Sentinel 5.17.5 User Guide

Investigations Tab

The Investigations tab page displays the summary of current cases stored in the application that match the search criteria. The list of cases can be sorted by clicking on a column header. Under the list of current cases, the number of cases displayed on the page is listed (for example, Showing 1 to 10 of 74 entries) and on the right side of that line are page number buttons; click the page numbers or the Next or Last button as needed to display additional cases.

The columns displayed on the Investigations tab depend on which fields are selected on the Show/Hide window. Click the Show/Hide button and select the fields to display as columns. The options include:

Tag ID
Sex
Onset Date
Diagnosis Date
Case Created Date
Jurisdiction
District
LPHU
City
State
County

Outbreak
Outbreak Name
Outbreak ID
Outbreak Event ID
Last Access Date
Last Change User
Last Change Date
Flag
CDC First Sent
CDC Last Sent
CDC Export Method

The following fields, options, buttons, and columns are available on the Investigations tab page:

Field/Option/Button/Column

Description

Current Search

Select which type of investigation to search for (see Search for a Specific Case):

All Cases
All Open Investigations
My Open Investigations

(drop-down arrow button)
Drop-down aroow button

Click this arrow to access the following options:

Saved Searches - see Saved Searches
Alert Rules - see Alert Rules

New

Click this button to create a new case. See Create a New Case.

Click this button to access the following search options:

Advanced Search - see Advanced Search
Basic - see Basic Search
Search by Physician Card (state-configurable option) - see Search by Physician Card
Search by CDC Form, Supplemental Form, or Outbreak Event Form - see Search for Cases Using Forms and Outbreak Event Search Using a Custom Form

Export

Click this button to export the case search results as a CSV file. See Export Data and/or CDC Data Forms.

Quick Search

This field allows you to perform a quick search using the following fields (see Quick Search):

Name
Date of Birth
Event Date
Investigation ID
MPI ID
Disease
Outbreak Name

Show/Hide

Click this button to select/deselect the fields to be displayed on the Investigations tab page.

Show ___ entries

Select from the drop-down list the number of entries to display on the page: 10, 15, 20 or 25.

(select)

This option is visible when the Bulk Action permission is granted in the Investigation Permissions section. Select this option to perform an action to the selected case. Once you select this option, the Action menu appears next to the Show/Hide button. Select one of the following actions to perform to the selected case(s):

Assign to an Investigator - Select the name of the investigator from the Investigator drop-down list and click Submit. See Assign an Investigator to a Case
Assign to an Outbreak - Select No, Yes, or Unknown for the Outbreak from the drop-down list. If Yes, select the Outbreak Name and click Submit
Change Investigation Label - This option is visible when the Edit label permission is granted in the Investigation Permissions section. See Change Investigation Label
Change Investigation Status - Select the investigation status from the Investigation Status drop-down list and click Submit
Export selected cases - Select this action to export the selected case(s) as a CSV file. See Export Data and/or CDC Data Forms
Disable/Enable MPI - This option is visible when the MPI Enable/Disable permission is granted in the Administrative Debug Permissions section. It allows you to enable and/or disable Master Patient Index (MPI) from a case. If you want to use this option, contact STC

The system-generated unique investigation ID.

Status

The status of the investigation. It can be system-generated (New) or set manually. When a new case is added, Sentinel automatically sets the status to New. This field is expected to be resolved to Closed, Completed, or Canceled as a result of the investigation. The available options are:

Active - The case is open and has been assigned to an investigator
Canceled - The case is closed and, upon review, was not determined to be a disease
Closed - The case has been completed and is finished
New - The case is open and has not been assigned to an investigator. This is the only option that is system-generated
Pending - The case is in the process of being assigned
Previously Reported - The case was reported previously
Reviewed - The case has already been reviewed by an investigator
Superceded - The investigation has been preempted by an existing case. Superceding an investigation is similar to manually identifying a duplicate record. Investigations identified as Superceded are not reported to the CDC

Classification

The case classification, which is based on set definitions and criteria to determine evidence of disease. 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.
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 will be 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
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. Follow-up is warranted

Disease

The disease name associated with the case.

Patient's Name

The name of the patient.

MPI

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

When you create a case for a new patient, this field is empty; the MPI ID is assigned after you save the case
When you create a case for an existing patient, the MPI ID field is automatically populated

NOTE: If you are a MPI ADMIN user, a # appears before the MPI ID in the case list if the MPI is out of sync with Sentinel for this case (unless it is in the Pending Work Queue).

