Sentinel logo  Sentinel 5.17.5 User Guide

Create a New Human Case

Human cases can be added by accessing and filling the required fields of the following sections (Patient Information, Demographics, and Investigation Information) or by filling a Supplemental Form, if a form exists for the disease/condition being reported.

Click here to watch a video about creating a new case.

To create a new human case, first click the Home > Investigations tab, then click the New button. Select the Human Investigation option from the New Investigation drop-down list. The Patient Search Criteria page opens at the bottom of the page. Enter at least the required information, and click Search. Click the X button to return to the main Investigations tab page.

The available fields and options on the Patient Search Criteria page are as follows:

Field/Option Description
Last Name * Enter the patient's last name. This field is required.
First Name Enter the patient's first name.
Search Using Soundex State-configurable option. This option is used to search for a Last Name using a phonetic algorithm to index names by sound as they are pronounced in English. Example: Johns and Jons sound the same but are spelled differently.
Date of Birth Enter the patient's birthdate.
County/Borough Select the patient's county/borough from the drop-down list.
NOTE: Superceded and Deleted cases are not included in new human case results.

After clicking Search, the application searches the Master Patient Index (MPI) for First Name, Last Name, and Date of Birth. The search returns MPI IDs if one or more are found and then Sentinel performs a look-up for the cases that matches those MPI IDs. The Possible Patient Matches page opens with one of the following search results:

The available fields and buttons on the Possible Patient Matches page are as follows:

Field Description
Create New Case Click this button to create a new human case.
Search Enter the first few characters of the search name or date to narrow the listed results. The list automatically filters based on what is entered in the field.
(Add button) Add button to view the details Click this button to expand the row to view the case details.
MPI ID The MPI ID of the patient.
Match The percentage match with the patient in the database.
Prefix The name prefix for the patient. Examples: Miss, Ms., etc.
Full Name The patient's first and last name.
Middle Name The patient's middle name.
Suffix The patient's name extension. Examples: Junior, III, etc.
Date of Birth The patient's birthdate.
Gender The patient's gender.
Race The race of the patient.
Ethnicity The ethnicity of the patient.
Create Case Click this button to create another case for the displayed patient that matches the patient search criteria. The data from the search criteria page is pre-populated into the respective fields.
Current Address The current address of the patient.
Investigation ID A unique, system-generated investigation ID.
Investigation Status The status of the investigation.
Case Classification The classification of the case.
Disease The name of the disease.
Referral Date The system date when the case was entered into the system.
Investigator State-configurable option. The name of the person assigned to the case.
Edit Click this button to edit the existing displayed case information.

After clicking the Create New Case button, the Create New Human Case page opens. Enter the parameters and click Save & Finish. Sentinel validates the entries before allowing you to continue. See Tips for Correcting Validation Errors. The Case Reporting tab page or the main Investigations tab page opens depending on the disease selected in the Disease Name field.

The Case Reporting tab opens with the case information entered on the Create New Human Case page. Enter any information on any of the tab pages and click Submit Changes button. See View/Edit Case Details for more information.

The main Investigations tab page opens if the disease selected in the Disease Name field is not allowed to be viewed or edited. The case appears in the case list but you cannot view or edit the case details for that disease. See Program Group Management for the view or edit permissions.

The available fields, options, and buttons on the Create New Human Case page are as follows.

Patient Name Section:

To display this section on the Create New Human Case page, click the header.

Field/Option/Button Description
Case Def Click this button to open the disease information in another browser tab or window. It displays the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or other source, such as Red Book Online. This button is enabled only when the Disease Name field in the Investigation Information section is selected.
Name Type Select the patient's name type from the drop-down list. Examples: Also Known As, Default/Common, Legal, Maiden or Nickname. This field is required.
MPI ID State-configurable option. This is a read-only field.

The MPI is a repository of patient's basic demographic information to prevent users from entering duplicate patients. Sentinel queries MPI to determine if the patient already exists and obtains the latest basic demographic information. Sentinel updates MPI for any new patient or new demographic information for existing patients.

  • When you create a case for a new patient, this field is empty and the MPI ID is assigned after the case is saved
  • When you create a case for an existing patient, the MPI ID field is automatically populated
Prefix Select the patient's name prefix from the drop-down list.
Last * Enter the last name of the patient. This field is required.
First * Enter the first name of the patient. This field is required.
Middle Enter the middle name of the patient.
Suffix Select the patient's name extension from the drop-down list.

