ELECTRONIC LABORATORY REPORTING (ELR)

​​​​​​​​The West Virginia Electronic Disease Surveillance System (WVEDSS) is now accepting HL7 messages from certified electronic health record (EHR) systems for electronic laboratory reporting (ELR) and Promoting Interoperability (PI) attestation. ELR reporting is designed to be secure, automated, and unobtrusive to facility operations. Successful ongoing submission to WVEDSS using the ELR reporting method will assist eligible hospitals in receiving Medicare and Medicaid incentive funds.

The information below provides an overview of the ELR reporting process in West Virginia for the 2024 reporting period.

​DECLARATION OF READINESS STATEMENT (posted January 30, 2024): The WVEDSS will continue accepting ELR registrations for all stages under the Promoting Interoperability Programs 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.

IMPORTANT

It is VERY IMPORTANT that providers keep a record of all communications received from public health throughout the registration, onboarding, testing, and production process, as well as any other documentation that may be needed for attestation or auditing purposes. Examples may include e-mails, screen shots proving date of registration, acknowledgement letters, etc. Due to the large volume of registrants, public health programs will not have the capacity to prepare such a log on your behalf.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

• Is the facility an eligible hospital (EH) or critical access hospital (CAH)?
• Does the facility have an Electronic Health Record (EHR) system that is certified for electronic laboratory reporting? Contact your EHR vendor to determine if your system is certified or will become certified for electronic laboratory reporting.

REGISTRATION

• If you meet all of the eligibility criteria, you must register your intent with the West Virginia Department of Health, Bureau for Public Health (BPH) using the BPH online registration system. Please be aware of the following:

• If you previously registered for ELR reporting and your registration status was "In Review," "Registered - In Queue," "First or Second Invitation," "Testing and Validation Queue," or "Production" at the end of 2023, you do not have to register again. Your previous registration will continue in 2024.
  

• It is not the responsibility of the West Virginia ELR team to know your certification status, your reporting period registration deadline, or whether your reporting period is the full 2024 calendar year or any 90-day period in 2024.

• After you submit your registration, the registration status will indicate "In Review" in the Meaningful Use Registration System, and your primary contact will receive an e-mail confirmation indicating that the registration was successfully saved. BPH staff will review the registration information, contact your primary contact if more information is needed, and will change the registration status to "Registered - In Queue."
• NOTE: The facility is responsible for keeping their 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.

HELPFUL INFORMATION FOR CERTIFIED ELR

• The International HL7 Version 2.5.1 Implementation Guide: Electronic Laboratory Reporting to Public Health, Release 1 (US Realm) assists ELR providers in the implementation of standardized electronic laboratory reporting.
• The BPH HL7 2.5.1 ELR Specification notes any differences between the BPH and international versions.
• The BPH ELR Implementation Guide contains details about becoming a BPH ELR provider.​
  
• The West Virginia Electronically Reportable Diseases document lists all diseases that must be reported electronically.
  

ELR DATA TRANSPORT OPTIONS

• The BPH encourages all providers and EHR vendors to coordinate with the West Virginia Health Information Exchange (HIE) to establish a connection for secure data transmission of HL7 2.5.1 for ELR data.
• If a provider does not wish to establish a connection to the HIE, the ELR provider should contact Inductive Health​ for instructions to connect directly to the State via PHINMS or SFTP.

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.