Disease reporting frequently asked questions
What is reportable?
Utah Law requires that certain diseases and conditions must be reported to Utah public health. Some diseases must be reported immediately while others must be reported within three (3) working days after identification. Refer to the list of reportable diseases for information about the diseases that are reportable and the time frame in which they must be reported. For more detailed reporting specifications, click on “Information for reporters.”
Who has to report?
Anyone with knowledge of a reportable disease is required to report to public health. However, most reports will come from healthcare providers, laboratories, healthcare facilities, and schools and childcare programs.
How do you report?
Diseases may be reported to a local health department or the Utah Department of Health and Human Services.
Reports can be submitted by:
- Fax: 801-538-9923
- Email: [email protected]
- Phone: 1-888-EPI-UTAH
The Utah Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)'s disease reporting fax line is an email fax and all documents are accessible only to certain staff to ensure patient confidentiality. If you do not have the ability to send an email securely, DHHS hosts an application, Public Health (PH) Access, with that capability. Click here for instructions on creating a PH Access account.
- Patient information
This includes the full name, date of birth, address, telephone number, gender, race, and ethnicity of the case. - Disease information
This includes the disease being reported, date of onset, hospitalization status and date of admission, and pregnancy status and estimated due date. - Diagnostic information
This includes the name, address, and telephone number of the diagnostic facility (where the case sought care), and the full name, address, and telephone number of the healthcare provider. - Reporter information
This includes the full name of the person reporting the case, the name of the facility reporting, and the telephone number of the person or facility. - Laboratory information
This includes the name of the laboratory performing the test, laboratory’s name for the test, specimen source, specimen collection date, testing results, test reference range, and test status (preliminary, final, amended and/or corrected).
A completed confidential morbidity report form can also be submitted.
The Utah Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) mandates the reporting of certain diseases and conditions to public health. The data is used to monitor disease activity throughout the state; identify new or emerging diseases and outbreaks; control disease and outbreaks through public health interventions; and prevent the spread of disease through education.
DHHS participates in the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS); a partnership between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), health departments throughout the U.S., and the Council for State and Territorial Health Departments (CSTE) to collect standardized data for assessment at the national level.
Disease reporting is mandated by states and shared voluntarily with CDC through the National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS), an integrated and interoperable public health surveillance system. NNDSS data is published nationally by CDC.
Additional resources
Utah Code 26-6, the Communicable Disease Control Act, gives the Utah Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) authority to investigate and control communicable diseases and epidemic infections which may affect the public health. The Communicable Disease Control Act allows DHHS to identify diseases that must be reported, and establish rules for how those diseases should be identified, reported, investigated and controlled. DHHS establishes these rules through the Utah Communicable Disease Rule R386-702.
Public health in Utah also has the authority to collect any records or other materials necessary to conduct a thorough investigation. This may include medical records, additional laboratory testing results, treatment and vaccination history, clinical material, or contact information for cases, suspect cases, or persons potentially exposed.
Additional resources
The Privacy Rule in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 defines all medical records or other identifiable healthcare related information collected by healthcare entities as protected health information (PHI). HIPAA states that a healthcare entity must obtain the individual’s consent prior to using or disclosing that individual’s PHI.
The HIPAA Privacy Rule also states that healthcare entities do not need to obtain an individual’s consent to share PHI with public health when public health is authorized by law to collect and receive the reported data. In Utah, this authority is established through the Utah Administrative Code and Rules.
Additional resources
These documents should be used by public health reporters to ensure that they are compliant with R308-702—Communicable Disease Rule.
If you would like to be notified of important changes to the Communicable Disease Rule, email [email protected] and ask to be added to the reporting listserv.
- Overview of regulations and requirements in the Communicable Disease Rule
- Reporting requirements for electronic reporters
- Reporting requirements for manual reporters
- Reporting protocol for blood and plasma donation centers
Printable documents
- Events reportable to public health
- Mandatory specimen submission requirements
- Confidential morbidity report
Communicable Disease Rule changes
R308-702—The Communicable Disease Rule, was updated in May 2020.
Mandatory specimen submission requirements
The Utah Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) mandates that laboratories submit clinical material from patients identified with certain organisms to the Utah Public Health Laboratory (UPHL) within 3 working days of identification.
Organisms that require standard submission
- Campylobacter species
- Candida auris or haemulonii from any body site
- Carbapenem resistant:
- Acinetobacter species
- Enterobacter species
- Klebsiella species
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa
- Carbapenemase producing:
- Acinetobacter species
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa
- Enterobacteriaceae species, including Enterobacter species, Escherichia coli, and Klebsiella species
- Corynebacterium diphtheriae
- Haemophilus Influenzae, from normally sterile sites
- Influenza A virus, unsubtypeable
- Influenza Virus (hospitalized cases only)
- Legionella species
- Listeria monocytogenes
- Measles (rubeola) virus
- Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex
- Neisseria meningitis, from normally sterile sites
- Salmonella species
- Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), including enrichment and/or MacConkey broths that tested positive by any method for Shiga toxin
- Shigella species
- Staphylococcus aureus with resistance (VRSA) to vancomycin
- Vibrio species
- West Nile virus
- Yersinia species
- Zika virus
Any organism implicated in an outbreak, when instructed or authorized by local or state health department personnel.
