Biocept expands availability of its COVID-19 testing services via large healthcare network

Biocept Inc (NASDAQ:BIOC) announced Wednesday it is expanding the availability of its coronavirus (COVID-19) testing services. The San Diego-based company said it has deepened its affiliation with MultiPlan Inc - a healthcare cost management company - to include the testing services at a pre-negotiated price per test.  With the expanded agreement, Biocept said its COVID-19 testing, in addition to its liquid biopsy oncology testing services, are now accessible to consumers who have access to the PHCS and MultiPlan Networks, MultiPlan’s national primary and complementary networks.  READ: Biocept to provide coronavirus testing to mutli-state healthcare group More than 1 million healthcare providers participate in MultiPlan’s networks and 60 million health plan members have access to the company’s services. “Health plan members who use MultiPlan’s networks have had access to our Target Selecto oncology assays for the past five years, and our COVID-19 testing services are now available under this expanded agreement,” Biocept CEO Michael Nall said in a statement. “We are proud to offer our COVID-19 testing services to health providers and their patients across the US during the pandemic.” Biocept operates a high-complexity, CLIA-certified, CAP-accredited and BSL-2 safety level laboratory in San Diego, with specialized, licensed molecular lab staff who have been trained in performing the COVID-19 testing. The company said it recently implemented a cutting-edge, new online ordering system to make COVID-19 test ordering efficient for clients and streamline the front-end onboarding process within its laboratory, allowing for increased testing capacity and decreased costs.  To date, Biocept said it has provided the vast majority of COVID-19 testing results to health providers within 48 hours of receiving the specimen with an average reimbursement of about $100 per test.  The company said it believes its test performance, quality and customer service are ideal for supporting providers and maintaining compliance with state mandates. Contact the author: patrick@proactiveinvestors.com Follow him on Twitter @PatrickMGraham