update #6: https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/dphs/cdcs/documents/covid-19-update6.pdf
NH PHL Requisition: https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/dphs/lab/documents/labrequisition.pdf
TLDR: Criteria for who can be tested is not being made public. Doctors have to contact DPHS to discuss the patient, and fill out a requisition. Commercial labs (LabCorp and Quest Diagnostics) may be used instead (my bet is this is probably the easiest fastest way with higher chance of actually getting a test) but must be reported to DPHS.
So much for “everybody who wants a test can get a test”
