Screening and Testing for a Safer Campus Environment
The goal of the Return to Learn Program is simple: returning to what we do best—teaching, learning, conducting pioneering research and serving our communities—in the safest way possible. Screening and testing results continually inform key decisions about how our university can most effectively detect cases early, lower transmission risk, and respond to potential outbreaks. With your help and with everyone working together, we can enhance the health and well-being of our greater UC San Diego community.
As UC San Diego prepares to gradually repopulate campus in the fall quarter, UC San Diego is updating policies, procedures and technology to provide a safer environment for our students, faculty and staff. A unique benefit that UC San Diego is planning to offer is broad asymptomatic testing for students, faculty and staff to detect the presence of the novel coronavirus. All tests offered by UC San Diego Health’s Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine and scheduled through the Health Testing Support Line or by Student Health Services under this program and performed by UC San Diego Health or self-administered will be at no cost to participating faculty, staff and students.
Our infectious disease experts and epidemiologists believe that this program of broad testing will help reduce the spread of COVID-19 and allow the campus to respond quickly in the event of an outbreak in our community.
In order to protect the privacy of all UC San Diego employees and make this ambitious program possible, UC San Diego needs to establish a secure record repository to store employee testing information. The most secure record keeping system available at UC San Diego for health information is the Epic electronic health record system managed by UC San Diego Health. This system uses state-of-the art encryption technology, has numerous safeguards against improper and unauthorized access and is frequently audited to ensure private records remain confidential.
To ensure the accuracy and privacy of testing records, for employees who already have electronic health records in UC San Diego’s health record system, all COVID-19 testing information will be associated with their existing electronic health records. By utilizing the Epic system, UC San Diego Health will be able to report the results of the COVID-19 tests directly to employees through the existing confidential medical record reporting channels. In addition, case investigation, COVID-19 detection and contact tracing will be swifter and more effective. All electronic health records, including records related to COVID-19 testing, are subject to strict HIPAA Privacy Rules, meaning that UC San Diego as an employer will not have access to individual data in the electronic health record.
For employees who do not already have existing electronic health records in UC San Diego’s health record system, an electronic health record will be created to store employer-paid testing information and documentation of compliance with health requirements for employment. The creation of this record does not obligate anyone to receive health care at UC San Diego Health.
To ensure accuracy and that every electronic health record is uniquely associated with the correct employee, employee names, home addresses, genders and dates of birth will be used to populate new electronic health records and to associate existing electronic health records with the correct person. To make this process simpler and more accurate, we are asking faculty and staff to allow us to use their Social Security number (SSN).
If you already have a UC San Diego Health electronic health record, the SSN will help us to connect your status as an employee to your records.
If you do not already have a UC San Diego Health electronic health record, the SSN will ensure that your information is uniquely associated with you and not confused with another person. Whether to allow use of your SSN is completely voluntary.
Whether to take a COVID-19 test with UC San Diego is voluntary. UC San Diego’s COVID-19 testing program is a special benefit the campus plans to offer to its faculty, staff, and students. Faculty and staff are not required to take advantage of this benefit.
You may seek COVID-19 testing with any healthcare provider of your choice. For employees who are offered COVID-19 tests under this program, the tests will be handled by UC San Diego Health and employees will not be charged for the tests. We also expect that the turnaround time for tests conducted by UC San Diego will be faster than most other healthcare providers. Nevertheless, if you choose to obtain COVID-19 testing outside of this program, you are free to do so, but in that case, you or your health insurer will be responsible for the cost of the testing. Regardless of where employees seek testing, employees who test positive for COVID-19 are required to report those results to COEMexposure@health.ucsd.edu so the campus can take appropriate public health measures.
Personal Information Privacy
Your privacy is important to us.
You should be aware that under California and San Diego County law, all providers of COVID-19 tests must report all positive test results to San Diego County public health officials. San Diego County mandates that people testing positive for COVID-19 be interviewed (a process called case investigation) and their close contacts identified (a process called contact tracing). Like all COVID-19 test providers, UC San Diego must comply with these requirements.
If you ultimately choose to get a COVID-19 test through UC San Diego, your supervisor will not be informed of the test results. Employees who receive a positive COVID-19 test from a non-UC San Diego Health location must also report those results to the UC San Diego Health Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine at COEMexposure@health.ucsd.edu.
The disclosure of your SSN is voluntary. You may opt out of allowing use of your SSN on the registration form by unchecking the “I agree to share my Social Security number (SSN) with the University of California Health System” checkbox at the bottom of the form. This request is made under the authority of the Regents of the University of California under Art. IX, Sec. 9 of the California Constitution.
As part of employee health management, your employer will be notified of your compliance with required testing and vaccinations; however, neither HR nor your supervisor will be informed of your test results. Any positive COVID-19 test results are provided to UC San Diego case investigation and contact tracing teams, public health officials and other government agencies to the extent required by law. Additionally, you and your UC San Diego Health healthcare provider (if you have one) will be able to access your electronic health record, which includes all test results.
Action Required
Whether you work on campus or remotely, please complete the Work and Health Management registration form as soon as you can. Because we know that some people may need more time to complete the form, the registration deadline has been extended to August 20th.
The Work and Health Management registration form is a required action. If not completed, employees will receive a short notice upon logging into any application that uses UC San Diego’s Single Sign-On (SSO) functionality.
Department chairs and supervisors should communicate this requirement to their departments and teams. Faculty and staff who are currently and will continue to be on leave or otherwise away from work until after August 20th will be required to complete this registration upon their return.
