Automate Case Reporting

Electronic case reporting (eCR) automatically generates and transmits case reports from electronic health records to public health agencies for review and action.

How does eCR work?

eCR Automatically Routes Reports from Providers to Public Health Agencies.

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ECR Diagram
  1. The provider submits the report through their electronic health record system (EHR)
  2. APHL Informatics Messaging Service (AIMS) platform or Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR), depending on which app is enabled by agreement, will send trigger codes from EHR to the Reportable Conditions Knowledge Management System (RCKMS).
  3. RCKMS sends the information in the form of Initial Electronic Case Report (eICR) and Reportability Response (RR).
  4. The trigger codes will examine the EHR for matches to reportable diseases.
  5. Once the criteria are matched the potential case will be sent on as an Electronic Case Report (eCR).
  6. If the case warrants sending to the public health agency, the full eCR and RR will be sent to the awaiting surveillance system, where the case will be viewed by the Health Department.
Why use eCR?

Utilizing eCR will benefit both healthcare facilities and public health staff. Automating case reporting will reduce workload burden from manual reporting, as well as improve reporting timeliness, completeness, and accuracy.

For more information, please visit: Why is eCR Important | CDC

How to get started with eCR?
  1. Check that you are ready for eCR. Review the Readiness and Implementation Checklist.
  2. Review the list of EHR/Health IT products that are ready for onboarding, and make sure the product you use is on the list. Please see the ready to onboard list under For Healthcare Organizations. There is a list of additional pre-requisites to verify as well.
  3. Reach out to the Health Department's eCR team by email at AHS.VDHeCR@vermont.gov. Tell us that you are interested in eCR, which health network you are affiliated with, and which EHR or EMR product you use.
  4. Once you have verified prerequisites and communicated your intent with the Health Department, please engage with the CDC’s eCR team and APHL (Association of Public Health Laboratories). They will work with your team to onboard for eCR. More information on the process can be found here: Readiness and Implementation Checklist (aimsplatform.org)
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