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Called the 'gold standard' for coronavirus testing, Health First's Palm Bay Hospital's GeneXpert XVI speeds up diagnosis time.
When it comes to finding out test results, we get it. You want to know your COVID-19 status. And you want - and sometimes need - to know it now.
Perfect example - in December, a patient at Health First's Palm Bay Hospital emergency department needed to be flown to another hospital for treatment. But before that could be done, the patient needed a COVID-19 test.
There was no time to waste. The nursing team quickly swabbed the patient and sent the sample to the lab. Results were provided to the nursing staff and physician within an hour.
The patient got the answers and the care that was needed, quickly and conveniently. That's all thanks to not only the staff, but the GeneXpert XVI, a new molecular testing technology brought to the South Brevard hospital in December.
The technique can deliver a reliable diagnosis in as little as one hour, based on test volume. Simply put, it's one of the fastest and most accurate laboratory methods for detecting the COVID-19 virus.
Considered the gold standard across the globe, the process tests down to the genetic level and detects the presence of the parts for the gene that create COVID-19, according to Khristy Manley, Palm Bay Hospital's Laboratory Services Manager.
Most labs take about four to six hours for the same result. But compared to other available virus testing methods, the GeneXpert XVI is faster and is less likely to be contaminated or come back with errors - something we know our patients demand and deserve. Up to 16 patient tests can be completed at the same time with the GeneXpert XVI.
"Patients should know that just like everything else in this new COVID-19 era, testing is based on availability, and we are doing everything possible to make sure we offer as much testing as we can," Khristy said.
Health First is proud to provide this convenient service to patients. For more information on what we're doing in the fight against COVID-19, visit hf.org/staywell.
Mary Haws, a Microbiology Manager for Laboratory Services, prepares a test sample for the GeneXpert XVI molecular test machine. Palm Bay Hospital received the new diagnostic machine in late 2020 to test up to 16 samples in less than an hour.
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