Health Advisory
Delaware Health Information Network (DHIN) and Access to Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Test Results

The Delaware Division of Public Health (DPH) is issuing this health advisory to ensure providers are aware of the availability of COVID-19 test results via the Delaware Health Information Network (DHIN) by health care personnel and in some cases, patients. In addition, DPH is providing important reminders on reporting requirements for, and by, health care personnel.

Summary

As Delaware’s statewide health information exchange, DHIN provides a secure Community Health Record (CHR) through which physicians’ offices, hospitals, labs, and imaging facilities share clinical information safely and effectively. To improve interoperability among all health care providers in the state of Delaware during the COVID-19 pandemic and to enhance access to test results, DHIN is now able to interface with the Delaware Electronic Reporting and Surveillance System (DERSS) so that laboratory-processed COVID-19 test results will be available to health care personnel through CHRs, with plans to make other COVID-19 test results (e.g., point-of-care and rapid test results) available through CHRs in the near future.

Health care personnel should follow the standard procedure with DHIN when they discover that results are not available in the CHRs by contacting the DHIN Service Desk either through the direct line (302-480-1770) or email (servicedesk@dhin.org). A Service Desk representative will open a ticket and research the issue. The provider would need to include in the request the patient’s name, date of birth, and the facility/source that would have processed the result. DPH may not know the source labs that do not send results to DPH, so reporting these issues will allow DHIN to track requests and respond back directly to the user.

Through Health Check Connect, powered by DHIN, patients 18 years and older can safely and securely view certain test results and clinical records, read submitted doctors’ notes, and add prescription information and data from health tracking devices. After enrollment, patients will also automatically be registered with DHIN’s mobile messaging service that notifies when test results are available for viewing. Patients can register at https://mydhinphr.com

Call DHIN’s Service Desk at 302-480-1770 or email servicedesk@dhin.org for further assistance. Staff from an ordering provider’s office that is not able to obtain results after first looking in DHIN and then contacting the service desk, may contact the DPH COVID-19 call center at 1-866-408-1899 or email DPHCall@delaware.gov. Patients should be encouraged to register with DHIN to obtain test results or contact their provider’s office for that information first. If unsuccessful at obtaining results from DHIN or their provider, they may contact the DPH COVID-19 call center at 1-866-408-1899 or email DPHCall@delaware.gov.

Reporting

Review the below important updates on reporting requirements for providers:

• Information regarding communicable disease reporting in Delaware can be found online at https://www.dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/dph/dpc/rptdisease.html. Report to the DPH Office of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at 1-888-295-5156, or report through reportdisease@delaware.gov within 24 hours of clinical suspicion or submission of test samples to a commercial lab to allow for surveillance and monitoring as appropriate.
• COVID-19 is a reportable condition to DPH under Delaware Code (3.0 Report of Outbreaks and Potential Causes of a Public Health Emergency, 3.1 Outbreaks, Any health care provider, having knowledge of any outbreak of any notifiable disease or clusters of any illness which may be of public concern, shall report such outbreaks within 24 hours to the Division Director or designee.). The requirement to report COVID-19 is also covered under the category of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), as SARS CoV-2 is the virus that causes COVID-19.
• In addition to this requirement for health care providers, patient-care facilities, and laboratories, those who are requested and authorized to notify DPH of notifiable disease even if no health care provider has been consulted include parents, guardians, householders; midwives, superintendents, principals, teachers or counselors of public or private schools; administrators of public or private institutions of higher learning; owners, operators, or teachers of child-care facilities; owners or managers of dairies, restaurants, or food storages, food-processing establishments or food outlets; superintendents or managers of public or private camps, homes or institutions; directors or supervisors of military installations; military or Veterans Administration hospitals, prisons or juvenile detention centers.
• All COVID-19 test results from any laboratory must be reported to DPH via the Delaware Electronic Reporting Surveillance System (DERSS). Providers must confirm with their designated laboratories that they have the ability to transmit results to DERSS through approved methods – additional information regarding laboratory reporting can be requested through reportdisease@delaware.gov.
• In accordance with the Order of the Department of Health and Social Services issued on April 9, 2020, all providers who order testing for SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 are required to include demographic information to include: date of birth, sex, race, ethnicity (Hispanic or non-Hispanic), phone number and address for every patient for whom a test is ordered. Laboratories are also required to include this information when reporting SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 test results to DPH.

 

Report to DPH Office of Infectious Disease Epidemiology 1-888-295-5156 or reportdisease@delaware.gov

Resources

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID-19 Website: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
• Communicable Disease Reporting in Delaware: https://www.dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/dph/dpc/rptdisease.html
• Delaware Health Information Network: https://dhin.org/

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