The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) urges individuals to get the COVID-19 booster shot when eligible after completing the COVID-19 vaccine primary series. Recent studies have shown that protection against COVID-19 infection and hospitalization with the omicron variant is highest for those who are up to date with their COVID-19 vaccination, meaning those…

Kettering Health has continued to monitor any studies that show benefit or risk in utilizing Ivermectin or any other treatment modality for COVID-19.  Currently, Ivermectin is not authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for usage in the treatment of COVID-19. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), which has taken the lead in delineating…

On January 19, the federal government made available to all residential households in the United States the opportunity to order one set of four (4) free at-home tests from the United States Postal Service® (USPS). There is a limit of one (1) order per residential address or residential PO Box™. Both the tests and shipping…

Based on feedback from our providers, Kettering Health will begin a new ordering and referral process for outpatient COVID treatments on Monday January 24, 2022. The goal of this new process is to ensure high-risk COVID outpatients receive the best available treatment based on National Institute of Health recommendations, inventory, and patient-specific factors. Please see…

CMS COVID-19 Vaccine Requirement Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated CMS’s COVID-19 vaccination requirement in states, including Ohio, where the requirement had previously been halted. Although CMS has issued new deadlines, Kettering Health’s deadlines have not changed. OSHA Healthcare ETS OSHA has withdrawn the emergency temporary standards (ETS) for healthcare organizations it issued last summer….

At the request of our outpatient services, the Infection Control and Prevention team has instated the following guidelines for bringing in COVID-19-positive patients: Completely elective (for example, screening mammograms): 10 days from initial symptoms or positive test (whichever was first) Urgent (defined as something that if delayed more than 5-10 days would have an adverse…

Laboratory Update The laboratory’s osmometer, which is a machine that tests urine and serum osmolality has stopped working. We are in the process of expediting a replacement analyzer and expect it to be received in the next two weeks. In the short term, starting today all urine and serum osmolality will be sent to CompuNet…

What follows are updates to our now loosened criteria regarding oral COVID-19 medications. Please read the updates (highlighted below) in context with the entirety of our current criteria.  Due to limited supply and complex eligibility requirements, Kettering Health is restricting the prescribing of oral COVID-19 therapies at this time. Instead of directly prescribing the medication,…

As you are aware, the Department of Health and Human Services has placed sotrovimab on a state-administered allocation. The Ohio Department of Health will allocate supply weekly to hospitals and health systems based on case count and supply availability. Kettering Health is constantly reviewing restrictions of COVID-19 treatments based on supply chain considerations, patient volume,…