COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing for District Staff: Quest
Quest Diagnostics is offering covid-19 testing for district employees.
This program is for school district employees who are members of the STSIG SISC Medical pool. Each school district interested in coordinating testing for employees should contact
Ryan.G.VanHorn@questdiagnostics.com to get started. Administrators will be connected with a wellness
specialist for guidance through the process.See the Process Outline document for more information.
Information and Resources
Process Outline for setting up testing
FAQs (also below for quick reference)
Eligibility guidelines Eligibility excel template
Unsupervised Collection Instructions
Negative Test Report (example)
HIPAA Authorization Consent form
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Which districts are eligible for the Quest testing program?
a. This program is only available to K-12 School Districts and County Offices of Education to address the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) requirements for K-12 schools. If the CDPH issues requirements for Community College Districts in the future, we will look at expanding the program.
2. What happens if the test provides a positive result?
a. All employees that receive a positive COVID-19 test results will receive a call from a Quest-designated physician to discuss the result with the employee and answer any questions. The employee should report the positive test to their district immediately.
3. Can the district choose to use Quest for testing of employees who are not covered by SISC and if so, what is the cost?
a. If a district wishes to use this process to test employees not covered by a SISC health plan, Quest Diagnostics will bill the district $115 for each test. “Covered” or “Not Covered” will be designated on the eligibility file sent to Quest.
4. Who will pay for this testing?
a. Quest Diagnostics will bill SISC for employees covered by a SISC health plan.
b. Quest will bill the district for employees on the eligibility files that are designated as not covered by SISC.
5. Will Quest report this testing to our local public health department?
a. Yes, Quest is providing the required Medical Authority for this program and is in compliance with all reporting requirements at both the state and local level.
6. Can this program change or end?
a. Yes. This program is subject to change.
7. Should we notify employees they will be receiving a test?
a. Yes. It will be up to each district to notify their affected employees about the testing process. Quest provides sample forms and a video to help with this process.
8. Rather than dropping at Fed Ex, can employees bring the samples to the school site for so one designated district employee can collect samples and drop off at Fed Ex?
a. Yes
9. Can we use FedEx pickup to collect samples from the school site?
a. Yes.
10. What if an employee uses a PO Box as their address on file?
a. The district may use the district address for employees with no physical address. Be sure the designated address is listed for that employee on the eligibility file submitted to Quest.
11. What if an employee had an old address on file and the test was never received?
a. A new eligibility file with only that employee should be sent in with the corrected address for that a new test can be issued to that employee.
12. Will SISC or Quest manage which of our employees are being tested?
a. No. Quest will issue tests for those employees included on an accurate eligibility file. The district will be responsible for managing those employee who need a test and when one should be issued for each employee.
13. If a district wants to receive results for employees, is there a way to separate out those employees who refuse to provide consent?
a. No. If a districts wishes to receive results, they will receive results for all employees and should collect the one time consent for all employees. If a district does not wish to receive results, the employee would be responsible for reporting a positive result to the district.
14. For those districts wishing to receive results, does Quest or SISC collect the consents or monitor that process?
a. No. District will be responsible for collecting consent in the manner that works for them. When the eligibility file is sent to Quest, the assumption is that consent has been collected.