Patient Alternate Name Section:

To display this section on the Create New Human Case page, click the header.

Field/Option Description
Name Type Select the patient's alternate name type from the drop-down list. Examples: Also Known As, Default/Common, Legal, Maiden or Nickname.
Prefix Select the patient's alternate name prefix from the drop-down list.
Last Enter the alternate last name of the patient.
First Enter the alternate first name of the patient.
Middle If applicable, enter the alternate middle name of the patient.
Suffix Select the alternate extension of the patient's name from the drop-down list.

Demographics Section:

To display this section on the Create New Human Case page, click the header. If adding a case through Create Case option, these fields are pre-populated.

Field/Option Description
Sex * Select the patient's gender from the drop-down list. This field is required.
Ethnicity * Select the patient's ethnicity from the drop-down list. Default is set to Unknown. This field is required. This field is not displayed for non- human cases.
Race (Select All That Apply) Select this option for one or more races. Default is set to Unknown. This field does not display for non-human cases.

Date of Birth/Age Section:

To display this section on the Create New Human Case page, click the header.

Field/Option Description
Date of Birth If available, enter the patient's birthdate or click in the field and select a date from the calendar pop-up. Today's date is the default date. If patient's birthdate is not available, then use the Age and Age Unit fields.
Age Enter the number of days, months, weeks, or years for the patient's age.
Age Unit Select the patient's age unit from the drop-down list.
NOTE: If you enter a birthdate, Sentinel calculates the Age and Age Unit as follows:
  • Age Unit = Days if the current date is less than a calendar month after the Date of Birth
  • Age Unit = Months if the current date is less than two years after the Date of Birth
  • Age Unit = Years if the current date is two years or more after the Date of Birth
If you do not know the Date of Birth, you can leave the field empty and manually enter an Age and Age Unit. When you manually enter an Age, the value does not vary over time since it does not reflect the exact age of the patient.

Patient Address Section:

To display this section on the Create New Human Case page, click the header.

Field/Option Description
Street1 Enter the first line of the patient's street address.
Street2 Enter the second line of the patient's street address, if applicable.
State Select the patient's state from the drop-down list.
NOTE: If the state is changed, the City, Zip and County/Borough fields are cleared. If the state is not the customer’s state, the County/Borough is disabled. If County/Borough is changed, the City and Zip fields are cleared.
City Enter the patient's city. First, select a state, and then type the first four letters of the city name; a pop-up list of city names and zip codes appears. Select the city name and zip code from the list. The City, Zip code, and County/Borough fields are populated with the stored information.
NOTE: If the state is changed, the City, Zip and County/Borough fields are cleared. If the state is not the customer’s state, the County/Borough is disabled. If County/Borough is changed, the City and Zip fields are cleared.
Zip Enter the patient's zip code. This field is automatically populated by selecting the City field.
NOTE: If the state is changed, the City, Zip and County/Borough fields are cleared. If the state is not the customer’s state, the County/Borough is disabled. If County/Borough is changed, the City and Zip fields are cleared.
County/Borough Select the county/borough from the drop-down list. Select the state first.
NOTE: If the state is changed, the City, Zip and County/Borough fields are cleared. If the state is not the customer’s state, the County/Borough is disabled. If County/Borough is changed, the City and Zip fields are cleared.
Home Phone Enter the patient's home phone number.
Ext If applicable, enter the patient's home phone number extension.
Work Phone Enter the patient's work phone number.
Ext If applicable, enter the patient's work phone number extension.

Investigation Information Section: 

To display this section on the Create New Human Case page, click the header.

Field Description
Disease Name * Select the name of the disease from the drop-down list. After selecting a Disease Name and saving the case information, Sentinel retrieves the Disease Group (to which the Disease Name belongs) from its system reference tables. This field is required.
Died Due to This Condition Select one of the following options to indicate whether the patient died due to this condition. The default is set to Unknown.
  • No
  • Unknown
  • Yes
Date of Death If the Died Due To This Condition field contains Yes, then the Date of Death field must have an entry; otherwise, this field is disabled. Enter the date or click in the field and select a date from the calendar pop-up. Today's date is the default date. This date must be greater than the Onset Date and the Diagnosis Date.
NOTE: If the Died Due To This Condition field is set to Yes and then set to No, the Date of Death field is cleared and disabled.
Case Classification * Select the case classification, which is based on set definitions and criteria to determine evidence of disease, from the drop-down list. This field is expected to be resolved to Confirmed or Not a Case as a result of the investigation. A more detailed discussion of case status is available within the CDC Case Definitions. This field is required.
Available options are:
  • Confirmed - It has been determined that the patient has this disease. Once the investigation is complete (the Investigation Status is set to Completed or Closed), this case is reported to the CDC
  • Probable - This is an initial indicator that the patient is likely to have this disease and further investigation is warranted
  • Suspect - This is an initial indicator that the patient may have this disease and further investigation is warranted
  • Deleted
  • Lost to Follow up
  • Not a Case - It has been determined that the patient does not have this disease. This case will not be reported to the CDC
  • Unknown - The person making the referral could not determine the likeliness of the patient having this disease. Follow-up is warranted
Case Type * Displays the case type: Human or Non-Human. This field is automatically populated and required.

