INDIANAPOLIS – To free up local health departments and the Indiana State Department of Health, the state will spend $43 million for a yearlong contract to staff a call center dedicated to contact tracing, a method of identifying potential pandemic infections.
Maximus Health Services Inc., which already has a state contract as a health insurance enrollment broker, won the contract over six other companies and offered “the best quality for the best price,” according to Kris Box, the state health commissioner.
The call center will have 500 employees working in 12-hour shifts seven days per week. Box said that additional staff would be hired, if necessary, and trained through an online course.
“Just like our testing, we wanted to stand this up very, very quickly,” Box said, not specifying how many contact tracers Indiana already employed. “We didn’t want to over-hire to beigin with … we believe that this is the number we need but, if we need more, we will definitely be getting more.”
Public health officials laud the importance of contact tracing before reopening parts of the economy in order to mitigate potential infections. Contact tracing includes interviewing anyone an infected person may have been in contact with in the last few weeks.
After identifying potential contacts, those people are tested for the virus or warned of possible symptoms. Public health officials then ask identified Hoosiers to self-isolate for 14 days to reduce the potential spread of the virus.
“Anybody that you’re living with in your home is a close contact and those individuals that are symptomatic need to be tested; if (the contact has) an essential job, we would test them,” Box said.
Hoosiers who ignore or miss the initial email or text from Maximus, set to begin May 11, can expect a call to follow up with and interview Hoosiers about their health status.
“My hope is that this will allow our local health departments to use their highly educated staff to not only focus on these priorities, but also on the essential health functions,” Box said.
ISDH and local health departments will still focus on congregate settings, such as long-term care facilities.
Box said the state chose Maximus over more invasive programs, such as an app that uses Bluetooth to identify the proximity of cell phone users. The app would theoretically identify contacts the infected person might miss, especially in public spaces, by tracking their location and matching it with other location data.
“It didn’t seem like something that was going to be (OK with) people and I wasn’t really comfortable about (its lack of) privacy,” Box said. “All of this is still private health information; it’s not something that we share widely.”
Approximately 18-19% of coronavirus tests come back positive and Box said she’d like to see the rate fall to the lower teens as the state ramps up testing. On Tuesday, the state announced a $17.9 million contract to test 100,000 Hoosiers in the next 30 days.
“If you’re 65 and older with underlying health conditions, you’re going to be living in a new normal for a while,” Box said. “We’re going to do everything that we can to help but we’re going to deal with reality here; it’s not one-size-fits-all.”
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