February 4, 2022 – According to federal data, nursing homes are waiting longer for COVID-19 test results for both residents and staff. Slower turnaround times for lab-based PCR tests and a massive shortage of rapid antigen tests has created further challenges for long-term care facilities that need to quickly identify any potential infections.
A report from Kaiser Health News says that “data from the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Serivces finds that 25% of nursing homes that sent tests to a lab waited an average of three or more days for results as of Jan. 16. In early December, that number was 12%.”
Alex Kiefer, the president of Lutheran Life Villages in Fort Wayne, Indiana, said the long wait for results makes the PCR tests useless. “If we send somebody off to get a PCR test, sometimes it takes two days for them to get an appointment. And then it takes two, three, four days to get a read.” With the shortage of rapid tests, many long-term care facilities have had to rely on PCR tests for any sick residents, despite the amount of time it takes to get results back.
According to the report, CMS data shows that this many nursing homes haven’t waited three or more days for test results since March 2021.