According to health workers, the last station’s advice is the most important. It says: “Stay at your home while you wait for test results, monitor certain symptoms and then seek accurate information online.” “I believe the main thing everyone should know is that there is no treatment. The clinic’s physician, Dr. Sheon Mendoza said that there is nothing they can do. “Once we tell (you) that you have positive, there is no way we can do anything. It can do so many things to so much different people, it’s hard to know what symptoms they are. We don’t attempt to address all symptoms. Instead, we focus on the most important ones and then go to the emergency department for the vaccine. Different testing guidelines for Mississippi vary widely. Some tests require appointments and prior phone consultations. Others allow patients to walk-up or drive up. Other doctors require that patients have COVID-like symptoms before they can administer a test. Most people who have been tested for COVID-19 consult their primary care doctor, as this has been the recommendation of the state since the beginning of the epidemic. The state partnered up with University of Mississippi Medical Centre to spread pop-up testing clinics throughout the state. They used telehealth screenings for appointments to increase access for people with symptoms. Federally Qualified Health Centers like Aaron E. Henry offer the majority of Mississippi’s free coronavirus screenings. They don’t require that patients have certain symptoms or make appointments. The 21 FQHCs in the state, which have multiple locations within their home regions, are better equipped than other providers to provide low-fi mobile clinics to rural areas that are in greatest need. They’ve been doing this kind of community-based work for many decades. According to federal data, around 2,000 people had been tested by Mississippi FQHCs. They receive federal funds to increase access to health care for Mississippians who are uninsured or underinsured. These tests were conducted at mobile drive-thrus that were distributed throughout the state. More than a dozen more are planned for the future. Congress passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act in March and allocated $1 billion to health care providers to test patients uninsured for COVID-19. If they treat or test a patient with COVID-19, Mississippi health care providers may request reimbursement via a federal portal. They must also agree to not bill the patient. While elected officials often tout the cost-free COVID-19 testing and the availability of almost 200 medical clinics that have treated more than 13,000 patients in the past two months, out-of-pocket testing and office visits can vary greatly by location, according to a survey shared with Mississippi Today. The Mississippi Health Advocacy Program is a non-profit that works to reduce barriers to accessing health care in Mississippi. It recently surveyed all clinics that provide COVID-19 testing. They found stark inconsistencies among the programs. The survey found that most of the 150 clinics who responded said they did not participate in federal testing reimbursement programs, wasting revenue to help the uninsured. Only one third of the clinics surveyed said that they are currently applying for federal reimbursement to test uninsured patients. Two-thirds of clinics did not know about the program, or were not using it. They charged all patients full price for testing. This usually included a lab fee and an office visit fee. According to the survey, testing fees averaged $69 across all providers. About 25% of locations offered free tests, while 20% offered tests at a sliding-scale fee or for free up-front. A dozen clinics were not sure how much COVID-19 testing costs. Five clinics charged more than $200. It is not clear how many Mississippians had to pay out-of-pocket for the tests or what coverage their insurers provide. Although the state insurance commission stated that testing will be covered by insurers, MHAP’s survey shows that each visit and analysis is billed separately. Roy Mitchell, director at MHAP, stated that many clinics are skeptical about whether federal reimbursement will be available, citing the small-business loan program’s insufficient resources. Mitchell stated that Mississippi Today now has to inform health care providers about the COVID-19 program. Mitchell said that Mississippians, regardless of their health insurance, should be able to seek COVID-19 treatment and testing without being burdened by medical debt. Mitchell said that Mississippians are often in high-exposure occupations but fall within the insurance gap. “The availability free COVID-19 testing is especially important for Mississippians who risk their health by working in grocery stores, pharmacies, nursing homes, home health workers, front office staff at hospital and health clinics offering testing.” Mississippi currently ranks in the top 15 states for the most per capita tests, with approximately 2,700 tests per 100,000 Mississippians. The effectiveness of testing is dependent on its ability to isolate COVID-19 cases. The current state coronavirus case identification rate is 10.2 % of all tests administered. This compares to the 12.3 % national average. However, Mississippi’s test completion rate is variable. Sunday’s tests included more than 3,000, which is the highest number of tests ever reported in one day. However, only 631 tests were reported two days later, the lowest total since daily testing data was made available. According to health researchers, the average daily test results for Mississippi are currently at 76/100,000 residents. This is still less than what they need to be in order to reopen the economy. The number of state health department staff members dedicated to responding to COVID-19 cases in Mississippi more than doubled from 230 to 490 staffers during the month preceding the “long plateau”. According to documents from the Mississippi Health Department, Mississippi Today discovered that testing was a major focus of this bulk-up. According to documents, more than 100 employees of the health department and 40 soldiers from the