Coronavirus Disease 2019

New State Health Officer Orders require vaccinations or regular (weekly or biweekly COVID-19 testing) for unvaccinated employees in various settings, including health care settings and schools. These require employers and facilities to test and monitor their workforce members. There are a few options available to employers seeking COVID-19 testing to meet these new requirements, summarized here:

• Establish an ongoing partnership/contract with existing laboratories for employee testing.
  • Please click here to review LA County and State laboratory reference lists to find a testing partner. Links to guides are available under Laboratory Information.
  • Please note all commercial and Medi-Cal health plans in California must provide COVID-19 testing and visits with zero cost sharing. Health plans must cover the testing whether the person is symptomatic or asymptomatic and regardless of whether the person has had recent known or suspected exposure to COVID-19. See Department of Managed HealthCare All Plan Letter (7-26-21).

• Take advantage of State Testing resources. The State Testing Task Force supports PCR and Antigen testing programs. PCR tests results are highly sensitive and provide results in 24-48 hours. Rapid antigen tests are performed onsite and provide results in 15-30 minutes.
  • Information is available on the State Testing Task Force Antigen and PCR Testing Resource pages. Click here and enter your organization type to get started. The website will guide you through an application process to access either PCR testing through the Valencia Branch Laboratory or Antigen testing with confirmatory PCR testing.
  • To qualify for the State Testing Task Force resources, employers will need a lab directory, healthcare workers to administer the test, and a CLIA waiver. 

• County-operated community testing sites are reserved for individuals who have symptoms or close contact with individual suspected to have COVID-19. Regular screening or surveillance testing is not supported. However, some County testing partners may offer screening or surveillance testing. You can click on https://covid19.lacounty.gov/testing/ to search non-County operated test sites near you and contact them to inquire about testing options.

1. Maintain an updated “line list” on MS Excel with information that will be required by a commercial laboratory for testing your staff and residents.
   1. If your facility plans to use a staff member or resident’s health insurance plan to pay for testing, obtain the health insurance plan information required for the laboratory to bill for the test.
2. Establish a procedure for a physician to order COVID-19 diagnostic testing for each staff member or resident. There are several options:
1. Medical Director affiliated with the Facility: The Facility Medical Director can serve as the ordering MD for all persons to be tested.
2. Physician or physician’s group serving the Facility: Establish a relationship with a physician (or physician group) to provide on call services for your staff and residents; ensure the physician or group is willing to serve as the ordering provider for any laboratory testing needed.
3. Primary care provider for each resident and staff: Maintain updated information on each person’s personal physician and their contact number. Contact each person’s personal physician to ask if they will serve as the ordering provider for COVID-19 testing should their patient need testing.
4. Commercial laboratory’s Medical Director: Some labs provide physician services that includes a medical director to order testing as well as share test results.
3. Identify a commercial laboratory that meets your facility’s testing needs using any of these resources (1) Testing Guidelines; (2) the California Testing Task Force Lab List; or (3) seek a recommendation from another CCF already connected to a commercial laboratory. Consider making an arrangement with a second laboratory as a contingency plan in case the primary laboratory is unable to provide testing in a timely manner.
4. Establish administrative procedures to inform staff and residents about the plan for testing and return of results.
   1. The facility should establish policies for maintaining the privacy and confidentiality of results for staff and residents, including Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) training for the administrator who will have access to the test results, as well as procedures for securely storing protected health information.
5. Post an FAQ (Spanish FAQ) document in an easily visible area of the facility, summarizing the reason for testing, patient’s right to decline testing, the consequences for declining testing, and how the results will be returned. Specifically, staff and residents should be informed before testing if the results will be returned to the Facility administrator.