Investigation Dates Section:

To display this section on the Create New Human Case page, click the header.

Field Description
Onset Date Enter the date or click in the field and select a date from the calendar pop-up. This is the date the symptoms of this disease first appeared. Today's date is the default date.
NOTE: Impacts of changing the Onset Date
 
The case Onset Date is related to other fields within Sentinel, specifically the Address To and From dates and the patient's age.
  • Sentinel attempts to determine the patient's age at disease onset. Therefore, the patient's age is not their current age and changes to the Onset Date can result in changes to the age. If a change in the Onset Date results in the age dropping below 18 years, Sentinel requires the parent/guardian information to be supplied
  • Onset date also plays a key role in determining the investigation address. The Address To and From dates are compared to the Onset Date to verify that the address is valid for the duration of the case investigation. If a change is made to the Onset Date that would result in invalid address information, the case could be referred to another investigator
  • Case assignment is based on the investigation address at the Onset Date (or the Date Received if the Onset Date is unavailable). Changes to Onset Date can result in case referral to another investigator
Diagnosis Date Enter the date the case was diagnosed or click in the field and select the date from the calendar pop-up. Today's date is the default date.
Referral Date If you need to change the referral date, enter the date or click in the field and select the date from the calendar pop-up. The default date is set to the system date at the time of the case entry.
MMWR Week The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) publication week when the case was created. Sentinel calculates the MMWR week value based on the Event Date value. This is a read-only field.
MMWR Year The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) publication year when the case was created. Sentinel calculates the MMWR year value based on the Event Date value. This is a read-only field.

Outbreak Section:

To display this section on the Create New Human Case page, click the header.

Field/Option Description
Outbreak Y/N Select No, Unknown, or Yes to indicate the outbreak. The default value is Unknown.
Outbreak Name If the Outbreak Y/N field is set to Yes, select the name of the outbreak from the drop-down list.
Outbreak ID The user-defined number assigned to an Outbreak that associates a case to the Outbreak. This is a read-only field. Example: For multiple cases related to a Food borne Outbreak (in the OMS application), you may enter an outbreak number of 100 for each one. Afterward, when an epidemiologist searches for all the cases related to outbreak number 100, all related cases are returned.
NOTE: See the OMS User Guide for more information.

Conditions/Symptoms Section:

To display this section on the Create New Human Case page, click the header.

Field/Option Description
Fever>100 Select No, Unknown, or Yes from the drop-down list to indicate whether the patient had a fever greater than 100 degrees. The default value is Unknown.
Cough Select No, Unknown, or Yes from the drop-down list to indicate whether the patient had a cough. The default value is Unknown.
Sore Throat Select No, Unknown, or Yes from the drop-down list to indicate whether the patient had a sore throat. The default value is Unknown.
Vaccination Received Select No, Unknown, or Yes from the drop-down list to indicate whether the patient received a flu vaccination. The default value is Unknown.
Last Vaccination Date Enter the date the flu vaccination was received or click in the field and select the date from the calendar pop-up. This date can be on or after the Date of Birth (if entered), and not a future date. The default value is Unknown.
Jaundiced Select No, Unknown, or Yes from the drop-down list to indicate whether or not the patient has or had jaundice. The default value is Unknown.
Pregnant During Illness Select No, Unknown, or Yes from the drop-down list to indicate whether or not the patient is or was pregnant during this illness. The default value is Unknown.
EDC or Delivery Date If the Pregnant During Illness field is set to Yes, this field is enabled. Enter the EDC or delivery date or click in the field and select the date from calendar pop-up. Today's date is the default date.
Date Type If the Pregnant During Illness field is set to Yes, this field is enabled. Select EDC or Delivery Date from the drop-down list to indicate the type of date entered in EDC or Delivery Date field.