Mississippi National Guard are dedicated to testing coordination and supply. When analyzing testing, two major factors should be considered: Who takes the sample from the patients’ throats or noses and which labs interpret the results to diagnose COVID-19. The Mississippi State Department of Health, University of Mississippi Medical Center and others are doing both collecting and analysing samples. Two other entities, however, have not been as much attention: FQHCs and commercial science laboratories, which work with clinics to analyze laboratory tests. FQHCs often partner with commercial labs to perform test analysis. The labs offer testing supplies, routine shipment schedules and testing guidance. Sometimes, clinics receive discounts or postponed billing. Although more than 80,000 Mississippians have been tested, 60,828 COVID-19 tests have been performed by commercial labs as of Wednesday. This is the highest number of tests done by any entity. The 13,461 tests performed by the state health department’s laboratory have been followed up by 6,113 tests performed at UMMC. The output varies from lab to lab. The state health department’s laboratory, which performed all state tests early on, now runs 160 tests per day, down from the 207 daily tests last week. The state lab prioritizes testing for patients in hospital and health care workers. UMMC focuses only on its patients and employees. Most clinics and providers send samples directly to commercial labs like LabCorp, Quest, and American Esoteric Laboratories (known as AEL). According to Thomas Dobbs (State Health Officer), testing demand has declined in recent days. Therefore, the state has reduced the criteria for testing at its pop up clinics throughout the state to include anyone with symptoms of COVID-19 and/or suspected exposure. Before those clinics, people had to have severe symptoms and a fever. Although the state health department can handle 650 tests per hour, Dobbs recently stated that testing capacity must be increased. He said to reporters: “We need (total testing) to double and do it faster.” The state’s pop-up clinics have tested 1,644 people in 47 locations across the state and 3,861 at Jackson’s state fairgrounds. According to data from UMMC, UMMC currently conducts the analysis of samples and communicates results to patients within a few weeks. The hospital’s laboratory currently has a 12 per cent identification rate for all cases, which includes tests it runs for staff, patients and other hospitals. In the next few days, at least five additional pop-up testing sites will be open in the state. These tests require advance appointments via UMMC’s screening application or phone line. UMMC can perform 630 tests per hour and almost all of its test analysis is done in-house. Mallory Community Health Center health care workers drove their mobile clinic to a Holmes County parking lot, just outside Lexington. Mallory’s CEO, Dr. Rozellchapman, a leading physician, said that although they prefer that patients have an appointment and be screened before arriving, this barrier prevents them from seeing patients. He also stated that testing may not reach those who most need it. He said that the new mobile clinics were helping, and noted that this was only their sixth pop-up clinic. He said that they are improving in patient education, but that it is still a problem to keep supplies. As he watched nurses disinfect their gowns with Lysol, he realized this was a constant problem. FQHCs are designed to provide affordable healthcare and wrap-around services for people who otherwise might not have access. Mississippi’s 12 percent population lacks health insurance, which amounts to at least 350,000 Mississippians. Although the state’s uninsured rates are among the highest in the country, they have fallen by a third over the past decade due to the Affordable Care Act’s federal health insurance marketplace. Public health policy analyses have shown that the uninsured could drop by more than 25%, or 100,000, if Medicaid eligibility was expanded. FQHCs are central to improving health outcomes. It’s difficult for people to get and keep healthy if they don’t have access to affordable medication and treatment, health insurance, or the ability to live in their communities. FQHCs are not required to make an appointment at their clinics. They also have a wider range of criteria to be tested. The clinics’ mission is under pressure right now as COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the state. This impacts disproportionately people of color. The state health department officials have described the state’s disparities with COVID-19 cases across racial lines as “very concerning” or “unacceptable” and stated that the state’s main focus on pop-up testing was reaching areas where people might not otherwise be tested. More than 90 percent of the 40 state testing sites had been visited by people from counties with racial disparities in cases. This means that more cases were being sent to those counties than the population. Since May 1, African Americans had a greater proportion of COVID-19-related cases than the rest of Mississippi’s counties. So far, 74% of COVID-19 patients identified by FQHCs were African Americans. This is despite the fact that only 59 percent have been tested at clinics. According to the state health department, 57% of COVID-19 cases were among African Americans. 33 percent were among whites. 6 percent was among Hispanics. 4 percent was among Asians, Native Americans, and others. Black women in Mississippi are the most affected by the disease. They account for 36 percent of all cases and 25 percent of all deaths. Chapman pointed out the rural farmland that surrounds the mobile unit in Holmes County in April and highlighted the many ways in which proper testing is vital for the state. He stated that testing can help bridge the gap between what the economy requires and what is best for the health of our residents. Small towns such as this can help keep the virus out and save whole communities. It can make all the difference.” Make a regular donation to support this work today as we celebrate our Spring Member Drive.