PRIVIT to Assist in Health History Effort
May 16, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The Michigan High School Athletic Association has announced an agreement with PRIVIT to streamline the process for the management and collection of physical health history and consent forms required for participation in high school sports. The MHSAA has designated PRIVIT’s solution, called Privit Profile, as the electronic alternative to paper forms beginning with the 2016-17 school year.
Migrating the paper process to Privit Profile will help high schools better facilitate the process of collecting personal health history information from athletes, and it will save time and costs associated with managing the paper process.
Privit Profile includes the MHSAA’s health history questionnaire and is built on PRIVIT’s patented, secure, and HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) compliant technology. The additional MHSAA forms also are included in the implementation and provide MHSAA member schools the flexibility to further tailor Privit Profile to their process. Taking the paper-based process and transitioning it online will provide athletic trainers and coaches more time to focus on Michigan’s student-athletes.
Within Privit Profile, parents of student-athletes easily complete the medical history questionnaire and take printed copies to the student-athlete’s physical exam. In subsequent years, parents only will have to update the information in Privit Profile, as opposed to completing all of the paper-based forms again.
“It has become necessary for increased detail in the requirements to participate in school sports,” said MHSAA Executive Director John E. “Jack” Roberts. “We desire more comprehensive health histories for students and more education of parents and students regarding the risks of participation, as well as the intangible rewards of competing in educational athletics. Streamlining for collection and storage of documents is a priority.”
Gathering more detailed Health Histories – including an upgrade of the previous pre-participation physical form – was the first focus of the ongoing MHSAA 4 H’s of Health and Safety effort taken up before the start of the 2009-10 school year (the other three H’s stand for Heads, Heat and Hearts).
The MHSAA will begin rolling out Privit Profile throughout local high school athletic departments beginning this month. Use of Privit Profile by schools is voluntary.
“As the importance of pre-screening athletes continues to sweep the nation, more and more state high school athletic associations are adopting Privit Profile to better manage student-athlete health information,” said Jeffrey Sopp, CEO of PRIVIT. “We are excited to be partnering with MHSAA and to be able to provide Privit Profile to schools and participants in Michigan for the 2016-17 school year. We’re looking forward to helping MHSAA member high schools and improving a manual process for years to come.”
PRIVIT® was established in 2009 and provides cloud-based patented technology for the collection, distribution, and analysis of personal health information. Considered a world-class leader in electronic pre-participation evaluations, Privit Products offer clients a more secure and standard method for acquiring and sharing the personal health information required for participation in organized sports and activities. With offices in London, Ontario and Columbus, Ohio, PRIVIT® fosters lasting relationships with physicians, athletic trainers, sports medicine organizations and international sports teams. To learn more about PRIVIT® and its Products, visit www.privit.com.
MHSAA Reopening Update (6/9/20)
June 9, 2020
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The Michigan High School Athletic Association has updated its guidelines for reopening of school sports based on updated recommendations from Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s office announced Friday, June 5. All updates for MHSAA member schools are effective Wednesday, June 10.
Following are points of likely interest from today’s MHSAA update:
• As noted in the June 2 MHSAA update, member schools may begin summer activities at school facilities as long as these two conditions are met: 1. School administration has announced schools facilities are open to students and staff, and 2. The academic school year (last day of online instruction/exams) has ended.
• Schools that are reopened in Regions 6 and 8 (northwestern Lower Peninsula and Upper Peninsula, respectively) may begin indoor activities with no more than 50 people but must continue social (physical) distancing and proper cleaning of equipment as noted in the June 2 update. Schools in Regions 6 and 8 also may increase their participation in outdoor activities from 100 to a maximum of 250 people. Again, social distancing and proper cleaning must be followed.
• Competition is not yet allowed because participants must continue to follow social distancing.
• Although a group of 50 may meet indoors in Regions 6 and 8, the MHSAA recommends smaller groups of the same students continue to work out together. This will allow for a better response and easier tracing should a positive case of COVID-19 be discovered. Also, because most weight rooms cannot accommodate social distancing for groups of 50, the MHSAA recommends cycling in these smaller groups to weight rooms with proper cleaning of equipment between rotations.
• Schools in all other Regions – 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 – should continue to adhere to guidelines put forth in the MHSAA’s June 2 update. However, administrators and coaches should begin preparing for the allowance of similar opportunities now open in Regions 6 and 8.