OnPoint proctored covid testing - I am using it for my RC cruise that leaves tomorrow

[Gregoryfo]

Since OnPoint are the cheapest guys in town currently I thought I would make a thread to share my experience with them.  They are currently charging $9.99 for the telemed visit.  You need to use one of the home tests and it must be sealed at the time of the appointment.  We used the ones our local library is handing out  or maybe it was the ones the government sent in the mail.  It was iHealth.  So far we have purchased four tests for myself, my spouse, and our two children, have registered, did the testing, and received our results letter. 

 

It was easy to make the purchase, it was $13.99 per telemed visit at the time of purchase, but has since dropped to $9.99.  They gave me $5 off for signing up for their email notifications.  The sign up process was very easy.  However, you are required to register for HealthTraxRX patient portal.  I have never used a proctored test before, so perhaps this is typical, but they ask for your health insurance information (including a scan of your card) and a scan of your driver's license.  I tried to chat with OnPoint to see if there would be any additional charge apart from the $13.99 that I already paid.  After waiting about twenty minutes a message came on the chat that said to put in your email and they would get back to me later.  I put in my email and got a canned response that they got my message and would get back to me in 24 hours but I never got a response.   

 

I purchased on Sunday for Wednesday (today) testing.  There were appointments available in 15 minute increments for what appeared to be the entire day.  The family signed up for 2, 2:15, and 2:30.  I signed up for 6 since I had to work today.  I tried a few other days just out of curiosity and there appeared to be tons of appointments available, which might be why they keep dropping the price. 

 

My wife went first at 2.  The telemed visit is through zoom.  My wife and I both work for the schools, and we used zoom almost constantly during virtual instruction in 2021 so the format was familiar to us.  Even if you have never used zoom it should be fairly easy.  They send a link when you first choose your time and again on the morning of the appointment.  Click the link, turn on your camera, and wait to be let into the virtual room.  You give the rep the confirmation number from when you signed up for HealthTraxRX.  The rep asked why my wife wanted to be tested and she said because we were traveling by cruise.  They asked for her passport number and the booking number.  Not really sure why they need this much information to give us a covid test.  We were not prepared so the wife had to scramble around and get her passport and pull up the royal confirmation email.  The rep walks you through the testing process and asks to see the result.  They then take a screenshot of the result, which for all of us was thankfully negative. 

 

My eldest son's appointment was next.  He clicked the link and waited.  The screen said the host will let you in shortly, but the rep never came.  My other son's appointment time came and he logged in on another device.  The rep came right on time and said he would monitor both boys' testing.  Not sure what would happen if you were the only one testing, I guess you just wait.  Same questions and same documentation as for the wife, which we were ready for this time.  All three of their letter's came by email and text about twenty minutes later.            

 

My appointment at 6 was similar.  The rep came right on time.  Similar questions as the rest of the family, but the rap did not ask for a booking number, she just said ok I will mark down cruise travel.  I did ask her if there would be additional charges and she said a 'lab fee' would be charged to my health insurance but I would not be charged anything additional out of pocket.  I asked if I did not have insurance what would happen and she said the government would cover the charge.  I asked about the lab fee and she said that she would take a screenshot of the results (the stick) and it would be sent to a lab tech who would 'certify' the results and generate the letter.  So my assumption is that the lab tech looks at the stick to make sure there is only one red line and the proctor just walks you through the process and gathers the screenshot.  The insurance covers the lab fee and the $9.99 covers the proctor fee.  

 

I got my letter about fifteen minutes later.  I looked at my letter from OnPoint and a copy of the cvs letter from my April cruise for comparison.  They look to have the same information so I am hopeful that we will not have any drama tomorrow.  I tried to share a copy, with personal information blacked out, but the download failed repeatedly.  I will update tomorrow after we are, hopefully, on the boat!   

[Gregoryfo]

Here are the CVS and OnPoint negative test letters for comparison.  

 

 

Edited June 16, 2022 by Gregoryfo
uploaded the same letter twice

[Coralc]

@Gregoryfo Thank you! That is very interesting. There are all these other things they don't tell you, like signing up for the Health Trackrx portal. And I can't see any reason why they would need your booking number! 

 

We all just want the negative test results with the least amount of inconvenience. Apparently OnPoint has physical pop up test locations here as well. They advertise, "Bring your own test". 

 

Thanks for the procedure summary.  And Bon Voyage! Have a great cruise. 

Edited June 16, 2022 by Coralc

[kitkat343]

So glad it went well!  We have 5 people, plus need to pay 40 each for the Bermuda Travel Authorization so we are hoping to find the cheapest testing option available.

