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[For Fully Insured Employers]
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Independence is continuing to assess current conditions, health care for our members, and ways to help providers and clients through the pandemic. To help monitor members at home who have a COVID‑19 diagnosis, are recovering from COVID‑19 after being hospitalized, or who have respiratory symptoms while waiting for COVID‑19 test results, Independence will cover consumer‑grade pulse oximeters at no member cost share. Pulse oximeters are small, portable devices that monitor oxygen levels in the blood and pulse rate.
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Monitoring these patients with a pulse oximeter where appropriate is important because the virus can slow down the production of oxygen in the blood at such a slow rate that the patient does not feel any symptoms. Due to this side effect, physicians in our network are starting to provide consumer‑grade pulse oximeters for outpatient management. In conjunction with physician oversite and support, these devices can prevent dangerous and undetected hypoxemia (low blood oxygen).
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How we are covering consumer‑grade pulse oximeters for COVID‑19 patients
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We are covering consumer‑grade pulse oximeters in the home setting for patients with COVID‑19 symptoms and who have a COVID‑19 diagnosis, patients who are recovering from COVID‑19 after being hospitalized, or who have respiratory symptoms while waiting for COVID‑19 test results. The consumer‑grade pulse oximeter must be monitored and supported by a participating physician.
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The device must also be ordered by a participating physician from an in‑network durable medical equipment (DME) supplier to be delivered to the patient’s home. Or the physician can provide a script to the patient with the DME supplier’s number to call and have the device delivered to his or her home. No referrals are needed. We will cover consumer‑grade pulse oximeters for COVID‑19 patients until July 31, 2020.
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