Starting from May 11th, the Emilia-Romagna Region has set the regional plan on serological tests. The coordinates of the plan require that the tests be carried out in a context of clinical appropriateness, therefore only upon medical request. The Regional Decree 350/2020, which traces all the phases of the screening program management, also defines a path of maximum simplification for employers who voluntarily decide to carry out serological screening on their employees. The tests are carried out in private laboratories previously authorized, with a reference cost indicated in the Regional Law 475/2020 to avoid speculative behaviour. The procedure for the implementation of the screening program has also been completed with the indication that the entire process will be carried out digitally: it is therefore expected that the doctor's request will be telematic and that the private laboratories will send the report to the Electronic Health Record.
In this context, Lepida was called upon to quickly implement the tools for the management of the telematic request for serological tests by doctors, and to provide technical support to private laboratories. For physicians, a new form has been created on the SOLE Portal, in the "Screening COVID-19" section, which allows to retrieve the patient's personal data and to select the two services that have been coded for serological tests: COVID-19 antibodies IgG+IgM Virus (with sampling) and COVID-19 antibodies IgG+IgM rapid Virus test (with lancet). The request can be cancelled until taken over by a laboratory. The function for the telematic request is available to all physicians in possess of the SOLE credentials issued by Lepida. For General Practitioners (GPs) who use the regional SOLE software, a simplified access was developed, using a special button that connects directly to the screening chart. The SOLE Portal also provides the prescribers with the possibility to view the requests already entered, sorted by fiscal code; GPs can view the entire list of requests made for their patients.
By May 22nd there were 95 laboratories authorized to carry out the tests (the updated list is published on the Regional website). The laboratory operator, again via authentication on the SOLE Portal, is in charge of retrieving the doctor's request (through the fiscal code of the citizen showing up for the test) and of the take-in-charge. Specifications have been provided for the integration between the laboratory reporting systems and the SOLE Network for the transmission of the report to the Electronic Health Record: using the "SATAMM" service, a message is transmitted containing the .pdf file of the result and an .xml file with some structured information. Lepida provides technical assistance to private laboratories now integrating into the network. Finally, the development of tools to meet the informational needs of the Region and of the Health Authorities is also under planning.
