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DRAFT – 06/04/09

UT-NEDSS User Guide

Accessing UT-NEDSS -- -- found on page 5

Addresses -- -- found on page 3132

NEWAdd Attachment -- -- found on page 21 (updated on 5/22/2009)

Administrative tab -- -- found on page 17 & 18

Age -- -- found on page 33

Animal Rabies Cases, Entering -- -- found on page 38(updated on 2/10/09)

Bookmarking CustomViews or Searches -- -- found on page 23(updated on 2/18/09)

Brief notefield -- -- found on page 33(added on 1/28/09)

Browser Requirements -- -- found on page 5

Calendaricon -- -- found on page 32

Capitalization -- -- found on page 32(updated on 1/26/09)

Case status -- -- found on page 17 & 18

NEWChangingEvent Disease -- -- found on page 19 (updated on 5/27/2009)

Change View/Custom View -- -- found on page 22 (updated on 5/22/2009)

Clinical tab -- -- found on page 9(updated on 5/22/2009)

Collabnet -- -- found on page 34

Confidentiality of Information -- -- found on page 3(updated on 1/27/09)

Contactstab-- -- found on page 13 & 14 (updated on 5/22/2009)

NEWContactEvent -- -- found on page 22(updated on 5/22/2009)

NEWConvert contact to case -- -- found on page14 (updated on 5/22/2009)

Create NewCMR -- -- found on page 19 & 20

NEWCreate from an existing CMR -- -- found on page 19 & 20 (updated on 5/22/2009)

NEWCreate and editCMRusing this person -- -- found on page 20(updated on 5/22/2009)

Dataentry -- -- begins on page 31

Dataloss -- -- found on page 34(updated on 3/24/09)

Dates -- -- found on page 32

DeleteaCMR -- -- found on page 20(updated on 2/09/09)

Demographic tab -- -- found on page 89

Drop downlists -- -- found on page 33

NEWDuplicate Prevention -- -- found on page6 (updated on 5/22/2009)

Editmode-- -- found on page 33

NEWEncounters Tab -- -- found on page 14 & 15 (updated on 5/22/2009)

Epidemiological tab -- -- found on page 15 & 16 (updated on 5/22/2009)

ErrorMessage -- -- found on page 33

Essential/Requiredfields -- found on page 32

Ethnicityfield -- -- found on page 33

NEWEVENTS (formerly CMRS -- -- found on page 34(updated on 5/22/2009)

NEWEventSearch, Formally -- -- found on page 18 & 19 (updated on 6/04/2009)

Export CMR to Spreadsheet -- -- found on page 24 & 25(updated on 5/22/2009)

Feedback on diseaseforms -- -- found on page 34

Garbagecanicon -- -- found on page 33

HelpDesk -- -- found on page 35- 37

Identificationnumber -- -- found on page 34

Investigation -- -- found on page 33

Investigationtab-- -- found on page 17

Laboratorytab -- -- found on page 12 13

Lead vs. Investigating Jurisdictions -- -- found on page 27(updated on 3/12/09)

LHDinformation -- -- found on page 33

Login-- -- found on page 5

Mandatory fields -- -- found on page 32

NEWMorbidityEvent -- -- found on page 22(updated on 5/22/2009)

“Not a Case” (routing for UDOH) -- -- found on page 31

Notes -- -- found on page 33

NEWNotestab(administrative & clinical) -- -- found on page 17 (updated on 5/22/2009)

Onset date -- -- found on page 32

NEWOther data 1, Other data 2 fields -- -- found on page 16 (updated on 5/22/2009)

Outbreak, Assigning a case to an -- -- found on page 18(updated on 2/11/09)

Parent/Guardian Information -- -- found on page 33

NEWPeopleSearch, Formally -- -- found on page 18 & 19(updated on 6/04/2009)

Phonenumbers -- -- found on page 33

Pregnancy -- -- found on page 32

PrintCMR -- -- found on page 23 & 24(updated on 5/22/2009)

Racefield -- -- found on page 33

Rapidstart/Quick start -- -- begins on page 6(updated on 5/22/2009)

Remedy -- -- begins on page 35 - 37

Removebutton -- -- found on page 34

Reportingtab -- -- found on page 16

NEWRerouting an event -- -- found on page 28(updated on 5/22/2009)

