ELECTRONIC CASE REPORTING (eCR)

​​​​​ABOUT

Electronic Case Reporting (eCR) is the automated generation and transmission of case reports from an electronic health record (EHR) to the public health agency’s disease surveillance system. The state of West Virginia uses the HL7 electronic initial case report (eICR) standards (R1.1 and R3) for electronic case reporting (eCR) and to support the new CMS Promoting Interoperability (PI) regulations for eCR. It is these standards that we will use to eventually eliminate manual reporting requirements. We also require the use of APHL AIMS and the Reportable Condition Knowledge Management System (RCKMS) to ensure appropriate reporting.​ Successful ongoing submission to WV Electronic Disease Surveillance System (WVEDSS) using the eCR reporting method will enable eligible healthcare providers to meet the eCR measure for PI and will assist with compliance of the West Virginia’s Reportable Infectious Disease Rule (§64CSR7).

The information below provides an overview of the eCR reporting process in West Virginia through the WV Department of Health’s Bureau for Public Health (BPH).

DECLARATION OF READINESS STATEMENT (posted January 30, 2024): The WVEDSS will continue accepting eCR registrations under the Promoting Interoperability Program or the Quality Payment Program for the remainder of the 2024 reporting period and continuing with the 2025 reporting period. It is the registrant's responsibility to know the requirements of the particular Federal Rule under which you are registering and reporting.
 

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

• Is the healthcare provider a CMS defined Eligible Professional (EP), Eligible Clinician (EC), or Eligible Hospital (EH), or other healthcare provider of services to West Virginia residents?
• Does the healthcare provider facility have an Electronic Health Record (EHR) system that is certified for electronic case reporting? Contact your EHR vendor to determine if your system is certified or look for your system in the Certified Health IT Product List. If your EHR vendor doesn’t already have a certified product for eCR, contact them to determine when it will become available.

PATH TO PARTICIPATION

Step 1: Prepare by learning about eCR

Implementing and using eCR is a multistep, multiparticipant process the WV eCR team can help guide you through the process. The team includes BPH, InductiveHealth Informatics and the WV Health Information Network (WVHIN). You can learn more about the importance and value of eCR by reviewing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) eCR information site and understand How it Works. To learn more about what it takes to get ready for eCR review the Healthcare Readiness and Implementation Checklist.

HCOs (regardless of their EHR or Health IT Product) can use this introduction to eCR recording and companion transcript​ to orient to eCR.

Step 2: Registration and Communication

Those who intend to participate in eCR should first register with the WV Department of Health by using the Promoting Interoperability Meaningful Use​ ​Registration System and download the Registration System Instructions ​to assist with registering. When using the system, please be aware of the following​:

• Your facility is responsible for keeping registration up to date and transferring login credentials in the case of staff turnover. The BPH is not able to alter registration or login information once entered.
• For those participating in PI, it is not the responsibility of BPH to know your certification status, your reporting period, or your registration deadline. Keep copies of any correspondence, screenshots, letters or other information required to satisfy auditing. BPH does not keep copies of those documents.

After the registration is submitted, the registration status will indicate "In Review", and your organization’s primary contact will receive an e-mail confirmation indicating that the registration was successfully saved. The WV eCR team will review the registration information, communicate with the primary contact if more information is needed, and will change the registration status to "Registered - In Queue".

A member of the WV eCR team will contact registrants for introductions, provide information on participation incentives if available, and discuss next steps. When the organization and EHR vendor have committed to a timeframe, the project you will be considered "Actively Engaged". For more information on incentives contact eCR@WVHIN.org

Step 3: Onboarding and Go Live With AIMS

When your organization is ready to get started with eCR your team will join a CDC cohort for onboarding to the national Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) Informatics Messaging Services (AIMS) platform. The first step is to participate in an onboarding webinar hosted by the CDC. Organizations can register by contacting eCR@CDC.gov The onboarding team in this step includes the facility eCR lead and key members of your healthcare organization, the national eCR team (CDC and APHL), the health organization’s EHR vendor, and the WVeCR team.

Your organization will move through several stages including site information collection, establishment of connectivity to APHL, test scenario building, message testing, validation and production. Once your organization is in production at the national level the WV eCR team will take the lead.

Step 4: Onboarding and Go Live With WVEDSS

Once your system is in production with AIMS, the messages will then be sent to WVEDSS for further testing and validation. The onboarding team in this step includes the facility eCR lead and key members of your healthcare organization, your organization’s EHR vendor, and the WVeCR team. Parallel reporting will be required to validate the messages sent electronically using the existing paper or other reporting currently done by your facility. Parallel testing also includes a review of the volume of reports expected from your organization.

When parallel testing is complete your messages will be moved from the testing environment to the WVEDSS production site and your registration status will be changed to “Production”. General questions about this stage should be directed to eCR@WV.gov

​Important: During this process, all team members must be actively engaged for your project to succeed. Out of consideration for the time and resources committed by each organization, every team member will be expected to complete their task assignments on time. If at any point during the project your team experiences an unanticipated event that could cause significant delay, notify your WVeCR team as soon as possible.​

ONGOING SUBMISSION OF DATA

Once your organization has reached production status with BPH ongoing submission of live data must continue. The WV eCR team will periodically run quality reports for your data and if any issues are found the WV eCR team will communicate with your organizations contact to make corrections. Your organization must respond and make corrections in a timely manner to ensure your eCRs remain in production and continue to meet reporting requirements.

If there is a change in your Primary or Technical Contacts, communicate the change to your WV eCR team by emailing eCR@WV.gov and updating the information in the MU Registration System.

HELPFUL INFORMATION

• Letter from the WVBPH Commissioner on eCR Implementation​
• HL7 CDA© R2 Implementation Guide: Public Health Case Report – the Electronic Initial Case Report (eICR) Release 1, STU Release 2.0- US Realm
• WV Bureau for Public Health, Office of Epidemiology and Prevention Services Disease and Event Reporting
• WV Reportable Disease Provider Color Chart

ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS REGARDING PI?

• Questions about PI Programs registration, attestation, eligibility, and other PI criteria should be directed to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid PI Programs.