RALS SYSTEMS AND THE CARES ACT

In the COVID-19 Pandemic Response, Laboratory Data Reporting (CARES Act Section 18115) all laboratories— including laboratories, testing locations operating as temporary overflow or remote locations for a laboratory, and other facilities or locations performing testing at point of care or with at-home specimen collection related to SARSCoV-2 —shall report data for all testing completed, for each individual tested, within 24 hours of results being known or determined, on a daily basis to the appropriate state or local public health department based on the individual’s residence.
More on CARES Act Section 18115 >

In hospitals where RALS systems are used, the following data fields are specific to SARS-CoV-2 and considered “Ask on Order Entry” (AOE) questions for traditional Electronic Health Records or Laboratory Information Management Systems.

1. First test (Y/N/U)
2. Employed in healthcare? (Y/N/U)
3. Symptomatic as defined by CDC? (Y/N/U);
   1. If yes, then Date of Symptom Onset mm/dd/yy
4. Hospitalized? (Y/N/U)
5. ICU? (Y/N/U)
6. Resident in a congregate care setting (including nursing homes, residential care for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, psychiatric treatment facilities, group homes, board and care homes, homeless shelter, foster care or other setting): (Y/N/U)
7. Pregnant? (Y/N/U)

These elements should be collected and be conformant with the HL7 Version 2.5.1 Lab Order Interface Implementation Guide and associated standards, and comprehensive of the above data fields.

At this time, RALS systems can help using either an Orders Workflow solution or a Manual Test Entry (MTE) solution, both described on our RALS and the CARES Act information sheet.

For more information, contact your RALS representative.