Date of Birth

The patient's birthdate.

Referral Date

The date the case was entered into the application.

Event Date

The Event Date can be one of the following:

If there is an Onset Date, that is the Event Date
If there is no Onset Date, but there is a Diagnosis Date, that is the Event Date
If there is no Onset or Diagnosis Date, the Earliest Lab Date is used
If there is no Onset Date, Diagnosis Date, or Labs, the Referral Date (a required field) is used

NOTE: For TB PAM, the above rules are ignored if anything is defined in the TB disease group and the referral date is used for the event date.

Investigator

State-configurable option. This is the name of the person assigned to the case. The address and/or disease name data you enter when adding a new case determines case assignment. The assignment takes place internally in Sentinel.

Region

State-configurable option. The name and number of the region.

Reporting Facility

State-configurable option. The originating site facility that reported the case.

Central Case Classification

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 will be 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
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. Follow-up is warranted

ELR

If either C or C A appears, it indicates there is an Electronic Lab Report for this case. Click the Edit button, then select the Lab Reports tab on the case details page to view the ELR. See Lab Reports Tab.

View

Click this button to view the case details. See View/Edit Case Details.

Edit

Click this button to edit the case details. See View/Edit Case Details.

Create a New Case

Before a new case can be created for a human or animal investigation, a search must be conducted. This is to reduce the possibility of entering a duplicate case.

To create a new case, click the New button on the main Investigations tab page, then select the type of investigation from the New Investigation drop-down list.

See Create a New Human Case or Create a New Non-Human Case for more information.

Export Data or CDC Data Forms

The export feature in Sentinel creates a CSV file that can be opened with applications such as Microsoft Excel. This feature can be used for any search that you perform including a search by CDC data form. Regardless of the search/form you select, Sentinel exports the same core fields, even though different searches result in different fields containing data. For example, you can export data for the default All Open Investigations search and for a search you create, such as a search named Lyme Disease which searches for all cases that have a disease name of Lyme Disease. The resulting exported data may be different, where:

Exported All Open Investigations data contains all records where Investigation = Active or New regardless of disease name
Exported Lyme Disease data contains all records where the disease name is Lyme Disease regardless of whether the case is Active or New or not

NOTE: Only active CDC Data Forms with associated disease cases appear in the drop-down list. Fields are exported for all disease cases associated with the form.

To export the case search results, click the Export button on the Investigations tab page. The Case Listing Export pop-up window opens. Select the fields you want to export, Core Data, Lab Reports, or one or more Supp Form, and click Export.

Search for a Specific Case

The Investigations tab page displays a list of cases based on the selected search criteria, access role, and permissions (from your user ID). The Patient Address is used for searches which may not always be the same as Case Address in cases where the patient has a different current address than the case address.

When a user ID is created, the system automatically creates the following searches:

All Cases - Returns all cases that fall within your case viewing permissions (your area of responsibility, such as jurisdiction, region/district or department)
All Open Investigations - Returns all open cases that fall within your case viewing permissions (your area of responsibility, such as jurisdiction, region/district or department)
My Open Investigations - Returns all open case records assigned to you

When you select a different search option, that search becomes your default search for the duration of your session unless you select another search option (which then becomes the default). However, when you log out and then log back in, All Open Investigations is the default Search option.

At least one saved search is required and you cannot delete the default search. Selecting a different search option may limit or expand the number of cases displayed.

To conduct a search, click the Home > Investigations tab. Select a search option from the Current Search drop-down list. The search results are displayed at the bottom of the page.

NOTE: If the Current Search drop-down list contains only one search option, you may want to create a new search. See Advanced Search.

Quick Search

To perform a search using the Quick Search field, first click the Home > Investigations tab, then enter the search keyword in the Quick Search field and press Enter. If a match is found, only those cases are displayed and the Current Search field is set to Temporary.

Click here to watch a video about quick searches.

To display all of the cases, select the All Cases option in the Current Search field.

The Quick Search field allows you to perform a quick search using the following criteria:

Name
Date of Birth
Event Date
Investigation ID
MPI ID
Disease
Outbreak
Label

The following table shows the examples of use and the associated Quick Search results. You can access the comprehensive list of ways to search by typing .help in the Quick Search field.

