Laboratory results for reportable laboratory findings outlined in the Reportable and Communicable Diseases Rule must be reported to the Vermont Department of Health, as required in statute.
Reportable and Communicable Diseases Rule
Laboratory results for reportable laboratory findings outlined in the Reportable and Communicable Diseases Rule must be reported to the Vermont Department of Health, as required in statute.
Reportable and Communicable Diseases Rule
Hospital laboratories and reference laboratories that perform or order tests for reportable conditions under the diseases rule and COVID-19 testing sites need to report results to the Health Department. COVID-19 testing sites are defined as:
NOTE: For labs performing COVID-19 testing, please jump to SARS-CoV-2 Reporting Requirements.
The Health Department accepts HL7 2.5.1 messages from facilities reporting reportable laboratory findings. For laboratories seeking to connect to Vermont, please email AHS.VDHELRSupport@vermont.gov.
If your facility performs only COVID-19 testing, please see the SARS-CoV-2 Specific Requirements.
While working towards electronic reporting, fax all positive results to 802-951-4061 within 24 hours, unless otherwise instructed.
Hospitals should follow any Promoting Interoperability Program requirements. Electronic lab reporting (ELR) is a Core Item for Meaningful Use Stage 3. Vermont can receive ELR from Eligible Hospitals as HL7 ORU v2.5.1 messages.
Note to hospitals performing in-house reportable disease testing: Please email AHS.VDHELRSupport@vermont.gov to confirm your electronic reporting status. All positive results should be faxed, unless confirmation has been made that we are receiving in-house results through an electronic feed.
All COVID-19 results (positive, negative, etc.) are required to be reported to the Vermont Department of Health within 24 hours of test report completion, including:
Examples of results that needs to be reported:
The COVID-19 testing site is responsible for sending results to the Health Department. If you have an established feed with the Health Department, these results should be included in your existing HL7 ELR message. If you have no established feed, the following are options for electronic reporting:
The Health Department will report all COVID-19 results received electronically to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on behalf of all facilities reporting to Vermont.
Until your facility is onboarded to report electronically, please fax any positive test result to 802-951-4061 within 24 hours. The faxed report should include patient demographic information (name, date of birth, contact information), test type and result, and reporting facility information (name and contact information). Facilities may choose to use the weekly lab report form.
Note to hospitals performing in-house COVID-19 testing: Please email AHS.VDHELRSupport@vermont.gov to confirm your electronic reporting status. All positive results should be faxed, unless confirmation has been made that we are receiving in-house results through an electronic feed.
All COVID-19 test results (including positive and negative results) are required to be reported to the Health Department within 24 hours of receiving the test result. Timely reporting of positive COVID-19 test results is especially critical to protect public health.
If your business or organization is doing COVID-19 testing through an employee health provider, reference laboratory, or similar medical facility, please work with them to make sure they are reporting results for your organization to the Health Department.
If your business or organization is performing COVID-19 testing and not working with an employee health or similar provider, your organization will need to report these test results directly to the Health Department. The Health Department has several reporting options. Review the chart below to determine the best fit for your organization.
COVID-19 Testing Description | Recommended Reporting Option |
---|---|
Contracting with an employee health provider, reference laboratory, or similar medical facility | Work with contracted healthcare provider to ensure they are reporting results from your facility to the Health Department |
Conducting a large volume of testing and Have an existing system for recording test results or IT capacity to create such a system and Have IT capacity to develop automated reporting |
|
Testing the same people multiple times (e.g., staff members) and/or Want to store test results and/or Want testing workflow support |
|
Using only Abbott BinaxNOW cards for testing and Do not expect to implement other types of testing in the future |
|
Testing a small number of people per day or You have results to report before onboarding for another reporting method is complete |
Please reach out to the Health Department at AHS.VDHLabReportFormSupport@vermont.gov with any questions about COVID-19 test result reporting options or requirements.
Vermont Department of Health is partnering with the Vermont Health Information Exchange (VITL) to enable COVID-19 testing sites reporting only COVID-19 test results to report electronically. Laboratories are prioritized for onboarding based on volume. VITL is able to onboard HL7 electronic lab reporting (the preferred method) or an automated flat file adhering to the National Flat File schema through SFTP or VPN connections.
To request this method of electronic submittal of COVID-19 testing results, please complete this ELR Request form and have the following information accessible:
Organization, Contact Name, and Contact Email Address
The contact should be someone at the facility who will be able to interact with our technical staff to develop the messages and who has the capacity to respond quickly to requests for information.
Type(s) of testing performed (you may select multiple)
PCR, antigen, serology (antibody), home test kit, other.
Message type
Select HL7 if your facility is capable of producing an HL7 message.
Select Flat File if you will be utilizing the CSV format.
Third-party vendor for your lab software, if applicable
Approximate volume per week of Vermont residents tested
There are several reporting options for COVID-19 testing sites conducting point-of-care testing without the capability to report via HL7 message or automated flat file. This may include clinicians, health care facilities, and other settings using point-of-care testing.
Questions? Contact ahs.vdhlabreportformsupport@vermont.gov
Health and Human Services has additional data requirements for COVID-19 test results, including patient demographic information (age, race, ethnicity, sex) and the following seven “ask on order entry” (AOE) questions.
If you are reporting via HL7 message or the National Flat File schema, Vermont can accept properly formatted AOE questions. HHS has published guidance for HL7 specifications.
The Health Department prefers to receive whole genome sequencing information as an electronic lab report using a facility’s existing connection. Please refer to the CDC guidance for formatting this information: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/lab/resources/reporting-sequencing-guidance.html and reach out to ahs.vdhelrsupport@vermont.gov to submit test messages for review prior to including this information in your production feed.
The Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) has a centralized ELR service, APHL Informatics Messaging System (AIMS), that routes messages to individual public health jurisdictions using a single connection to AIMS, rather than a lab needing individual connections with each state.
If your facility is reporting to multiple states, this may be a better option for COVID-19 reporting.