The Brown County Commissioners and Brown County Schools are partnering with the Brown County Health and Wellness Center to provide an additional virtual resource to anyone who believes they may have been exposed to COVID-19 and needs testing.
At the May 6 commissioners meeting, Brian Garcia and David Van Laecke with Proactive MD explained the SpokeHealth care navigation tool. It includes a questionnaire about symptoms and any possible history of contact with the virus. Using this platform, health workers can share resources and information on testing depending on how people answer the questions.
Proactive MD runs the Brown County Health and Wellness Center at Brown County Schools’ Eagle Park off State Road 46 East. The clinic offers primary care to anyone from the community who pays a monthly membership fee, as well as county government and Brown County Schools employees.
After people complete the questionnaire, care providers can check in with them daily to quickly diagnose coronavirus cases, provide care virtually and prevent the spread of the virus.
“We can ask a series of questions and the people with no cause to be concerned, we can identify them,” Van Laecke said.
“For moderate risks, ‘Maybe you need to be concerned and maybe you should contact your doctor. Here’s some different layering of tools or resources you might want to rely on.’ Then, the high risk people, ‘Hey, you probably need to quarantine. Reach out to your provider and here’s another set of resources.’”
Currently, Brown County Health and Wellness Center is the only place offering COVID-19 testing in Brown County.
Van Laecke said this survey method allows for Proactive MD to be “very efficient in where the energy is being placed in terms of providing care.”
“Because the biggest component from the provisional care standpoint, or providing care standpoint, is being overwhelmed at a clinic level. If we can make sure the right people are calling us at the right time, then we’re better prepared to serve them in a better fashion,” he said.
How it works
This tool is for use by all county residents, and not just those who have clinic memberships.
Residents can visit https://covid19.spokehealth.com to access the screening tool. First, go to the bottom of the page and select “Brown County, Indiana” as your local area, then create an account.
Information about the person’s location will be used for contact tracing in the future if that is needed, Van Laecke explained.
The questionnaire asks people about any symptoms they have, like a fever, cough or shortness of breath. You’re also questioned about recent exposure to someone who was suspected of having or had a confirmed case of the coronavirus. The form asks asked if you’ve traveled to or live in areas where the virus is spread locally, or if you are living with someone who has the virus.
The screening classifies a person at low, moderate or high risk.
A low-risk person would be encouraged to follow stay-at-home orders and avoid non-essential travel if they are low risk.
Messages are sent from staffers at the clinic in Brown County who will continually check in with the residents to make sure they are still feeling OK.
Those who are moderate or high risk would most likely receive a phone or video call from a clinic staff member.
“We want to reach out to them with some immediacy and check on them, make sure they are OK and help navigate them into local testing resources or help advise them and get them connected to their doctor,” Van Laecke said.
If a person does not have a doctor, they can connect with the clinic in Brown County by getting a membership. But Van Laecke said people will be directed to their primary care provider first before the clinic would handle the first line of action.
Studying the spread
As efforts are beginning at the local level to study the spread of the virus in Brown County, a study done at the state level is showing early trends.
The Indiana State Health Department partnered with the Indiana University Purdue University Indiana Indianapolis Fairbanks School of Public Health to conduct the study.
More than 4,600 Hoosiers were tested between April 25 and May 1 for COVID-19-related infections and antibodies, according to a press release from ISDH. Many of those Hoosiers were randomly selected from across the state, but in a way that accounted for different demographics such as race, age and ethnicity.
Based on that small, representative sample of the population, researchers determined that so far, about 2.8 percent of the state’s population had been infected with the virus.
During the last week of April, 1.7 percent of participants tested positive for active infections and an additional 1.1 percent tested positive for antibodies. That equals 2.8 percent, or 186,000 Hoosiers, who were actively infected or had previously been infected by the virus as of May 1, according to a press release from the state.
That number was much higher than the state’s previous COVID-19 positive total of about 17,000 cumulative cases, not including deaths. Before this study, testing had focused on symptomatic or high-risk people.
Researchers also discovered that almost 45 percent of people who tested positive for the coronavirus had no reported symptoms at all.
This data suggested that only 1 out of every 11 true infections had been previously identified through testing, the press release said.
IUPUI scientists estimate that the infection-fatality rate in Indiana is 0.58 percent for the COVID-19, “making it almost six times more deadly than the seasonal flu, which has an infection rate of 0.1,” the release states.
The study also showed that the coronavirus has higher positive rates among Hispanic, African American and other races.
Preliminary results of the test showed that social distancing policies have played a role in curbing the spread, the press release said.
“We’re so grateful for this work. It’s an important snapshot in time of what is happening in our state and future testing phases will bolster our knowledge,” said State Health Commissioner Dr. Kris Box.
“These initial results will help guide us in our efforts to make decisions about how we move forward in Indiana and better position resources.”
More phases of this testing are planned for early June, October, and April of next year. Select members of the public will be asked to participate again “to ensure that the sampling is representative of the population.”
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Access the screening tool at https://covid19.spokehealth.com.
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