The state of Tennessee has authorized a pilot program for interested Tennessee businesses to obtain COVID-19 tests kits, free of charge while supplies last. The goal of the program, administered jointly by the Tennessee Department of Health and Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, is to help participating businesses demonstrate with greater confidence that their facility is safe to customers and employees. In order to access the test kits, each business must be certified by a training coordinator and follow certain reporting requirements and guidelines.

Businesses interested in utilizing the BinaxNOW rapid antigen tests should review the below guidance documents for using testing supplies and reporting the results:

Directions for ordering supplies can be found here: Ordering BinaxNOW Supplies     

General guidance here: General Guidance/Obtaining a CLIA Waiver  

Reporting guidance here: Results Reporting Requirements

Training materials for the BinaxNOW test can be accessed here and Abbott can also provide trainings via WebEx. 

Please direct any questions to the COVID-19 Testing unit in the Department of Health at covid19.testing@tn.gov.  

Additional Information

Your facility’s use of BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag Card will assist with testing and enable adherence to ongoing testing practices according to public health guidelines.  For information on Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) POC antigen and asymptomatic testing, click here. For FDA recommendations for health care providers who are ordering authorized tests outside their authorization (e.g., antigen tests for asymptomatic individuals) – see FDA’s FAQ on Testing for SARS-CoV-2 (“Q: Does the FDA have recommendations for health care providers using SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic tests for screening asymptomatic individuals for COVID-19?”) for further information.

After reviewing these documents and meeting the requirements for use of the BinaxNOW tests you can be added to the TEMA 123 survey to order supplies. To be added to the TEMA survey, please fill out the attached spreadsheet in order to receive the required survey (this usually takes about 24 hours). The POC variable is point of contact first and last name and your license type is Industry. Please note that there is a limited supply from the federal government and once the supply is gone it won’t be replenished.