Public Health Registries: Electronic Case Reporting

At this time, the Division of Public Health (DPH) is only accepting electronic case reporting (eCR) for the following conditions into our production environment:

What is onboarding?

This is the onboarding page for electronic case reporting (eCR). Onboarding refers to the testing and validation process that providers and public health programs engage in prior to ongoing submission of production data from certified electronic health record (EHR) technology (CEHRT). Participation in the soft go-live phase of eCR onboarding is required. During this time DPH will do the majority of data quality evaluation. The national onboarding team will work with each organization on timing and technical requirements.

This page contains information on the DPH electronic submission of case reports, including:

• Technical capacity to receive data.
• Resource/administrative capacity and queue prioritization.
• Required registration materials.

Technical capacity and specifications

DPH has declared readiness to accept eCR for Asbestosis, Chemical Pneumonitis, COVID-19, Farmer's Lung, Hepatitis C, Influenza Associated Hospitalization, Lead in Blood-Adults, Measles, Mpox, Orthopoxvirus, Pesticide-Related Illness, Pertussis, RSV Associated Hospitalization, Silicosis, and Varicella cases. DPH has the technical capacity to receive eCR from eligible professionals and eligible hospitals that treat or diagnose these conditions. If your organization has implemented trigger code sets for sending eCR for all conditions, or plans to in the near future, note that it is required to continue to use existing reporting methods (WEDSS provider entry and faxes) for conditions other than COVID-19. We will post here as additional conditions become available for reporting. In 2023, DPH will start sending additional conditions to our test environment for data validation. Reach out to the DPH eCR team at dhsecr@dhs.wisconsin.gov if you have questions or concerns.

There have been recent changes regarding existing reporting methods (WEDSS provider entry and faxes) and expansion of eCR to all conditions. DPH will require existing reporting methods to continue in parallel to eCR for an extended period of time. Due to the complex data quality issues, rarity of some conditions, and building of data systems, DPH is extending the time for data validation to ensure state, local and Tribal health departments are receiving accurate information.

DPH asks providers and hospitals intending to submit eCRs to follow the HL7 CDA® R2 Implementation Guide: Public Health Case Report - the Electronic Initial Case Report (eICR) Release 2, STU Release 3.1 - US Realm. DPH accepts the HL7 CDA electronic initial case report (eICR) standards (R1.1 and R3) for eCR. DPH uses the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) Informatics Messaging System (AIMS) and the Reportable Condition Knowledge Management System (RCKMS) to ensure appropriate receipt of electronic case reporting. Health care organizations and EHR vendors are required to send their eCR messages through AIMS to DPH. DPH is not accepting any direct eCR messages.

Resource capacity and prioritization

DPH has limited resource capacity to test with and onboard providers. DPH will be looking for the following qualifications when ready to onboard new health care organizations:

1. Organizations using CEHRT with the capability of sending eCR messages per the HL7 CDA® R2 Implementation Guide.
2. Organizations that have an up-to-date Public Health Registration for Electronic Data Submission System (PHREDS) registration with current EHR vendor and contact information. See below for more information regarding PHREDS.

Providers are expected to maintain current state-mandated disease reporting requirements described in Wis. Stat. ch. 252, Communicable Diseases, regardless of their registration or onboarding status. Visit the DPH communicable disease webpage for more information. Registration of intent to submit electronic case reports is not a replacement for reporting of communicable diseases, nor is it a substitute for electronic lab reporting (ELR).

Promoting Interoperability and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) general information

CMS rules changed in 2023 for Promoting Interoperability for eligible hospitals, critical access hospitals and eligible professionals. It is important to consider these rules when choosing an EHR reporting period in 2024.

• For more information about CMS rules for hospitals, see the Promoting Interoperability Programs page on the CMS website.
• For more information for eligible professionals and merit-based incentive payment system (MIPS) visit the Promoting Interoperability Performance Category: Traditional MIPS Requirements Intro page on the CMS website.

For the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), there is an exclusion for eCR if the eligible clinician does not treat or diagnose any reportable diseases for which data is collected by their jurisdiction's reportable disease system during the performance period. DHS does not provide exclusion letters for this MIPS eCR exclusion category. Please note that the suggested documentation from the CMS MIPS program for this exclusion is as follows “A dated report or screenshot that indicates that the MIPS eligible clinician does not treat or diagnose any reportable diseases for which data is collected by the jurisdiction's reportable disease system during the performance period.” You can find information and download the 2023 MIPS Data Validation - Promoting Interoperability Performance Category Criteria from the QPP CMS website: Promoting Interoperability Measures: APP Requirements PY 2021 (cms.gov).

How to register for eCR in PHREDS

To register for eCR, use the following steps:

• First check to see if your organization already has an existing registration for public health registries (Immunization, syndromic, etc).
  • If you cannot see a registration, it is likely because you do not have access to it. Please email the WI eHealth Team at dhsehealth@dhs.wisconsin.gov to see if your organization has a registration and who is the primary contact. If that primary contact has left the organization, the eHealth team can give access to the existing registration to a new business contact.
• If your organization already has a PHREDS registration, update the existing registration to register for eCR, more information below.
• If your organization has never registered for any public health registry, follow the directions below to create a new registration.

Information required to register

To register, the following information is needed:

• Organization name
• Primary business contact information (phone number and email address)
• Primary technical contact information (phone number and email address)
• Primary address
• EHR vendor name, product name, and version of product
• Capability of EHR system to generate an electronic initial case report

Providers wishing to register their intent to submit electronic case reports using CEHRT can visit the PHREDS Enrollment and Registration of Intent webpage.

Onboarding materials

The Wisconsin Implementation Guide for Electronic Case Reporting, P-03354 (PDF) is a comprehensive document for administrators submitting electronic case reports to Wisconsin.

Questions?

For more information, visit:

• AIMS website for Electronic Case Reporting
• CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) website on Electronic Case Reporting

If you have questions concerning the technical onboarding process for electronic case reporting, email the Electronic Case Reporting team at dhsecr@wisconsin.gov.

If you have questions concerning the PHREDS registration process, email the Wisconsin eHealth Program at eHealth@wisconsin.gov.