WISHIN Playing a Key Role in the Response to COVID-19 Outbreak
WISHIN participants asked to authorize disclosure of clinical information to Public Health
Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) officials have reached out to WISHIN looking for help in dealing with the public-health response to the COVID-19 outbreak. DHS would like to supplement its current surveillance and data capabilities with the real-time clinical information that is available through the WISHIN network. WISHIN was eager to assist in any way possible and was grateful for the willingness of our participants to lend their cooperation in this effort.
While the current Participation Agreement (PA) between WISHIN and its clients contemplates limited access to WISHIN data by state Public Health officials, the current PA does not permit Public Health to access data such as lab results, procedures and radiology results, nor does it allow for the identification of patients.
However, the PA also recognizes that a participant may instruct WISHIN to disclose its patient health data for other public health activities. That is what lead WISHIN to reach out to all of our participants to seek such authorization, which would allow public-health authorities to use the participants’ clinical data.
Each WISHIN participating organization received an authorization form in order to allow us to attain our goal of aiding the State during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Announcing Free Access to WISHIN Pulse
In response to COVID-19, WISHIN has announced that it will offer new clients free access to the WISHIN Pulse Community Health Record through July 31st. WISHIN made this decision to help ensure that doctors, hospitals, post-acute facilities, home health agencies, EMS services, and others have access to real-time clinical data and longitudinal patient history during the outbreak. This network encompasses more than 1,800 sites of care around the state, each feeding clinical data in real time from their electronic health record systems to WISHIN. In order for health-care organizations to participate they must sign a WISHIN Participant Agreement, which defines permitted users and permitted uses of the data and work with WISHIN to set up authorized users in their organizations. WISHIN is pleased to announce this free access in hopes to help the state in any way possible.
