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 is eager to assist in any way possible. But we need our participants’ 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. WISHIN is therefore reaching 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 will receive an authorization form this week for this purpose, along with instructions for returning it to WISHIN. We ask that each organization promptly respond to join in the effort against COVID-19.
