Questions and technical support

Update June 12, 2023: COVID-19 is still with us, but the once-urgent need for PCR testing has subsided and can be addressed by other providers focused on diagnostics. So the Broad Institute is winding down its COVID-19 diagnostic testing program, with June 30, 2023 as the last day of operations. The Broad continues to conduct research and develop technologies to better understand, diagnose, and treat infectious diseases.

The CRSP lab at the Broad Institute processes COVID-19 tests and returns the results securely to the test provider. To protect individual privacy, we cannot share results directly with patients. If you are awaiting a result or if your organization is working with Broad for testing and needs technical assistance, please follow the guidance below.

For patients requesting results

If you were tested at a health clinic, Stop the Spread site, or other location, please call or email your test provider. In most cases, if you have not yet received your result within about 24 hours, it may be because your birth date or contact information was entered incorrectly at the site where your test was performed. You’ll need to reach out to the testing agency to fix this. Your health care provider or test site should have provided you with a brochure, phone number, or website where you can learn more information. Please call or email them and ask about your result. If there’s an issue, the provider can follow up with Broad directly to resolve it.

You can find the full list of Stop the Spread locations, as well as contact information, here.

If you were screened at a college or university, please call or email your school’s screening support line or health services department. Your school will have the most up-to-date information.

If you or your child was tested at a K-12 school through Massachusetts's pooled testing program and the sample was processed at Broad, please contact your school, school district, or vendor (either CIC Health or Project Beacon), which should have the most up-to-date information.

For organizations working with Broad for testing

Broad Institute has partnered with public health agencies, colleges and universities, nursing homes, homeless shelters, and other organizations to provide testing kits and test processing. For technical assistance with an existing program, email covidsupport@broadinstitute.org.

Patient privacy and research

The Clinical Research Sequencing Platform, LLC (CRSP) is a subsidiary of the Broad Institute. CLIA-certified and CAP (College of American Pathologists) accredited, the lab is authorized to process samples collected in hospitals and other clinical settings and then securely deliver the results.

Since March 2020, Broad has worked in partnership with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and Massachusetts State Public Health Laboratory, and CRSP is now a state reference lab. As such, CRSP will report positive results to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and/or other relevant public health agencies.

Individual samples sent to Broad for test processing are not used for research purposes. In collaboration with relevant public health agencies, de-identified data may be shared with public health officials for analysis, such as to determine infection rates. Samples may also be included in the CRSP standard quality-control procedures to ensure high-quality testing and accurate clinical care.