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Mayor London Breed Issues Health Order Requiring Private Health Care Providers to Expand Testing Services
San Francisco’s Health Officer has ordered private health care providers to test people with symptoms, close contacts of confirmed cases, and anyone whose test is recommended by the Department of Public Health. The new Health Order also recommends that private health care providers test people whose work outside the home puts them at higher risk of exposure to COVID-19.
Details include a testing mandate that applies to Healthcare Facilities in the City, defined as any:
(a)Â Â Â Acute care hospital, including emergency room, inpatient units, and on-site ambulatory care clinics;
(b)Â Â Â Clinic, office, or urgent care facility that is owned, directly or indirectly, by any entity that also owns and operates an acute care hospital, even if that hospital is outside the City;
(c)Â Â Â Part of a practice or medical group that has 100 or more licensed healthcare professionals, regardless of how many such professionals are in the City (think Brown and Toland); or
(d)Â Â Â Clinic, office, or urgent care facility that already tests patients for SARS-CoV-2 and has its own CLIA-certified lab to process those tests.
For each Healthcare Facility in the City, requires diagnostic testing to be conducted the same day as the patient’s visit (or telemedicine consultation) or the following calendar day in three situations:
(a)Â Â Â If the patient has symptoms consistent with COVID-19, regardless of whether in the hospital and regardless of age;
(b)Â Â Â If the patient is a close contact of an actual or suspected person with the SARS-CoV-2 virus; or
(c)Â Â Â When directed by DPH (such as in the event of a surge when DPH needs others to conduct testing).
Requires any Healthcare Facility that fails to conduct tests within the 2-day window for the three categories listed above in item 2 to notify the Health Officer within 48 hours of the reasons for non-compliance and efforts they have taken to resolve the issue.
Requires any Healthcare Facility covered by the order to notify patients through a website or patient portal of the testing criteria, and recommends that they also post signs in patient care areas when feasible with those same criteria.
Attaches testing guidelines that address how all healthcare providers should prioritize tests in light of the limited capacity/delays for testing, with an emphasis on the groups who are most likely to have a positive result, including the three IDed in Item 2 and other categories that include higher risk (such as healthcare workers, certain other essential workers, and people in communities that are highly impacted by the pandemic).
Makes those guidelines mandatory for consideration of all healthcare providers in the City, based on the clinical context of the specific patient.
Includes in the order and guidelines some distinctions between symptom testing criteria for adults and children under 18—for children, the following are not listed as COVID-19 symptoms: sore throat, headache, body aches, fatigue, diarrhea, runny nose, and nasal congestion.
Does not require any individual healthcare provider that is not part of a Healthcare Facility to collect specimens for Diagnostic Testing.
Notes that Healthcare Facilities must follow state and federal rules regarding reimbursement, including rules prohibiting charging patients for testing.
Reminds providers to continue to report test results as required by law.
Does not prohibit any facility or provider from offering more testing than is required by the order. |