 

[Gregoryfo]

I looked back through my EOBs and it looks like CVS charged $39 for the collection fee back in April, blue cross paid $19.44.  Blue cross also paid a lab fee of $100 to process the PCR test for my wife.  Oddly I did not see an EOB on the blue cross site for my test.  It will be interesting to see what is charged from OnPoint to the insurance.  I wish they would have disclosed that the insurance would be billed, but it is like the wifey said it would be hard for them to survive on $9.99 per test.    

[Gregoryfo]

4 hours ago, Coralc said:

@Gregoryfo Thank you! That is very interesting. There are all these other things they don't tell you, like signing up for the Health Trackrx portal. And I can't see any reason why they would need your booking number! 

 

We all just want the negative test results with the least amount of inconvenience. Apparently OnPoint has physical pop up test locations here as well. They advertise, "Bring your own test". 

 

Thanks for the procedure summary.  And Bon Voyage! Have a great cruise. 

Thank you for the well wishes!

[Leosmom]

Gregorygo,

Thank you so much for the detailed report with OnPoint.  It is very helpful since there is a lot that these companies doing the proctored tests don’t tell you until you make the purchase!
 

 For those who used emed or rapidtestandtrace, was passport or cruise line information required?  Seems odd to me that they need this information.

 

Glad it went well for you, have a great and healthy cruise.

[hal2008]

Thanks, OP for creating this thread.

 

Since they are so many tests provided by our insurance, thought this would be good use of them without paying 70 usd for two EMED tests.

 

With US dropping testing for entry, these companies suddenly have lots of appointments available. But some these businesses will readjust (reduce number of agents or simply stop this proctoring service)

So, it is possible that some of these options may not be available later this summer. 

 

Since it was just 9.99. I did a trail run last night.

 

Notes (this is sample size o one, your mileage may vary)

 

1. Like everything online nowadays, everything seem to work smoothly unless there is an issue.

 

2. They are almost impossible to reach on phone irrespective of time of day and hold period.

(800-960-0553 - press 2)

 

3. They use a totally different company (HealthRX or something) to provide pdf of results. That company is easy to reach who very promptly says that OnPoint is just using our letterherad and we do not have anything to do with their testing!!

 

4. The pdf report provided does not list any identifying information (such as driver licence or passport number) although they did ask for it (as well as "booking number") during the telemed session

The portal screen printout does list CLIA number but it also has ("TBD" for test and results in middle as shown by screenshot posted by OP) which can potentially confusing for RCCL agent (potentially - most likely no)

 

5. Buying telemed visit and making appointment was easy.

 

6. Rescheduling was easy through the link provided ion email. Calling them for help was impossible *(gave up after hold of 30 minutes on 2 occassions)

 

7. They need ZOOM to install on phone.

8. They also need "registration" with HealthRx

9. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PROVIDE FOR INSURANCE INFORMATION. "CLient Billing radio button" will work. Your insurance company is NOT billed.

 

10. Actual test was easy but quite ineffective. What a useless charade

       - They waited only 5 minutes for the results.

       - Never checked what test I am using (I used an old expired test as purpose was to test out the process)

      -  They didnt even make sure that results are from the test I used.

     - You can keep a negative test ready (taken by anyone) on the table nearby and use it to show them after undertaking your test.  (After months of being supporter of this pre-boarding testing process, I have lost all faith.

 

Summary:

1. If my sample size is typical then the process works.

2. If you need to contact someone, impossible to reach them

3. Totally useless as a screening test. 

4. If you have some backup available, it is cheap test.

5. Personally, I would just spend 70 used on 2 EMED tests (now that return test is not required, more economical 6 for 150 alternative is not viable)

 

Hope above datapoint helps someone.

 

5. 

 

 

[kitkat343]

21 minutes ago, hal2008 said:

Thanks, OP for creating this thread.

 

Since they are so many tests provided by our insurance, thought this would be good use of them without paying 70 usd for two EMED tests.

 

 

 

Thank you - this was extremely informative!

[Liljo22]

How were you able to book 4 time slots.  I purchased 4 virtual tests for my cruise on Sunday and it only let me book one time.  It says that 2 people can test per a window but I am unable to book another time.  The only options I have are to cancel or reschedule.  

[Gregoryfo]

No problem using the OnPoint results at the peer.  She did initially say that the results seemed to say 'to be determined' (TBD) but I showed her at the bottom that it said negative and she waived us right through.  I will report back if I get an EOB from my insurance company.  

[perfect match]

1 hour ago, Gregoryfo said:

No problem using the OnPoint results at the peer.  She did initially say that the results seemed to say 'to be determined' (TBD) but I showed her at the bottom that it said negative and she waived us right through.  I will report back if I get an EOB from my insurance company.  

Thank you for all the info! Very helpful. Hope you and your family have a great cruise!

[Tlbecker1]

23 hours ago, Leosmom said:

Gregorygo,

Thank you so much for the detailed report with OnPoint.  It is very helpful since there is a lot that these companies doing the proctored tests don’t tell you until you make the purchase!
 

