Los Angeles County and Fulgent Genetics Launch Free At-Home COVID-19 Testing for People Notified via Healthvana’s Digital Contact Tracing and Exposure Notification Solution
On February 10, 2021 , BUSINESS WIRE reported, Los Angeles County has partnered with Healthvana, the nation’s largest patient platform for COVID-19, and Fulgent Genetics (FLGT), a pioneer in next generation sequencing and scalable COVID-19 testing, to launch the country’s first program to send free at-home PCR COVID-19 tests to people notified of a potential exposure through digital contact tracing.
“Since launching phase one of our digital contact tracing program with Healthvana a few weeks ago, over 20,000 Los Angeles County residents have been privately notified of their potential COVID-19 exposure,” said Dr. Clemens Hong, Director of Whole Person Care for Los Angeles County. “Now we hope to give exposed persons an immediate opportunity to order a COVID-19 test to their home, giving them the opportunity to test and protect their loved ones.”
The successful phase one of the digital contact tracing solution enabled patients who tested positive to easily self-report their close contacts anonymously. Those close contacts instantly received an exposure notification via text message or email with information on self-isolation and local resources. Phase two adds an option for exposed individuals to order a free at-home COVID-19 test, provided by Picture from Fulgent Genetics.
“We’ve worked with Healthvana and Los Angeles County for several months and Healthvana has helped us deliver millions of test results to residents,” said Brandon Perthuis, Fulgent’s Chief Commercial Officer. “Making our Picture at-home test available with digital contact tracing is a great way to open up access to broader testing for COVID-19.”
Testing and tracing continue to be essential in the fight against COVID-19 and these new digital efforts complement the existing contact tracing efforts in Los Angeles County as it prepares for new variants.
“Our digital exposure notifications are reducing the time for people to know they’ve been exposed from days to minutes - and that will be crucial if the U.K. variant spreads as fast as it has overseas” shared Ramin Bastani, CEO of Healthvana. “We’re grateful to partner with Los Angeles County and Fulgent to expand testing access to people who may have to stay home to take care of loved ones, live in multi-generational households or don’t have the ability to get tested outside the home.”
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