From CDC Guidance 

Rapid Antigen testing

Antigen tests can be used for screening testing in high-risk congregate settings in which repeat testing could quickly identify persons with a SARS-CoV-2 infection to inform infection prevention and control measures, thus preventing transmission. In this case, and especially in settings where a rapid test turnaround time is required, there is value in providing immediate results with antigen tests, even though they may have lower sensitivity than NAATs.

Results within 30-45 mins

PCR testing

The “gold standard” for clinical diagnostic detection of SARS-CoV-2 remains NAATs, such as RT-PCR. Thus, it may be necessary to confirm an antigen test result with a nucleic acid amplification test, especially if the result of the antigen test is inconsistent with the clinical context. TAnalytic performance may differ from overall performance when considering issues of test availability, quality of specimen collection and transport, and turnaround times of results.

The sensitivity of antigen tests varies but is generally lower than most NAATs. The antigen level in specimens collected either before symptom onset, or late in the course of infection, may be below the limit of detection of virus of the test. This may result in a negative antigen test result, while a more sensitive test, such as most NAATs, may return a positive result.

Results in 48-96 hours

Insurance 

Due to the cares act, most COVID-19 testing is reimbursable by health insurance. We can help you with reimbursement. PicMed does not accept or file insurance for testing but will help provide documentation to get reimbursed.