 For those who used emed or rapidtestandtrace, was passport or cruise line information required?  Seems odd to me that they need this information.

 

Glad it went well for you, have a great and healthy cruise.

We have used emed several times and they have never asked about passport or cruise line.

[Gregoryfo]

20 hours ago, Liljo22 said:

How were you able to book 4 time slots.  I purchased 4 virtual tests for my cruise on Sunday and it only let me book one time.  It says that 2 people can test per a window but I am unable to book another time.  The only options I have are to cancel or reschedule.  

We had no problem booking all the appointments at the same time. Did you register with the healthtrax place?  That might be needed to book the additional appointments as we did that prior to making appointments. 

[hal2008]

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY.

 

It is fine when everything goes fine but when THEY MAKE MISTAKE, there is no real customer service to reach to get any help.

 

They put wrong date and time on the report tendering the whole charade useless.

 

Recommend NOT USING ON POINT and try something else.

[Coralc]

34 minutes ago, hal2008 said:

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY.

 

It is fine when everything goes fine but when THEY MAKE MISTAKE, there is no real customer service to reach to get any help.

 

They put wrong date and time on the report tendering the whole charade useless.

 

Recommend NOT USING ON POINT and try something else.

 

Wow! Thanks. That sounds pretty bad. I appreciate the warning. 

 

I am so hoping that by September, this pre-cruise testing will be over with. 

[Mom&MeCruiseAL]

I thought I bought 2 tests a couple weeks ago.  I was only charged for one. I went through the process to upload my insurance card and driver's license.  I wasn't with my husband at the time to upload his.  I wanted to check what time I set the appointment for.  It does not say in any email.  I wanted to reschedule the appointment.  I can't figure out where on their website you can do that.  It says my order is complete.  I've tried the chat. Never got through but left my email.  Nothing.  I've tried multiple times.  I haven't tried to call yet.  That is my next step.  I have a couple weeks still.  I was going to recommend them to the other 6 people we are traveling with.  Now I think I need to come up with another way to get our tests and just kiss this $10 good-bye.  

[JoeFan]

I was looking at this as well. 

[MechE31]

I signed up for testing with an appointment Saturday, but didn't get anything to sign up for HealthTraxRX. Was this a separate email?

[jennblee]

I just signed up today for two tests on Thursday. I did not receive the appointment email. So I tried to chat and waited. I called the number on the chat and got a person right away. He sent me the appointment email and waited as I made our appointments.  We are good to go with a zoom link. Here's hoping someone starts the zoom to Proctor. 

[sdear]

29 minutes ago, jennblee said:

I just signed up today for two tests on Thursday. I did not receive the appointment email. So I tried to chat and waited. I called the number on the chat and got a person right away. He sent me the appointment email and waited as I made our appointments.  We are good to go with a zoom link. Here's hoping someone starts the zoom to Proctor. 

Please let us know how it goes and if RCI acceepted their results without issue.   Thanks !

[Babyjax12]

My only issue with all this was that the email links/codes went to my junk mail and I didn’t notice. They ended up sending the link multiple times because of my mistake. Duh, me! 

[reefgeek83]

I'm interested in using the OnPoint for the proctored tests. Are you able to use the free covid tests sent out by USPS for the proctored test?

[jennblee]

1 hour ago, reefgeek83 said:

I'm interested in using the OnPoint for the proctored tests. Are you able to use the free covid tests sent out by USPS for the proctored test?

Yes

[johnjen]

My mini critique of "On Point" testing:

 

My proctor asked me to confirm the confirmation number. I had to scramble through emails to find it. Then, the testing commenced. I could barely understand what she was saying. "Search for hilltrack" should've been "search for healthtrack". Glad I served in the Navy and understood tagalog pronunciations - but I was apparently out of practice. My patience was thin over stress. Took the test, negative. All good.

Then, DW's test, the proctor asks for her confirmation number. Found it on her phone (we tested on the desktop). THEN, he asked, "what is your order number" and made her dig further through emails. I couldn't find it either. MY test proctor didn't ask for that....

There's inconsistencies. Both proctors kept talking about a "passport pdf" which we didn't have. Turned out they were asking for our passport NUMBERS so that they could send us a "passport pdf" which didn't make sense.

Overall, ridiculously cumbersome! They need to have a meeting on training, consistent testing queries. If someone queues up into the assigned virtual room and states their name, and their confirmation number, they shouldn't require a "order" number.

We'll just wait for this testing crap to end before going on another cruise. The stress from these stupid tests sucked the wind out of our excitement and anticipation. Please make this crap go away. The CDC no longer requires cruise lines to test anymore. But here we are.

Edited July 5, 2022 by johnjen