Search Type	Search Entry	Qualifiers	Results
Name
	JONES, EDWARD	Must have a space after the comma.	Either of these entries returns all the cases that have a first name of Edward and a last name of Jones.
	Edward Jones	No comma
	E* JONES	Asterisk * * is used as a wild card character representing All	Returns any case with a first name that starts with E and a last name of Jones.
	Edward J*		Returns any case with a first name of Edward and a last name that starts with J.
	Edward *		Returns all cases with a first name of Edward
	* JONES		Returns all cases with a last name of Jones
	Edward Jones 01/01/2011	No comma	Either of these entries returns all cases that have a first name of Edward, last name of Jones, and birthdate of 01/01/2011.
	Jones, Edward 01/01/2011	Must have a space after the comma.
Date of Birth
	01/01/2011	Use slashes in between (mm/dd/yyyy)	Returns all cases with a birthdate of 01/01/2011.
Event Date
	E01/01/2011	No space between E (uppercase) and the date	Returns all cases with an event date 01/01/2011.
	EF01/01/2011	No space between EF (uppercase) and the date	Returns all cases with an event date of 01/01/2011.
	ET01/01/2011	No space between ET (uppercase) and the date	Returns all cases until an event date of 01/01/2011.
Investigation ID
	21073		Returns all cases that contain these numbers in sequence in the Investigation number.
	21073,21074,21075	No space after the comma	Returns all cases with these investigation IDs.
MPI ID
	M21073	No space between M (uppercase) and the ID	Returns all cases that contain these numbers in sequence in the MPI number.
Disease
	.cPertussis	No space after the .c(condition name)	Returns all cases associated with the disease Pertussis.
Outbreak Name
	.oSome Outbreak	No space after the .o(outbreak name)	Returns all cases associated with Some Outbreak.
Label
	.lPending_Lab_Test	No space after the .l(investigation label)	Returns all cases associated with the investigation label Pending_Lab_Test.

Sort and Reorder the Case Listings

The default sort order for cases is by ID. This is the default sort when your user-ID is created and whenever you access the case Investigations tab page. Sorting can be done in ascending/descending order and the columns can be reordered by clicking or dragging the column header to a new position.

Sort the Case Investigation List

To sort the case list columns:

Click the Home > Investigations tab. The case list appears on the Investigations tab.
Click on any column header. The data sorts first in ascending order. If clicked again, it sorts in descending order.

NOTE: The column headers may differ depending on your state.

Reorder the Case List Columns

To reorder the case list columns:

Determine the column to reorder.
Point, click, and drag the column to the new position using the column separators.
Locate the column separator to the left or right of where you want the column to display.

Copy/Paste Case List Data to a File

To copy and paste data into a new file, select the text and use Ctrl+C to copy the text and Ctrl+V to paste it into the new file.

Change Investigation Label

Once you select a case from the list on the Investigations tab page, the Action menu appears. To change an investigation label, select Change Investigation Label from the Action menu. On the pop-up window that opens, the default option in the Action drop-down list is Add one or more labels. If you have the Bulk Remove Label permission, three additional options appear: Remove one or more labels, Remove all labels, and Remove all labels and replace with.

You can perform the following actions with these options:

Add one or more labels - Select this option to add one or more labels to a set of investigations. To add one or more labels, select this option and enter the first few characters of the label name in the Investigation Label(s) field. The system displays all matching labels in the list. Select the label from the list and click Submit. If you have the Create New Label permission, you can create one or more labels and assign them to a set of investigations. Enter the label name(s) in the Investigation Label(s) field. The system displays the label name with the (NEW) option added at the end of the label name. Select the new label from the list and click Submit
Remove one or more labels - Select this option to remove one or more labels from a set of investigations. To remove one or more labels, enter the first few characters of the label name in the Investigation Label(s) field. The system displays all matching labels in the list. Select the label to remove from the list and click Submit
Remove all labels - Select this option to remove all labels from a set of investigations and click Submit
Remove all labels and replace with - Select this option to remove all labels from a set of investigations and replace them with one or more label(s). These can either be existing labels or newly created labels. To add one or more labels, enter the first few characters of a label name in the Investigation Label(s) field. The system displays all matching labels in the list. Select the label(s) from the list and click Submit. If you want to create a new label and assign it to the investigation, you must have the Create New Label permission. Enter the label name in the Investigation Label(s) field. The system displays the label name with the (NEW) option added at the end of the label name. Select the new label from the list and click Submit