NORTH ATTLEBOROUGH – As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to infect thousands of people between Rhode Island and Massachusetts, Tristan Medical North Attleboro Care Center CEO Dr. Ryan Welter, like most medical professionals, wants to see as many people tested for the virus as possible.
That way, Welter said Wednesday to Providence Business News, the community will know for sure where the virus is.
“We need to unveil ourselves and get some real-time evidence as much as possible so that we can, hopefully, get people back to work at some point,” Welter said.
Now, Welter’s primary and urgent care facility, in addition to the nasal swab testing, has new testing capabilities that patients can have done onsite at Tristan Medical and will help determine if people are showing signs of the virus within their systems in a short amount of time.
Tristan Medical purchased more than $10,000 worth of Lungene Rapid Test kits new to the market that perform blood tests to see if there are any antibodies to the virus in the blood, Welter said, and results are found in 15 minutes’ time.
The blood tests tests are a “great alternative” to the swabs, which are prioritized for those who are showing symptoms of the virus, Welter said, and those swab results take between 24 to 48 hours to be determined.
“So, it is helpful to start to identify who already have the COVID or are currently beginning to show signs of active infection in their blood,” Welter said.
Welter said his care center has been reaching out proactively to suppliers “for a long time” seeking different avenues to help in this crisis, knowing he only had a limited supply in nasal swabs for testing purposes.
“So, we already knew there was a supply chain problem and are looking for ways to solve it,” he said. “These second-line antibody tests were easy to develop and many manufacturers are starting to roll them out. We got wind of that and got the first box being delivered. We got ahold of those and now we’re doing the testing.”
According to the YouTube video Welter posted explaining the test, Welter said two different antibodies will be tested, one antibody that shows immunity to any disease and the antibody that occurs while actively fighting an infection.
The testing is conducted via drive-thru at the Tristan Medical facility at 465 South Washington St. Individuals seeking testing are to call the office and Tristan Medical staff will conduct a telemedicine visit to determine what the pretest probability is, Welter said, and a test order is made. Depending on what the pretest discussions are for some patients, a swab test may be administered.
“Then you would come to the office and we would do the testing outside,” Welter said, also noting Tristan Medical can do up to 100 tests per day. “You would call the office from your car and we go out and administer the test. You can wait for the results or we can call you later with the result. If your pretest probabilities say that you have seasonal allergies, then a negative test probably says it is seasonal allergies.”
However, the new blood testing does have some limitations. Welter said if a person is tested and it shows a negative reading, it does not completely rule out that person having COVID-19 mainly because there is “a window” where people can develop antibodies in the blood. Therefore, Welter said, an infection can’t be detected in that window, so people will need to be retested within five to seven days to verify the initial test.
The tests are supposed to be fully covered and no cost to patients, Welter said, but there may be a need for patients to have a referral to get the testing done. If patients can’t get a referral, the testing costs $125 and can be paid in cash and that cost will be reimbursed “once we determine how this is going to be credited,” Welter said.
But, the main objective of Welter’s operation is one thing.
“Right now, we have plenty of tests and we’re looking to test as many [people] as possible,” Welter said.
Providence Business News is spotlighting nonprofits, companies and workers stepping up to challenges presented by the spread of the new coronavirus.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
