A new program called Home Test to Treat from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) at the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) aims to give COVID-19 patients access to care at home through telehealth and at-home care services.
Despite the overall decline in COVID-19 instances and severity levels, it is still important to support patients because the coronavirus is still developing. Since March 2022, the national COVID-19 Test to Treat effort has been overseen by the NIH, a medical research organization made up of 27 Institutes and a division of the HHS. The program enables individuals to take the COVID-19 test, obtain a healthcare provider’s evaluation, receive prescriptions for drugs, and fill those prescriptions all in one place.
The campaign is strengthened by the new Home Test to Treat program. The program, which is intended to serve as a digital community health intervention, will offer patients free COVID-19-related services like at-home quick tests, telemedicine consultations, and at-home therapies. According to the press release, it will also make antiviral medication a possibility for those who are qualified and have a positive COVID-19 test result. Antiviral treatment can reduce the risk of illness, hospitalization, or death.
Through the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) programme, the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) supported the creation of the program.
After the Home Test to Treat program’s initial rollout later this month, the organizers intend to take note of participant input in order to identify best practices and improve the service.
Up to 8,000 eligible citizens of Berks County, Pennsylvania, where the program will debut, are anticipated to take part.
By hosting the program website, where participants can register, report symptoms, and get telehealth services, antiviral therapy, and telehealth-enabled test kits, telehealth provider eMed will assist the program. Researchers from UMass Chan Medical School will examine data to determine the effect of a home-based testing and treatment program on patient outcomes through a contract with NIBIB, working with eMed. Over the course of 2023, the Home Test to Treat program might offer services to about 100,000 people nationwide through collaborations with local health departments. The program may aid in developing pandemic prevention plans, according to the news release. The NIH has historically supported several initiatives to fight COVID-19 and its associated implications on individual health in the US. An mHealth app that intends to alleviate anxiety and depression is the subject of research funded by an NIH grant that was awarded in July 2022. Researchers developed the Easing Anxiety Sensitivity for Everyone app in response to the COVID-19 pandemic’s dramatic rise in the prevalence of mental health illnesses (EASE).
