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Clinicians will need to collect more demographic data about patients being tested for SARS-CoV-2.
As of Aug. 1, laboratories and testing locations will be required to report the age, sex, race, ethnicity, ZIP code and county of all patients receiving a diagnostic or antibody test for the virus as well as information about the test, provider and facility, according to an updated list. These data should be sent to state or local health departments within 24 hours of the test.
Laboratories also should provide a patient’s full name, address, phone number and date of birth. However, data that public health departments send to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will be de-identified to protect patient privacy.
“On a national level, the deidentified data shared with CDC will contribute to understanding national disease incidence and prevalence, positivity trends, and testing coverage, and will help identify supply chain issues for reagents and other materials,” the CDC said on its website.
