AANEM Connect

Every patient scheduled for an elective surgical procedure in Baltimore area hospitals is required to have a COVID-19 pcr study done preoperatively,  and if negative, quarantine themselves until admitted. Since reopening my EMG practice,I have adopted this procedure  and also required a pcr study, mainly because of my age, my wife's age ,and her comorbidities. I have not insisted on the quarantine. Virtually all patients have understood and complied with this request. We are now able to obtain the nasal swab in our office with results returned from Quest within 3 days. This allows the patient to choose where they would like to have the swab done. A very few rare patients have refused to be tested, but for no consistent reason, other than for fear.
i wonder how others feel about pre procedure pcr testing. It is certainly not as good without quarantines,but if someone becomes ill, at least we will have some record of the patient's status and it should be of help in contact tracing.