UHS of Delaware, Inc. operates 27 acute care facilities in the United States.  Working with Cerner, our EMR vendor, we have recently implemented Electronic Case Reporting to provide reporting to state public health agencies eight states.

Upon submission of a patient case to AIMS, the Reportability Response is stored in a patient's chart.  Clinicians at several of our hospitals interpreted the reportability response as a diagnosis, causing alarm and concern.

Our Chief Medical Information Office (CMIO) team proposes an adjustment to the Reportability Response subject to read as follows:

Subject:  Public Health Reporting Communication: One or more patient medical conditions met screening criteria for reportable illness, based on state public health guidance.

The current verbiage reads as follows:  

Summary:  Your organization electronically submitted an initial case report to determine if reporting to public health is needed for a patient

Thank you for your consideration.