Qualitas and DoctorOnCall (DOC) have teamed up to roll out a home-testing service for those of us in the Klang Valley who suspect they may be at risk of COVID-19.
You might already be in self-quarantine or hesitate to head to crowded hospitals for a checkup. In that case, this is for you.
Basically, you register online for the service and Qualitas medical staff will visit your home (or office) according to the appointment slot you’ve booked and take your test samples.
Here’s how it works in more detail:
1. Online registration.
You would need to head to DOC’s webpage here and fill up the registration form below.
There’s also an option to indicate how many individuals you’d like to test, if you’re doing it at home for your family or in the office for your colleagues.
You’ll indicate your preferred collection date, which is weekdays only. This must be done with 1 day’s notice in advance.
2. Confirm your eligibility.
A Qualitas Patient Care Representative will contact you to confirm the details you provided during registration.
3. Make payment.
For home collection, where Qualitas’ medical staff will come and collect the test samples from you, the cost is RM700/pax. According to DOC, there will soon be a drive-thru collection option.
4. Finalising the timing and location.
Qualitas will contact you once again to confirm the timing and location you have chosen for the home-testing.
Currently, they’re only able to serve Klang Valley locations including Putrajaya, Kajang, Seremban, and Nilai.
5. Sample collection.
A minimum of 3 lab professionals will be sent to your location to swab the inside of your nose, cheek, or the back of your throat.
This process involves a high number of consumables where the lab professionals will have to change their protective attire and equipment for each patient, hence the RM700/pax cost.
However, they are working on options to reduce the price through an alternative sample collection arrangement, which I assume to be the drive-thru option.
6. Reviewing the results.
It’ll take about 24 hours after collection for your test results to be ready. A doctor will then be in touch with you to explain the results and advise you on the next steps to take accordingly.
Not Sure If You Need To Get Tested?
You can speak to the doctors to understand your risks and whether you need to get tested. Alternatively, you can take DOC’s online risk assessment here.
For the record, public hospitals will actually provide you with free COVID-19 testing if you meet certain criteria.
If you live in KL, you can head to Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL) or Hospital Sungai Buloh.
When we reached out to Maran Virumandi, co-founder of and Managing Director at DOC, he told us that there are generally 2 criteria, but recently a third one has been added.
- Criteria 1: If you returned from China, Japan, South Korea, Italy and Iran within the last 14 days, with symptoms like coughing, sore throat, fever, or breathing difficulties;
- Criteria 2: If you have been identified as a close contact of someone who has a confirmed COVID-19 case, someone who’s been living in the same household, travelling together, working together in a close office space, or meeting for more than 15 minutes;
- (New) Criteria 3: If you went for tabligh in Sri Petaling and are displaying symptoms.
He also told Vulcan Post that these criteria will change from time to time, depending on the development of new cases.
If you don’t meet any of these criteria (and are therefore not eligible for free testing), some alternative options for home testing are provided by private hospitals like:
- Gleneagles (pricing unknown for now as they will only be starting the service next week)
- KPJ (pricing yet to be confirmed, but they are already offering the specimen collection service)
- Hospital Pantai for RM950 (home collection by appointment, which is to be done within 1-2 weeks and collected only on weekends)
Editor’s Update: The above information has been amended to reflect accuracy at the time of writing.
DOC is also Ministry of Health’s official partner for the COVID-19 pandemic, hence why they’re providing a full service ranging from health content, forums, telehealth services, test kit and medication delivery for the government of Malaysia.
In general, Maran shared that they’re getting about 500,000 visits daily as the panic and misinformation about COVID-19 spreads like wildfire.
- You can read more about other COVID-19 pieces we’ve covered here.
Featured Image Credit: Pexels
