COVID-19 Case Reporting &
Deferred Elective Procedures
April 17, 2020
Deferred Elective Procedures
Governor DeWine announced this week that he has asked the Ohio Hospital Association to begin developing a plan to begin treating patients whose non-COVID-19 elective procedures were delayed or deferred due to the ongoing pandemic. Click here to read the full press release.
COVID-19 Case Reporting
The Ohio Department of Health has updated reporting requirements for cases of COVID-19 based on the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists’ (CSTE) standardized surveillance case definition.
The CSTE defines a confirmed case of COVID-19 as meeting confirmatory laboratory evidence. In comparison, a probable case is defined as:
- Meeting clinical criteria AND epidemiologic evidence with no confirmatory laboratory testing performed for COVID-19
- Meeting presumptive laboratory evidence AND either clinical criteria OR epidemiologic evidence
- Meeting vital records criteria with no confirmatory laboratory testing performed for COVID19
Under the new requirements, providers must notify their local health department within 24 hours of confirmed or probable case identification. This does not include retrospective identification of probable cases. Click here to locate a local health department.
Providers should also follow CDC guidance for patients with confirmed or probable
COVID-19:
Pharmacy Board Updated Rules
The State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy has updated the emergency rules for dispensing chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine:
- For the continuation of inpatient treatment for COVID-19 using chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine for patients discharged from the hospital, the prescriber is required to notate on the prescription that the patient has been discharged from the hospital and the prescription will be for no more than a seven-day supply (no refills authorized).
- For patients discharged from an emergency department, for a probable COVID-19 diagnosis based upon the case classifications, the prescriber is required to notate on the prescription that the patient has been discharged from the emergency department with a probable COVID-19 diagnosis and the prescription will be for no more than a seven-day supply (no refills authorized).
Click here to view the FAQs.
Resources
