As COVID-19 cases increase this winter, the White House has announced a plan that includes making free COVID at-home testing kits widely available and accessible.

This announcement builds on the successful partnership last year with the White House, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), the United States Postal Service, and Maximus to rapidly, effectively, and at scale support, public health through digitally enabled customer services.

As part of this work, Maximus is supporting CDC in the implementation of the CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Assistance Hotline (CDC-VAX), which has helped millions get vaccinated and supported the distribution of the initial free COVID at-home testing kits, as well as the distribution of the kits given the White House’s recent announcement. CDC and Maximus have been recognized by Service to the Citizen Awards for the impact of the program on the public in response to the pandemic.

Being able to provide equitable access to critical information and test kits was part of the program’s impact. For example, Maximus worked with the CDC to ensure those with limited or no internet access can receive COVID-19 support. This includes a call center at 1-800-232-0233 that utilized the Maximus Intelligent Virtual Assistant (MIVA). MIVA is a highly innovative technology leveraging artificial intelligence and automation to manage call complexity with the ability to scale to meet various volume of requests.

Since the initial announcement of the program in December 2021, there have been approximately 350,000 orders for COVID test kits placed through MIVA. The technology has been able to handle nearly 84% of requests or 665,000 calls without the need to speak with a live call agent, which has saved call agents thousands of hours and boosted the trust of the agency in the eyes of the public.

As a dedicated partner to federal and public health organizations, the team is continuously working to leverage innovative technology, including MIVA, to increase our nation’s ability to be prepared and responsive to health needs. Our focus on innovation enables us to support government programs faster and more efficiently to address the diverse needs of various public health challenges.