Health care personnel should immediately notify both infection control personnel at their health care facility and their local or state health department in the event of a PUI.
Interim Criteria to Guide Testing of Persons Under Investigation (PUIs) for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) (DSHS)
Phone Advice Line Tool for Possible COVID-19 Patients (CDC)
DSHS COVID-19 Testing Algorithm (DSHS)
Evaluating and Reporting PUI Guidance (CDC)
Information for Health Departments on Reporting a PUI or Presumptive Positive and Laboratory-Confirmed Cases of COVID-19
Stigma Related to COVID-19 (Share Facts, Not Fear) (CDC)
Interim Guidance for Public Health Personnel Evaluating Persons Under Investigation (PUIs) and Asymptomatic Close Contacts of Confirmed Cases at Their Home or Non-Home Residential Settings (CDC)
Health Care Professional Preparedness Checklist For Transport and Arrival of Patients With Confirmed or Possible COVID-19 (CDC)
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COVID-19 is a notifiable condition that should be reported to your local health department immediately if either suspected or confirmed. Testing and specimen submission to the DSHS laboratory requires pre-approval from your local health authority. Commercial and drive through laboratory testing is also available. Please consider these as testing options for yourself and your patients due to their larger capacity to test compared to public health laboratories.
How to Obtain a Nasopharyngeal Swab Specimen (NEJM) under Specimen Collection and Testing
COVID-19 Antibody Testing Primer (IDSA)
Emergency Use Authorization (FDA)
PCR vs. Serology Testing, Explained (DSHS)
FAQs on COVID-19 Testing at Laboratories (CDC)
FAQs on Diagnostic Testing for SARS-CoV-2 (FDA)
Interim Guidelines for Collecting, Handling, and Testing Clinical Specimens from Persons Under Investigation (PUIs) for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) (CDC)
COVID-19 Texas Laboratory Testing Requirements (Information collected by Texas Medical Association)
New CPT code for COVID-19 testing: What you should know (AMA)
Laboratory Testing Fact Sheet for Health Care Professionals (FDA)
Laboratory Testing Fact Sheet for Patients (CDC)
COVID-19 Specimen Collection and Submission Instructions (DSHS)
FAQs for Diagnostic Tools and Virus (CDC)
Clinical Care COVID-19 Resources
Infection Control and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) COVID-19 Resources
Specialty Physicians COVID-19 Resources
Practice Help COVID-19 Resources
COVID-19 Resources main page
April 24, 2020
What could a TMA Membership mean for you, your practice, and your patients
Coronavirus
If you or your practice received more than $10,000 in financial assistance related to COVID-19 from the federal Provider Relief Fund, the Health and Human Services (HHS) Department this week provided information on how to report those funds. Read More
Will Medicare Administrative Contractors automatically reprocess claims for audio-only telehealth visits retroactive to March 1, or will physicians need to resubmit them? To date, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has not published a clear answer to that question. Read More
Gov. Greg Abbott today reauthorized non-emergent elective surgeries at hospitals and allowed nursing homes to reopen for visitations under certain conditions across the majority of Texas. Read More
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Public health issues in Texas
The website for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is blunt: “History shows that severe illness and death rates tend to be higher for racial and ethnic minority populations during public health emergencies than for other populations.” That is certainly happening with COVID-19. Emerging data already show that long-standing social determinants of health are stacked against Blacks and Hispanics in Texas, in some cases prompting a stronger call for value-based care, among other tools, so physicians can better help people of color cope with the health inequities brought on by COVID-19.
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