NIH launches Home Test to Treat, a pilot COVID-19 telehealth program


the health transformation

institute for continuous health transformation
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Joaquim Cardoso MSc
Chief Researcher, Editor and Senior Advisor
January 5, 2023



Executive Summary


  • The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have launched the Home Test to Treat program, …

  • … a virtual community health intervention providing free COVID-19 health services, including at-home rapid tests, telehealth sessions and at-home treatments, to selected communities. 

  • The Home Test to Treat program aims to reduce the spread of COVID-19 by offering an alternative to in-person testing and treatment, and to provide treatment to at-risk populations.


  • The program will be piloted in Berks County, Pennsylvania, with up to 8,000 eligible residents expected to participate. eMed, a telehealth services provider, will implement the program and host a user-friendly website for participants.

  • The NIH and ASPR will gather data from participating communities to identify best practices and make improvements to the program, which aims to serve approximately 100,000 people across the United States in the coming year.

  • RADx is supporting the Home Test to Treat program. 

  • This telehealth model will incorporate rapid COVID-19 home tests, a virtual consultant, and prescription antiviral medication if eligible. 




DEEP DIVE



National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Thursday, January 5, 2023


Berks County, Pennsylvania, is first community to join partnership with local public health departments.


The National Institutes of Health, in collaboration with the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has launched the Home Test to Treat program, an entirely virtual community health intervention that will provide free COVID-19 health services-at-home rapid tests, telehealth sessions and at-home treatments-in selected communities

The program, first announced by the White House in September 2022, will make antiviral treatment available for eligible individuals who receive a positive test result, which could prevent severe illness, hospitalization or death.


At-home testing for COVID-19 is now widely available in the United States, as are antiviral treatments, and this program combines easy home access to both,” said Bruce Tromberg, Ph.D., director of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) at the National Institutes of Health and leader of the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx®) Tech program.

 “The Home Test to Treat program allows those who are sick an alternative to venturing out for testing or treatment, potentially reducing the spread of COVID-19 in the community.”


Later this month, local and state officials in Berks County, Pennsylvania, will be the first to pilot the Home Test to Treat program

Up to 8,000 eligible residents are anticipated to participate in the program.


Program organizers will gather information from participants to identify best practices and make improvements to the Home Test to Treat model that can be used to implement the program on a larger scale

Additional communities across the country will be selected to participate based on level of community need, access to healthcare treatment, expected COVID-19 infection rates and socio-economic factors. 

Through collaborations with local health departments, Home Test to Treat aims to offer services to approximately 100,000 people across the United States in the coming year.


Telehealth services provider eMed will implement the Home Test to Treat program. 


Their services are provided under a contract award by NIBIB contractor, VentureWell. 

Having administered millions of verified at-home telehealth sessions during the pandemic, eMed will host the user-friendly Home Test to Treat website, where participants can sign up for the program, report symptoms, receive telehealth and antiviral treatment delivery, and coordinate telehealth enabled test kits.


NIBIB also has issued a contract with UMass Chan Medical School, whose researchers, in collaboration with eMed, will analyze data collected from each participating community, including the impacts of a home-based process for testing and treatment, individual attitudes about the Home Test to Treat program, and clinical outcomes from treatments.


HHS, through ASPR, has led a national COVID-19 Test to Treat initiative since March 2022, that includes thousands of treatment access points nationwide

These include CDC’s Increasing Community Access to Testing (ICATT) program, composed of federally funded health centers, long-term care facilities and community-based sites. 

Participants in the Home Test to Treat program can be tested at local ICATT centers. 

The Test to Treat initiative has evolved to include more mobile and telehealth-based models that reduce barriers to access for the highest-risk individuals. 

NIH’s Home Test to treat program will provide an important additional pathway to rapidly access lifesaving treatments for COVID-19 in vulnerable communities.


Home Test to Treat will promote equitable solutions and help to identify best practices that may save lives in this and future pandemics. 

In each community, the research team will identify and implement improvements that leave us in a much better position to respond to specific needs at the local, state and federal levels.


The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) has supported development of Home Test to Treat through the RADx Tech program.


Originally published at https://www.nih.gov on January 5, 2023.


People mentioned


  • Bruce Tromberg, Ph.D., director of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) at the National Institutes of Health and leader of the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx®) Tech program
  • eMed, a telehealth services provider
  • UMass Chan Medical School, whose researchers will collaborate with eMed to analyze data collected from participating communities
  • HHS, through ASPR, which has led a national COVID-19 Test to Treat initiative since March 2022
  • CDC’s Increasing Community Access to Testing (ICATT) program, which includes federally funded health centers, long-term care facilities, and community-based sites that participants in the Home Test to Treat program can be tested at.

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