Electronic case reporting (eCR) is the secure and automated method to transmit case reports of notifiable conditions from Electronic Health Records (EHRs) to public health agencies. eCR includes required patient demographic and clinical data necessary to carry out public health activities. Traditionally, healthcare facilities report this information to SDDOH by manual methods including fax, phone, secure website and electronic laboratory reporting (ELR). eCR will allow the real-time exchange of this critical data with improved completeness and accuracy.
Benefits of eCR:
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Fulfills the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Promoting Interoperability Program requirement for eCR
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Ensures compliance with legal reporting requirements
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Reduces the manual reporting burden on healthcare providers by automating the reporting process
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Increases efficiency and effectiveness of disease surveillance, detection, and response, by improving reporting timeliness and completeness of case reports
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Decreases the number of phone calls and medical record requests to facilities related to public health investigations
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Streamlines reporting to multiple jurisdictions
Get Started with eCR:
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Check that your EHR is ready for eCR. Review the Readiness and Implementation Checklist.
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Verify eCR prerequisites are met and your EMR is able to generate an electronic initial case report (eICR) in accordance with the published HL7 message standard.
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Complete the eICR registration form to notify SDDOH and HealthLink that your organization is ready to onboard eCR reporting.
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Contact SDDOH if you have any questions. Please email DOH.Informatics@state.sd.us.
The process of onboarding eCR reporting in production can take several months. Healthcare facilities and providers should continue to manually or electronically report notifiable conditions through the current processes in use.