Roles -- -- found on page 27 - 31

Routing-- -- found on page 27 - 31

NEWRoutinga Contact -- -- found on page 27 (updated on 6/01/2009)

Routing Instructions -- -- found on page 7

Routing, Special Circumstances -- -- found on page 27(updated on 3/12/09)

Routing to other jurisdictions -- -- found on page 26(updated on 2/09/09)

Save -- -- found on page 33

NEWSearch -- -- found on page 18 & 19(updated on 6/04/2009)

Showmode -- -- found on page 33

Sort EVENTSlisting -- -- found on page 21 & 22

Support link on UT-NEDSS/Trisano -- -- found on page 6

Tab by Tab Instructions -- -- starts on page 8

NEWTasks -- -- found on page 25 & 26 (updated on 5/22/2009)

Technical Support -- -- found on page 35 - 37

Treatment -- -- found on page 34

Confidentiality Statement

The data and information found in UT-NEDSS is strictly confidential and cannot be disclosed, released or made public except under the conditions outlined in Utah Code Section 26-6-27 (see below).

Any one who violates Title 26 – Chapter 6 of the Utah Code by releasing or making public confidential information, or by breaching the confidentiality requirement of Chapter 6, is guilty of a class B misdemeanor (26-6-29).

Utah Code -- Title 26 -- Chapter 06 -- Section 27

26-6-27.Information regarding communicable or reportable disease confidential -- Exceptions.
(1) Information collected pursuant to this chapter in the possession of the department or local health departments relating to an individual who has or is suspected of having a disease designated by the department as a communicable or reportable disease under this chapter shall be held by the department and local health departments as strictly confidential. The department and local health departments may not release or make public that information upon subpoena, search warrant, discovery proceedings, or otherwise, except as provided by this section.
(2) The information described in Subsection (1) may be released by the department or local health departments only in accordance with the requirements of this chapter and as follows:
(a) specific medical or epidemiological information may be released with the written consent of the individual identified in that information or, if that individual is deceased, his next-of-kin;
(b) specific medical or epidemiological information may be released to medical personnel or peace officers in a medical emergency, as determined by the department in accordance with guidelines it has established, only to the extent necessary to protect the health or life of the individual identified in the information, or of the attending medical personnel or law enforcement or public safety officers;
(c) specific medical or epidemiological information may be released to authorized personnel within the department, local health departments, official health agencies in other states, the United States Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), or when necessary to continue patient services or to undertake public health efforts to interrupt the transmission of disease;
(d) if the individual identified in the information is under the age of 18, the information may be released to the Division of Child and Family Services within the Department of Human Services in accordance with Section 62A-4a-403. If that information is required in a court proceeding involving child abuse or sexual abuse under Title 76, Chapter 5, the information shall be disclosed in camera and sealed by the court upon conclusion of the proceedings;
(e) specific medical or epidemiological information may be released to authorized personnel in the department or in local health departments, and to the courts, to carry out the provisions of this title, and rules adopted by the department in accordance with this title;
(f) specific medical or epidemiological information may be released to blood banks, organ and tissue banks, and similar institutions for the purpose of identifying individuals with communicable diseases. The department may, by rule, designate the diseases about which information may be disclosed under this subsection, and may choose to release the name of an infected individual to those organizations without disclosing the specific disease;
(g) specific medical or epidemiological information may be released in such a way that no individual is identifiable;
(h) specific medical or epidemiological information may be released to a "health care provider" as defined in Section 78B-3-403, health care personnel, and public health personnel who have a legitimate need to have access to the information in order to assist the patient, or to protect the health of others closely associated with the patient. This subsection does not create a duty to warn third parties, but is intended only to aid health care providers in their treatment and containment of infectious disease; and
(i) specific medical or epidemiological information regarding a health care provider, as defined in Section 78B-3-403, may be released to the department, the appropriate local health department, and the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing within the Department of Commerce, if the identified health care provider is endangering the safety or life of any individual by his continued practice of health care.

Amended by Chapter 3, 2008 General Session

General Instructions

The UT-NEDSS system is designed to work with either Internet Explorer version 7.0 or above OR with Mozilla Firefox version 2.0 or above. If you are using older versions of Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox, UT-NDESS will not display properly.

