On April 8, 2020, Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) Commissioner, Dr. Kristina Box, issued a State Health Commissioner’s Order requiring certain reports of COVID-19 information to ISDH. The Order is not guidance and should be followed by all long-term care facilities, including nursing facilities, skilled nursing facilities, and assisted living facilities.
Effective April 10, 2020, long-term care facilities are required to report positive COVID-19 test results for all patients, residents, and/or employees to ISDH within twenty-four (24) hours of receipt of a positive result. All long-term care facilities are also required to report any COVID-19 related deaths or suspected COVID-19 related deaths of patients, residents, and/or employees to ISDH within twenty-four (24) hours of a facility’s knowledge of the death in a manner prescribed by ISDH.
The goal of the required reporting is to improve data collection and help ISDH and local health departments more quickly deploy necessary resources to help limit the spread of the disease.
Details regarding how to report the required information were not included in the Order, but IHCA/INCAL will working with ISDH to obtain further information and will provide additional details as soon as they are available. For now, the ISDH Long Term Care Division has advised IHCA that reports of COVID-19 positive test results and deaths be reported as an Incident Reporting System. This can be done through the Gateway or via email to incidents@isdh.in.gov.