What is MEDSIS?
The Medical Electronic Disease Surveillance and Intelligence System (MEDSIS) is a secure web-based, centralized, person-based disease surveillance system for Arizona.  MEDSIS is a statewide system hosted and supported by the Arizona Department of Health Services for providers and institutions responsible for reporting communicable diseases and for local health departments to conduct disease surveillance.

Why should I use MEDSIS?

• To securely report communicable diseases to Public Health  

• MEDSIS will save time in completing confidential morbidity reports (CMRs) 

• MEDSIS will save the cost of postage and fax 

• MEDSIS will provide a current list of the cases you have reported 

• Run reports on the cases that you have entered and reported to Public Health 

 What are the benefits of MEDSIS?

• Real time reporting of communicable diseases to Public Health 

• Eliminates the need for and expense of paper-based reporting 

• Decreases the time it takes to report a communicable disease 

• Allows healthcare providers to run a line list report of cases that their facility has reported to Public Health

• Improves the timeliness of reporting 

• Decreases the response time for investigating and intervening on public health cases 

• Facilitates the analysis of data and identification of outbreaks for intervention/prevention of further cases 
  

Does HIPAA allow me to report through MEDSIS?
YES, HIPAA  provides for reporting of confidential information to public health departments.  MEDSIS provides the necessary security and exceeds the encryption requirements of HIPAA.  

Which diseases are reportable in Arizona?
A list of the reportable diseases can be found at REPORT 'EM [PDF 60K] and the communicable disease rules can be found at A.A.C. R9-6-202 and  203

What diseases are currently being reported through MEDSIS?
All reportable diseases are currently captured in MEDSIS with the exception of Arboviruses, Hepatitis C, HIV infection and related disease, STDs (Chancroid, Chlamydia infection (genital), Gonorrhea, Herpes genitalis, Syphilis), and Tuberculosis. 

What does public health do with the communicable disease reports?  

• Review reported cases 

• Investigate and intervene on possible contacts to your case.

• Analyze data 

• Identify outbreaks for intervention/prevention of further disease

• Provide summary reports of disease activity in the state (see Prevention Bulletin, CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, communicable disease data and statistics, annual reports)

Who will see the information that I enter into MEDSIS?
Information entered into MEDSIS is immediately accessible by the local health department.  Only approved MEDSIS users at the local and state health department have access to data that was submitted by a provider.  Providers with access to MEDSIS can view all cases that their facility reported.

How can I get access to MEDSIS?
To learn more about getting access to MEDSIS, contact the MEDSIS Liaison at your local health department. ADHS and local health departments will assist with technical issues to facilitate access to MEDSIS.