ShowMe WorldCare End User Manual

The Epidemiologic tab will vary greatly by condition. Generally, this tab contains information related to the patient’s exposures during their incubation as well as situations in which the patient may have exposed others during their infectious period. Examples of the types of sections that may commonly appear on the Epidemiologic tab for many conditions are briefly described below.

SMWC Tip: The Epidemiologic tab utilizes many business rules that enable particular fields only when certain criteria have been met. For example, a user may not be able to enter the date a particular preventive measure was enacted unless they have first marked that the specific preventive measure was taken. These business rules 1) prevent inappropriate data entry and 2) help users know which fields need to be completed.

SMWC Tip: The Epidemiologic tab for some conditions can be lengthy. Specific conditions may have different business rules that determine which sections are expanded or collapsed by default. For example, all sections on the COVID-19 Clinical tab are set to be collapsed by default with only the section headers visible for easy navigation. Each section can be expanded or collapsed by clicking the + / - button to the left of the section header. In addition, the purple and green + / - buttons in the upper right corner of the Clinical tab can be very useful. The green button expands or collapses all sections. The purple button can be used to expand/collapse empty sections.

Infection or Incubation Timeline: These sections contain fields for the date of onset (pulled from the Administrative tab if entered there) as well as the dates of the patient’s incubation period. Some conditions also have fields for the patient’s infectious period. Some conditions contain rules that will autocalculate these dates based on the onset date if it has been entered on the Administrative tab. Some conditions that have more complex or variable incubation/infectious periods may not auto calculate so the user would need to calculate and enter those dates.

Travel History/Travel History (Details)/Travel History – Method of Travel (Details): These sections ask about the patient’s exposure to travelers as well as the patient’s own travel history. If the user selects Yes that the patient traveled during the incubation period, the Details section will expand so that information about travel dates and locations can be entered. Some conditions which are highly infectious contain an additional section to collect details on any flights or vessels on which the patient may have traveled.

Import/Exposure: These questions are included on CDC case reports for most conditions. They relate to the source location of the condition. There are also several follow-up questions based on the Imported Status such as imported or exposure location, depending on the status selected. The default WorldCare product has a built-in question for the Imported Status on the Administrative tab in a section that cannot be modified. In order to group the other related questions in a logical way, DHSS programs created a customized Import / Exposure Status section which typically appears on the Epidemiologic tab of condition and contact investigation records. Users should complete the Import / Exposure section and should not be using the Imported Status field on the Administrative tab. (DHSS has asked the vendor if the Imported Status field on the Administrative tab can be removed or hidden. Unfortunately, this is not possible at this time.)

Possible Sources of Exposure During the Case’s Incubation Period/Possible Settings of Transmission During the Case’s Infectious Period: These sections allow collection of data on the patient’s presence in certain types of high-risk locations, such as congregate living facilities, during their incubation and infectious periods. If the user indicates that the patient was present in one of the listed categories, additional Detail sections will expand so that information about the specific facility can be entered. The Detail sections are repeating sections, meaning the Add button can be used to collect information if the patient was present in more than one type of high-risk location. For foodborne conditions, these sections may also include questions about food handlers.

Risk Factors/Exposures/Other Exposures/Exposure – Other Ill Persons: Some conditions contain sections on risk factors or exposures that are specific to the condition. These may include sections on animal, food or other types of exposures. Most conditions also contain general Other Exposures sections to document exposures that may be pertinent but may not be covered by any of the more specific sections. Conditions with person-to-person transmission typically also have a space to document exposure to other ill persons.

Transmission Mode: The mechanism by with the disease or condition was acquired by the patient can be documented here.

Preventive Measures (Health Department Response): Agencies can document the types of actions taken to prevent spread of the condition.

Employment History/Standardize Occupation and Industry (O/I): Certain conditions may relate to a person’s occupation. In this section, the person’s Occupation and Industry can be typed into the appropriate fields. Those fields are linked to the federal databases of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes. After the record is saved, click the Click to Standardize O/I button in the Standardize Occupation and Industry (O/I) section to load the appropriate BLS and NAICS industry codes from those sources. Details about the specific employer can also be entered in this section. If the employer is not found in the Location dictionary, details can be entered in the following box, which DHSS will monitor to add new employees to the dictionary.

Contact (system): Contacts of the patient should be entered in this section. More detail on working with contact will be provided in the Contact Investigation section of this manual.

Public Health Interventions/Tasks/ Case Notes: These sections will be described in more detail later in this manual.

After all sections are completed, Save the record and click Next to move to the Administrative tab.