Person Providing Report Section:

To display this section on the Create New Human Case page, click the header.

Field/Option Description
Referrer's Name - Title Enter the name title of the person providing the report.
Referrer's Name -  Last Name Enter the last name of the person providing the report.
Referrer's Name - First Name Enter the first name of the person providing the report.

Referrer's Facility
Facility Name Select the facility name of the person providing the report. After selecting a facility from the drop-down list, the following fields in the Person Providing Report section are automatically populated:
  • Type
  • Public Health District
  • Street
  • State
  • City
  • Zip
  • County/Borough
Type The type of facility of the person providing the report. Examples: Clinics, ER, Hospital, HSP, or Laboratory. This field is automatically populated based on the facility in the Facility Name field. This is a read-only field. A facility can be of more than one type. Example: Central Hospital (Facility Name) can be a hospital or a lab.
Public Health District State-configurable option. This field is required for Mississippi. The public health district of the facility chosen in the Facility Name of the Person Providing Report section. This is a read-only field.
Phone If applicable, enter the referrer's phone number.
Ext If applicable, enter the referrer's extension number.
Email Enter the referrer's email address.

Facility Address
Street The street address of the reporting facility. This field is automatically populated based on the facility selected in the Facility Name of the Referrer's Facility section. This is a read-only field.
State The state of the reporting facility. This field is automatically populated based on the facility selected in the Facility Name of the Referrer's Facility section. This is a read-only field.
City The city of the reporting facility. This field is automatically populated based on the facility selected in the Facility Name of the Referrer's Facility section. This is a read-only field.
Zip The zip code of the reporting facility. This field is automatically populated based on the facility selected in the Facility Name of the Referrer's Facility section. This is a read-only field.
County/Borough The county/borough of the reporting facility. This field is automatically populated based on the facility selected in the Facility Name of the Referrer's Facility section. This is a read-only field.

Primary or Attending Physician Section:

To display this section on the Create New Human Case page, click the header.

Field/Option

Description
Title Enter the name title of the primary or attending physician. Example: M.D.
Last Name Enter the last name of the primary or attending physician. Click in the field and type the first few letters of the physician's first or last name and a pop-up list of physician names appears. Select the last name of the physician from the list. After selecting the physician's name, the following fields are automatically populated:
  • Physician Facility Name
  • Phone
  • Ext
  • Email
  • Street 1
  • Street 2
  • State
  • City
  • Zip
  • County/Borough
First Name Enter the first name of the primary or attending physician. Click in the field and type the first few letters of the physician's first or last name and a pop-up list of physician names appears. Select the first name of the physician from the list. After selecting the physician's name, the following fields are automatically populated:
  • Physician Facility Name
  • Phone
  • Ext
  • Email
  • Street 1
  • Street 2
  • State
  • City
  • Zip
  • County/Borough
Physician Facility Name The name of the facility the physician is associated with.
Phone The phone number of the primary or attending physician.
Ext The phone number extension of the primary or attending physician.
Email The email address of the primary or attending physician.

Facility Address
Street1 The first line of the primary or attending physician's address.
Street2 The second line of the primary or attending physician's address.
State The state name of the primary or attending physician's address.
NOTE: If the state is changed, the City, Zip and County/Borough fields are cleared. If the state is not the customer’s state, the County/Borough is disabled. If County/Borough is changed, the City and Zip fields are cleared.
City The city of the primary or attending physician's address. First, select a state, then type the first four letters of the City name and a pop-up list of city names and zip codes appears. Select the city name and zip from the list. The City, Zip, and County/Borough code fields are populated with the stored information.
NOTE: If the state is changed, the City, Zip and County/Borough fields are cleared. If the state is not the customer’s state, the County/Borough is disabled. If County/Borough is changed, the City and Zip fields are cleared.
Zip The zip code of the primary or attending physician's address. This field is automatically populated by selecting the City field.
NOTE: If the state is changed, the City, Zip and County/Borough fields are cleared. If the state is not the customer’s state, the County/Borough is disabled. If County/Borough is changed, the City and Zip fields are cleared.
County/Borough The county/borough of the primary or attending physician.
NOTE: If the state is changed, the City, Zip and County/Borough fields are cleared. If the state is not the customer’s state, the County/Borough is disabled. If County/Borough is changed, the City and Zip fields are cleared.

Before saving a new case in the database, Sentinel performs a series of background processes before the main Investigations tab page opens with the new case added to the case list. See Sentinel Background Processing.

Related Topics: