Visby Medical Sexual Health Click Test
Visby Medical Sexual Health Click Test
One Madison County urgent care clinic is offering a new way to test for sexually transmitted diseases, with results faster than ever before.
By shortening the wait time between testing and diagnosis, patients can have peace of mind without waiting multiple days for results. ApproXie Urgent Care can then immediately treat patients.
"It definitely helps in diagnosing. We're able to treat the patients much faster when we know what they test positive for," said Mackenzie Romero, the director of practice management at ApproXie Urgent Care.
Roughly 20 people come to their center every week looking for STD testing.
"Especially since 2017 there's been a rise, and with the pandemic of COVID it has increasingly gotten higher," said Haven Brolsma, the director of clinical operations.
According to the CDC, there were 2.5 million reported cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis last year. However, the CDC estimates that number could be even higher, as many cases go unreported.
"Some patients don't even have symptoms," said Brolsma.
The CDC recommends STD testing at least once a year, which in the past could take up to a week for results. With new testing options at ApproXie Urgent Care, patients get results almost instantly.
"We're not having to call them the next day, them having anxiety and waiting on their results. We can go ahead get the results in less than 30 minutes," said Brolsma.
All it takes is a simple swab with the Visby Medical Sexual Health Click Test, and patients have results in half an hour. "It's got listed a control, then chlamydia, gonorrhea, or trichomonas," explained Romero.
The rapid test helps treat patients faster, which in turn will prevent the spread of any infections.
"Sometimes with labs it can take 24 to 48 hours, and then [patients] are kind of like I don't know if I have it because I have no symptoms, so they might still encounter in that sexual activity and still spread it to other patients," said Brolsma.
The rapid test is a quicker and cheaper alternative to lab testing, which can cost anywhere from $200 to $500 for those paying out of pocket. The Visby Medical test only costs about $150 for uninsured patients.
"People can get results within 30 minutes and have the peace of mind instead of having to wait multiple days," said Romero.
The STD rapid test is still relatively new. The FDA approved the test last year, and ApproXie Urgent Care started administering the test about a month ago.
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