If your agency’s IT department permits the use of Mozilla Firefox, you may want to install it on your computer (a free download at The UT-NEDSS software functions better with Mozilla Firefox than with Internet Explorer. However, if your agency’s IT department does not permit the use of Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer 7.0 or higher will work just fine with UT-NEDSS.

When accessing the UT-NEDSS web site, your web browser may indicate that the secure connection has failed or that there is a problem with the security certificate. If you see this message, accept the offer of the certificate (even though it says that it is not recommended).

  1. Go to
  2. Use your UMD username and password to login. Your UMD login is the same username and password you use to login to UNIS.
  3. If you do not have a UMD login or you have forgotten your username/password follow the instructions below titled “Create UT-NEDSS Login Account” or “Recover UT-NEDSS Login Information”.

Create UT-NEDSS Login Account

  1. Go to
  2. Click on “Register Here” under the “Don’t have a Utah-ID?” box, located at the top left side of the screen.
  3. Fill out all required fields.
  4. Click the “Create” button located at the bottom, left part of screen.
  5. Follow additional given instructions to finish creating your UT-NEDSS login account.
  6. After your account has been created contact JoDee Summers or Valoree Vernon at UDOH (538-6191) and they will grant you access to the system.

Recover UT-NEDSS Login Information

  1. Go to
  2. Click on “Recover Account” under the “Forgot your password?” box, located on the left side of the screen.
  3. When you set up your Utah-ID account you provided a security question. Please provide the correct answer to the security question.
  4. After you have given the correct response to your security question, an email containing a recovery code will be sent to your email address that is associated with your Utah-ID account.
  5. Go to your email account, open the email sent to you from the “UtahID Service”.
  6. Click on the “Continue Recovery Link” provided in the “UtahID Service” email.
  7. This will automatically open up a web browser.
  8. Proceed to enter in the “Recovery Code” provided in the email.
  9. Enter in a new Utah-ID password.
  10. Login into UT-NEDSS using your new password.

NOTE: While logged into UT-NEDSS you can access this document along with the steps for contacting the help desk by right clicking on the “Support” link located in the lower left corner of the screen. Upon right clicking, select “Open Link in New Window”. This will open a new web-browser that opens to . The UT-NEDSS support documents are located in the “UT-NEDSS User’s Resources” section.

