How & Where to Get Care

Updated October 26, 2020

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COVID-19 Related Care

How do I know when I should seek care for a suspected case of COVID-19?

1. If you feel sick and think you may have COVID-19, stay home. It’s the best way to avoid spreading illness.

2. If you have symptoms such as:

3. If you are told by your health care provider that you should self-quarantine, please stay home. Some viruses, including COVID-19, can be present without symptoms. Even if you don’t feel sick, you could still infect others in the community.

4. If you are sick, please leave your house only to go to doctor appointments, or to obtain food or medications. Please remember that face masks are mandatory if you must go out. Avoid crowds as best as possible and obtain an adequate supply of food and medications so that you can minimize the number of times you go out. Consider using grocery delivery services when possible.

Where can I go to get tested for COVID-19?

We understand that many people would like to be tested for COVID-19. John Muir Health is collecting specimens to be tested at several locations in the East Bay.  COVID-19 tests are being prioritized for patients who meet criteria as outlined by the CDC and our local county health departments. This ensures that those who most need evaluation and testing can receive it in a timely manner. 

Currently we are testing people with at least one of the following symptoms:

• Fever

OR

• Respiratory symptoms including coughing or shortness of breath

OR

• Diarrhea or other unusual gastrointestinal symptoms

OR

• Acute loss of taste or smell

OR

• Repeated shaking with chills

OR

• New unusual fatigue, weakness or confusion

Please note: Information on symptoms continues to evolve so we encourage you to call your doctor if you have any concerns.

Testing is done by doctor’s order only, following an in-person or phone or video evaluation. If you are told that you are not eligible to be tested, this means that your health care provider has determined that your symptoms indicate that you will do best with at-home care. 

Please follow these steps so we can assist you with getting the most appropriate care:

• Call your primary care doctor's office. If your primary care doctor is not available, please call one of our Urgent Care locations.

Note: If you do not have a health care provider, please call your County’s Public Health Department for instructions.

• Contra Costa County Public Health Department (925) 313-6000
• Alameda County Public Health Department (510) 267-8000
• Solano County Public Health Department (707) 784-8600

What do I do if I test positive for COVID-19?

If you test positive for COVID-19, please download and review these instructions carefully. Please call your doctor if you have any questions.

Should I get tested for antibodies?

With recent news coverage, you may have questions about antibody tests.  We understand that LabCorp, Quest and other labs are now offering this testing. It’s important to understand that this is a complex topic.

John Muir Health-affiliated doctors can order antibody tests for patients. Right now, in most cases, it’s not recommended for the following reasons:

• The tests that are currently available may have a false positive result. This means the test may show that a patient has antibodies, when in fact there are no antibodies.
• The accuracy of the tests currently available is not regulated and may vary wildly. This means that many tests may not be accurate.
• There is not enough known about what the presence of antibodies in a person means because COVID-19 is a new virus. Some of the things still not known about antibodies include:
  • Whether the presence of antibodies means that a person is immune to COVID-19.
  • Whether any immunity would be permanent or only for a shorter period of time.

It’s recommended even people who may have antibodies should continue to practice social distancing and wear face masks in public. If you have questions about getting tested for antibodies, please call your doctor to discuss your specific situation.

There is still a lot to be learned about immunity to COVID-19 and whether antibody testing may eventually prove more useful. Our infectious disease clinical leaders are paying close attention to the latest developments in antibody testing and we will continue to provide you with information as more is known.

Will I be billed for COVID-19 care?

Each health insurance plan has developed specific guidelines on how they will process and pay for your services for COVID-19 screening and treatment.  It is best to contact your health insurance plan with the phone number listed on your insurance card to determine what their latest coverage guidelines are for services specific to your benefit plan.  We continue to work with them to ensure we are billing your services for screening and treatment of COVID-19 as they request. 

We will continue to provide care to ensure the health and safety of our patients and community. If you think you have been exposed to COVID‑19 and develop symptoms, such as fever, cough or difficulty breathing, please call your primary care doctor's office. If your primary care doctor is not available, please call one of our Urgent Care locations.

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Non-COVID-19 Related Care

How do I know if I need care right now?

Many people may be concerned about getting healthcare with COVID-19 still in our communities. We understand this worry, and we’re here to help reassure you.

It’s important to understand that even now, getting the care you need is vital for your health. We are open and here for you!

Whether you have chronic conditions that you were already getting care for or new symptoms that arise, it’s important that you get care now so that your condition doesn’t worsen. We’ve put many precautions in place to help keep you safe when you get care from us, including caring for many conditions virtually.

• To avoid bringing people together unnecessarily, we are able to care for many conditions virtually via video visits. This means you will have a scheduled appointment with a doctor via video, using your smartphone.
• For some conditions, we may need to see you in person in order to care for you properly. This allows us to examine you more closely in order to diagnose and treat you correctly.

How do I schedule a doctor or Urgent Care appointment?

For your safety and to minimize the potential of virus exposure, we are screening all patients before scheduling any appointments. As a result, we are temporarily not taking walk-ins at our Urgent Care Centers. Additionally, we have temporarily disabled online scheduling for primary care appointments. We are still taking primary care and urgent care appointments.

URGENT CARE

If you need to come in, we’ve taken precautions to help keep you and others safe.  As part of this, we are caring for patients with respiratory symptoms in different areas than patients with all other symptoms. This means that we have two different types of Urgent Care:

• Respiratory Urgent Care (to treat all patients with respiratory symptoms or a positive COVID-19 screen)
• Standard Urgent Care (to treat all other appointments for illnesses and minor injuries)

When you call us or begin the online scheduling process, we’ll first ask you some questions about your symptoms. Next we’ll schedule an appointment for you in either Respiratory or Standard Urgent Care depending on your symptoms. Both types of Urgent Care are located in separate clinics within our four Outpatient Centers.

PRIMARY CARE

To schedule a doctor’s appointment, please call your primary care doctor’s office. When you call, you will be screened to assess your condition so that we can provide you with the most appropriate care.

Can I do a video visit?

To avoid unnecessarily bringing people together, many John Muir Health doctors are doing most visits via video. We are also doing some video visits in our Urgent Care Centers. This means you will have a scheduled appointment with your doctor via video, using your smartphone. If you don’t have a smartphone, your visit will take place on the phone. Your doctor will talk with you to understand how you’re doing, and develop a treatment plan for you, including prescribing medication as needed. Some patients may have an additional in person visit if the doctor determines during the video visit that the patient needs to be seen in person.

Where can I get imaging done?

As part of preparing to care for what is expected to be a large number of patients with COVID-19 in our community, we have temporarily made changes to our Outpatient Imaging hours and services available. This allows us to reallocate staff and resources to safely care for patients with COVID-19. Thank you for your understanding.

Temporary Imaging Hours and Services: