PHIN Messaging

The Public Health Information Network (PHIN) Messaging option allows you to send notifications that meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) PHIN Communication and Alerting (PCA) guidelines. The PHIN Messaging System is a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) solution for secure electronic message transport between CDC and public health information systems. For more information, please see: https://www.cdc.gov/phin/index.html. You can create a PHIN Message when creating a notification.

PHIN Message Types

All PHIN messages are alerts unless they are a cancellation or an update to a previous alert. In these cases, in the subject or body of the new notification, reference the value indicated in the Unique Identifier field for the previous alert that you are canceling or updating.

These are the PHIN Message Type options.

PHIN message types and descriptions
Field Description

Alert

Indicates that the notification is about a new situation and does not reference any previous PHIN notifications. If this notification is an exercise or a test, select this option and then select the appropriate Message Type.

Cancel

Indicates that the notification’s purpose is to inform recipients that a previous alert has been canceled, and they no longer need to respond to the situation described in that alert

Update

Indicates that the notification’s purpose is to inform recipients of new information about the situation described in a previous alert

Event Urgency

When you select PHIN messaging options, you can indicate how quickly people should respond to an event. If the event is urgent, ensure that the time-sensitive nature of the event is also indicated appropriately by the Delivery Time.

These are the Event Urgency options.

Event urgency options and descriptions
Field Description

Immediate

Act immediately

Expected

Act within the next hour

Future

Act soon

Past

Action is no longer required
Unknown Urgency is not known

Event Severity

Event severity indicates the severity of an event’s impact on life and property. You can indicate an event’s severity when selecting PHIN Messaging options to help responders prepare accordingly for a potential event.

These are the Event Severity options.

Event severity options and descriptions
Field Description

Extreme

Extraordinary threat to life or health; warrants immediate action or attention

Severe

Significant threat to life or health; warrants immediate action or attention

Moderate

Possible threat to life or health; may require immediate action

Minor

Minimal or non-existent threat to life or health; unlikely to require immediate action
Unknown Unknown level of threat to life or health; may require immediate action

Event Certainty

The certainty of an event indicates whether you know the event has happened or is happening, or if you have varying degrees of certainty about data about an event’s certainty. You can indicate an event’s certainty when selecting PHIN Messaging options to help responders prepare accordingly for a potential event.

These are the Event Certainty options.

Event certainty options and descriptions
Field Description

Observed

The event has been observed; it absolutely happened or is happening

Likely

The event is likely to happen based on data gathered about the potential event

Unlikely

The event is unlikely to happen based on data gathered about the potential event

Possible

There isn't enough data to indicate how likely or unlikely an event is; to err on side of caution, assume that the event is possible and prepare accordingly
Unknown There is very little data on the potential event; you may need more information to respond appropriately

Delivery Time

Delivery times indicate how quickly an organization can deliver and receive responses to alerts. Depending on the PHIN Messaging options you select, the delivery times are:

  • The target time frame for the delivery of the alert to all recipients, or

  • The target time frame for alert delivery and for recipients to respond to the alert.