On-site rapid molecular testing, mobile sampling teams and eHealth to support primary care physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic

ObjectivesWe evaluated the effects of on-site rapid molecular testing at a drive-through sampling facility, deployment of mobile sampling teams and implementation of an online eHealth platform as supportive measures for general practitioners (GPs) during the COVID-19 pandemic. MethodsAn eHealth platform was developed that allowed GPs to either refer patients to a drive-through sampling facility or to request a home visit by a sampling team. Nasopharyngeal swab samples from patients marked as urgent (n=333) were tested immediately on-site using a GeneXpert System. Non-urgent samples (n=1,460) were sent once a day to a university hospital laboratory for routine testing. Time stamps starting from referral to the moment of test report sent were recorded to calculate the turnaround time. ResultsThe eHealth platform was rapidly adopted and used by a total of 517 GPs to test 1,793 patients in a period of 13 weeks. On-site rapid molecular testing reduced the median turnaround time to 03h:41m compared to 29h:15m for routine testing. Positive SARS-CoV-2 test results were identified amongst 84/1,477 (5.7%) and 33/316 (10.4%) patients sampled at the drive-through or at home, respectively. In the age category of >80 years, 80.4% of patients were tested by a mobile sampling team. ConclusionsThe combination of rapid molecular testing and eHealth reduced the time between referral and results sent back to the GP to less than four hours. In addition, mobile sampling teams helped in reaching non-mobile, elderly patient populations with a higher prevalence of COVID-19.