  • Go to:
  • Duplicate Prevention - any time you click on the “NEW CMR” function, you will be reminded to conduct a search for the case of which you want to enter. The on screen reminder shown states, “Before creating a new morbidity event, please search for the person in question. You may find that:
  • The event you're trying to create already exists, in which case you can either do nothing or edit the existing event.
  • The person in question is already in the system, in which case you can start a new CMR with that person's information
  • Use the search option provided on this screen by entering in the name of the case for which you are entering.
  • You may also search for a case by clicking on the “SEARCH” function located in the top right of screen.
  • The SEARCH function brings up two different options, Event Search or People Search.
  • Click on “Event Search” or “People Search”
  • Note: Event Search allows you to refine your search more than People Search.
  • Enter patient name into “full-text name” box (of the Event Search tab), this can be last name, first name, or the first and last name.
  • Click on “Submit Query” (do not use the “Enter” key use the “Submit Query” button).
  • Check to see whether the patient AND disease have been entered
  • If not listed in the search results: click on “New CMR” at the top right of the screen or select “Start a CMR with the criteria you searched on” under any search results that were returned.
  • If the patient and disease have already been entered, DO NOT create a new CMR unless this is a new disease event for this patient in which case you cancreate a new record by clicking on the “Create New Patient Event” link.
  • This creates a new CMR for the patient. Some of the fields in the new CMR (for example: demographic information) will automatically be completed based on information taken from the previous CMR.
  • To edit an existing case, click on the record number of the appropriate case.
  • In the “Demographic” tab, fill out the “Last Name” field.
  • Next move to the “Clinical” tab.
  • In the “Clinical” tab, select the disease from the drop-down menu in the “Disease” field. Make sure that the disease you have selected is correct, because after you select the disease and have click on the “Save & Continue” button or the “Save & Exit” button, questions that are specific to that disease are loaded onto the electronic form. At this time there is no easy way switch out the disease specific questions.
  • Important note – depending on the disease you select additional questions will appear under the different tabs of the CMR. The additional questions are disease specific and will only appear on the CMR once the disease has been selected and the “Save & Continue” or “Save & Exit” button has been clicked.
  • Click on the “Save and Exit” button (top right of screen)
  • Click on the “Route to Local Health Depts” link;
  • A “Route to Local Health Department” box will appear.From the drop-down menu next to “Investigating Jurisdiction” select the Local Health Department that will be investigating this case.
  • It is not necessary to check anything under the “Also grant access to” field. However if you would like to grant access to another jurisdiction, giving them the ability to view the case, you can do so by clicking in the appropriate box.
  • To read about special circumstances where the investigating jurisdiction should route a case they are investigating to another LHD Jurisdiction click here (Lead Jurisdiction vs. Investigating Jurisdiction).
  • Click the “Route Event” button within the “Route to Local Health Depts.” box (See section on Routing to continue the routing process).
  • Now the remainder of the CMR can be completed.
  • Click on the red “Edit” link located near the top left of the screen.
  • Begin entering data in the CMR tab-by-tab.
  • The “Save & Continue” button saves what you have entered, while keeping you in the “Edit” mode and while keeping your place in the investigation form.
  • The “Save & Exit” button saves your work and takes you to the “Show” mode. You cannot not edit the form in the “Show” mode. To edit the form you must be in the “Edit” mode.
  • When the case investigation is complete, click on “Save & Exit” one last time and approve the case to route it onto the State Health Department.
  • In the CMRS listing under the “Status” column, click the “Accept” button to route it on the State.
  • Demographic Tab:
  • Person Information – enter in the person’s last name, first name and middle name (if available).
  • The “Last name” field is required (fields shaded in light orange are required to be filled out in order to save the CMR).
  • A.K.A field will appear on STD specific disease events.
  • Address – enter in the person’s residential address.
  • Street number & Street name - put the house number only in the Street number field and the remaining part of the street address in the Street Name field.
  • Example: if the address is 12 West 200 South - then 12 goes in the Street numberfield and West 200 South goes in the Street name field.
  • Spell out addresses completely – for example use 12 West 200 South, not 12 W. 200 S.
  • NOTE: If the address provided is a PO Box…enter the PO Box in the “Street Name” field. Leave the “Street number” field blank.
  • Unit number – if the residence is an apartment unit of a multi-family housing complex or office building, put the unit, suite, or apartment number in this field.
  • City – put the city in this field (spell the entire city name out, for example use Salt Lake City not SLC.
  • State – select from the drop-down menu.
  • County – select from the drop-down menu.
  • Zip Code – enter in the five-digit zip code.
  • Age – enter date of birth. When entering dates, you can use mm/dd/yy or mm/dd/yyyy or mm-dd-yy or mm-dd-yyyy or you can write out the date (January 1, 2009). However, you CANNOT enter dates without // or --. For example if you type March 3, 2003 as 03032003, the system will not recognize that as a date. It will not save your date and it will not notify you that it has not saved this information.
  • You can also use the calendar icon () to enter the date.
  • Once you click on “Save & Continue” the date will automatically be reformatted to appear in the following format - January 01, 2009.
  • The program also will calculate the age for you after clicking on “Save & Continue”. Calculated age appears directly under “Age at onset”.
  • Telephone/Email –
  • Phone type – select from the drop-down menu the phone type (home, work, mobile, unknown)
  • Area Code – type in the 3 digit area code (for example: 801 or 435).
  • Phone number – type in the phone number, with or without the dash (555-5555 or 5555555).
  • Email address – if available you can enter in the patient’s email address.
  • New Telephone / Email – to add additional phone numbers click on the New Telephone / Email link.
  • Delete – click on the icon that looks like a trash can to delete an entire Telephone / Email entry.
  • Demographics –
  • Birth gender – select from the drop-down menu case’s gender.
  • Ethnicity – select from the drop-down menu the case’s ethnicity.
  • Race – select from the menu the case’s race.
  • More than one option can be selected by holding down the “Ctrl” key while making the selection with the mouse click.
  • Primary Language – select from the drop-down menu the case’s primary language if known.
  • Disease Specific Questions – depending on the disease chosen under the “Clinical” tab, certain questions may appear towards the bottom of the “Demographics” tab.