We recently started using the ID Now in our office.
Please tell me how you have structured your testing.
We received large, fat foam swabs that make NP testing challenging. Are performing bilateral anterior nasal swabbing instead? Are you also doing a NP swab at the same time to send out for PCR if your in-house NAAT is negative? How has your reimbursement been?
We are performing dry nasal swabs (no VTM) and making sure that swabs are < 1 hour old when run.
I have a little buyers remorse, but trying to figure out how to make this work for us.
(I know this is a subject that was addressed in October, but hoping for some updated information.)
Thank you!!
We perform throat swabs with the swabs that come with the kit. I believe you have to order the NP swabs to perform NP specimen collection.
We started in November. We use the fat foam swabs performing bilat anterior nasal swabs. We are not doing a backup PCR unless we have a high clinical suspicion of a false negative or if a PCR is required by a school. We are using the test mostly on symptomatic patients and on asymptomatic sending a PCR to outside lab. No VTM like you.
We are being reimbursed well. Most comm ins are paying more than double our wholesale cost. Medicaid is paying just over our wholesale cost.
We too are using the flat foam swabs and performing bilateral nasal swabs.
We are not being reimbursed well. Most plans barely covering the cost of the test unfortunately. Medicaid in AZ (AHCCCS) is not paying for molecular testing at all. Having lots of issues with invalid tests which are a total loss.
Can you explain your ‘wholesale’ cost? Did you order straight from Abbott?
We have only been using the ID Now for about a week and a half, but our biller checked on the reimbursement for BCBS and it is coming back at $70, which is right on with what was quoted. I’m not sure about medicaid yet.