Organisms that require bioterrorism submission
For the following organisms, laboratories must first notify UPHL via telephone immediately. UPHL can be contacted during business hours at 801-965-2400, or after hours at 801-560-6586.
- Bacillus anthracis
- Brucella species
- Clostridium botulinum
- Francisella tularensis
- Yersinia pestis
Clinical material is defined as:
- A clinical isolate containing the organism.
- If an isolate is not available, material containing the organism in the following preference MUST be submitted:
- A patient specimen
- Nucleic acid
- Other laboratory material
Additional resources
- UPHL antibiotic-resistant submission guidance
- Colonization Screening Guidance For Carbapenemase Producing Organisms opens in a new tab
- Interim Guidance for a Public Health Response to Contain Novel or Targeted Multidrug-resistant Organisms(MDROs) opens in a new tab
- ARLN Colonization Screening Fact Sheet opens in a new tab
- Mountain Region: CRE and CRPA PPS Colonization Screening Collection and Shipping Guidance 2024 opens in a new tab
- Mountain Region: AR Lab CRAB Colonization Screening Collection and Shipping Guidance 2024 opens in a new tab
- Mountain Region: Candida auris Colonization Screening Collection and Guidance 2024
- UPHL Candida auris screening recommendations
- UPHL Ebola submission guidance
- UPHL infectious diseases laboratory
- UPHL infectious disease test request form letter
- UPHL infectious disease test request form
- UPHL VPD bacterial shipping guidance
- UPHL VPD viral shipping guidance
- Viral and rickettsial disease laboratory general purpose specimen submittal form
- Zika testing guidance
Last updated: January 7, 2022
In order to meet the Public Health Reporting Objective for the Promoting Interoperability (PI) Program and/or MIPS/Advancing Care Information Quality Payment Program, Eligible Professionals (EPs), Eligible Hospitals (EHs) or Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) may register for the Public Health Reporting Objective with the Utah Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).
The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has incentivized participation in these programs through its Promoting Interoperability (formerly known as Meaningful Use) initiatives. For general information on these initiatives, click here. For information specific to the Medicaid Promoting Interoperability Program, which is administered at the state rather than federal level, visit Medicaid HIT – Utah Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid.
DHHS Promoting Interoperability Public Health Program readiness
| Public health reporting measure | Program readiness | Data reporting standards | Public health reporting contact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Immunization Registry Reporting | Ready for active engagement and accepts data. | Bi-directional exchange using HL7 2.5.1, Release 1.5 (PDF) and HL7 2.5.1 Release 1.5 Addendum (PDF) |
Utah Statewide Immunization System (USIIS) |
| Syndromic Surveillance Reporting | Ready for active engagement and accepts data. | PHIN Messaging Guide for Syndromic Surveillance, Release 2.0 (PDF) [Erratum (PDF) | Clarification (PDF) | Utah-Specific Guidance (PDF)] |
Disease Control & Prevention Informatics Program |
| Electronic Case Reporting (eCR) | Ready for active engagement and accepts data. | HL7 CDA® elCR v3.0 or v1.1 |
Disease Control & Prevention Informatics Program |
| Electronic Laboratory Reporting (ELR) | Ready for active engagement and accepts data. | HL7 2.5.1 (PDF) |
Disease Control & Prevention Informatics Program |
| Cancer Registry Reporting | Ready for active engagement and accepts data. | HL7 CDA® R2, DSTU Release 2 |
Carrie Bateman Phone: 801-581-8407 |
Active Engagement
The Active Engagement process is the same for the Promoting Interoperability (PI) Program and/or Quality Payment Program.
An Eligible Professional (EP), Eligible Hospital (EH), or Critical Access Hospital (CAH) must demonstrate active engagement by demonstrating any of the following:
- Completed registration: Facility has registered to submit data.
- Testing and validation: Facility is in the process of testing and validating electronic submission of data.
- Production: Facility has completed testing and validation and is electronically submitting production data.
How to proceed
If you have already registered and want a status update, please contact the individual(s) listed in the table above for the applicable Utah public health program(s).
If you are not sure how to proceed, please refer to the Promoting Interoperability (PI) Programs website and/or Quality Payment Program website.
Step 1: Register intent
If you would like to register your intent to participate in the following reporting measures with DHHS, please do so here DHHS Reporting Registration
Step 2: Await further instructions
After DHHS receives your online registration, you will be contacted and given information about next steps for each reporting measure for which you registered.
The “Promoting Interoperability Program Contact Person” listed on the registration form will be the point of contact for all communications from the DHHS. Please make sure this person is ready to respond to the DHHS communications within 30 days–via phone or email.
Promoting Interoperability Resources
- Centers for Disease Control Cancer Registry Reporting Information
- Utah Medicaid EHR Incentive Program
- Utah Medicaid HIT/EHR send an email to >[email protected]
- Electronic Health Records (Promoting Interoperability (PI) Programs)
- Quality Payment Program
- The Utah Department of Health and Human Services supported the creation of the Utah Clinical Health Information Exchange (cHIE). Data for some public health measures may be reported through the cHIE. Learn more about using cHIE for public health reporting from UHIN at https://uhin.org/solutions/provider-solutions/.
More questions?
If, after you have reviewed this information and cited material, you have questions regarding PI Public Health Agency Reporting, please contact the individuals listed in the table above for each applicable public health program.