FAQ

This Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section compiles the questions most frequently asked by users to e-SIN technical support and provides the corresponding answers. It is updated regularly.

Before contacting the e-SIN support team, we recommend that you:

  • review the documentation available on the Santé publique France website: in particular, the e-SIN user manual,

  • review the list of questions in this FAQ: the answer you’re looking for is likely already there!

If your question is not on the list or if you are experiencing a persistent issue, please send an email to esin-support@santepubliquefrance.fr detailing the problem you are encountering. We will respond as soon as possible.

I.1 Directory - I am not registered in the e-SIN directory; what should I do?

You must register in the e-SIN user directory after obtaining approval from your institution’s administration, using the registration form available at the addresses listed below.

Depending on where you practice, here is the link to complete your registration:

Once this process is complete, your e-SIN login credentials will be sent to you via email.

I.2 Directory - How to fill out the e-SIN directory registration form?

The registration form allows you to enter the names, job titles, and contact information of individuals who wish to access the e-SIN application; once their registration is approved, they will appear in the application’s user directory.

This form also allows you to modify an existing user’s registration (if, for example, their job titles and/or contact information have changed). Simply use this form to submit a new registration with the updated information.

Important: The completed form is only saved after you click the "Save" button. If you wish to keep a copy of the submitted information, take a screenshot beforehand and save it.

Regarding directory registration for users in Healthcare Facilities (HF)

To ensure your registration is valid, please follow these guidelines:

  • correctly identify the healthcare facility using a unique FINESS Facility number (multiple FINESS Facility numbers may be entered on the same registration form),

  • correctly enter the users and their profiles: you must enter at least one user for each profile—"Practicing Hygienist" (PH) and "Reporting Officer" (RS)—as a primary user. It is also possible to enter a substitute PH and/or RS. (See the definitions of PH and RS in Question III.1).

The only profiles available for a user in an ES are PH and RS. There is no profile for users with "read-only" or "for information" access. If you wish for other individuals at your ES to be informed of the reports issued via e-SIN, establish a procedure with your ES’s RS so that these individuals’ email addresses are added to the list of recipients copied on the reports. These individuals will then receive a copy of the issued report via email in PDF format.

I.3 e-SIN Directory - The information about my facility (type, status, etc.) is incorrect

The e-SIN directory uses a database of healthcare facilities in France provided by the Technical Agency for Hospital Information (ATIH). This database may contain errors or have been updated.

Please send an email to esin-support@santepubliquefrance.fr listing the corrections to be made. We will make these corrections as soon as possible, after verifying the relevant FINESS numbers.

I.4 e-SIN Directory - I work as a PH or RS at different sites within the same facility, or at different facilities. Can I use e-SIN for all the sites or facilities relevant to me with a single account?

Yes: however, you must first be registered in the user directory for each of the sites or institutions where you practice.

The e-SIN application identifies the healthcare facility by its "Facility" FINESS number (to be distinguished from the "Legal" FINESS number). A facility corresponds to a geographic location, is characterized by a facility category, and is linked to a legal entity. It may be associated with different activities or categories of facilities managed by different budgets.

Thus, a healthcare facility will have a single legal FINESS number associated with its legal status, but as many facility FINESS numbers as it has different activities, even if they are grouped at the same geographic location.

It is therefore necessary to register in the e-SIN directory with all the FINESS establishment numbers to which you are affiliated.

In the e-SIN application, you will see a drop-down menu at the top of the home page prompting you to select the site or facility for which you wish to use e-SIN.

II.1 Logging into e-SIN - I have lost my e-SIN application login password, or it no longer works.

First, make sure you are entering your password with the correct case (lowercase, uppercase, numbers, and letters). If you are "copying and pasting" the password we sent you via email, make sure you do not copy any spaces after the sequence of characters in question, or even a blank line. The presence of spaces prevents the password from being recognized.

If you still can't log in, click the "I forgot my password" link and fill in the required fields (username AND email address). A new password will be sent to the email address you provided.

You can change your password at any time by clicking on "Update your personal information" at the top right of the screen (see the next question, II.2).

II.2 Logging into e-SIN - How do I change my e-SIN password, and what are the rules for setting it?

You can change your login password at any time if you find it difficult to remember while logged into the application. To do so, click the "Update your personal information" link in the top banner. Please note that the structure of your new e-SIN password must follow certain rules, described below.

To be valid, e-SIN application passwords must meet the following format criteria:

  • Length: Passwords must be at least 8 characters long and no more than 16 characters long,

  • Permitted characters: - Lowercase letters "a–z", - Uppercase letters "A–Z", - Numbers "0–9", - Special characters "# ! + - * % $",

  • Required structure: - At least one uppercase letter (location not specified), - At least one lowercase letter (location not specified), - At least one digit (location not specified).

The use of special characters is not required.

If you try to change your password without following these rules, the application will notify you with an error message.

III.1 Using e-SIN - What do PH and RS mean in the e-SIN application?

The Hygiene Practitioner (PH) and the Reporting Officer (RS) are IT profiles defined in the e-SIN application, each with their own specific functions.

The PH’s primary role is to create a notification form with the necessary information and to forward it (pre-submit) to the RS. They are the only one who can modify it later.

Upon receiving a report sent by the PH, the RS verifies and validates the entered data and issues the report (forwarding the record to other partners in the system). The RS is the only one who can cancel or return a record to the PH, and is also the only one who can close a record.

III.2 Use of e-SIN - Is it possible to combine the roles of PH and RS?

Yes: a single user may serve as both PH and RS within the same healthcare facility, a group of healthcare facilities, or several separate facilities.

The decision to assign these two roles to a single person or to two separate individuals is left to the discretion of the healthcare facility, depending on its resources and internal organization.

The request for this dual PH-RS profile must be made via the registration form by entering the same person’s name in both the PH and RS fields.

III.3 Using e-SIN - The individuals holding the PH and/or RS roles at my facility have changed. What should I do?

You must create a new entry in the e-SIN directory to update the contact information for the individuals designated as Hygiene Practitioner (PH) and/or Reporting Officer (RS) for the e-SIN application.

You must therefore fill out a new registration form for the individuals who now hold the roles of PH and/or RS. To do so, please refer to question I.1 of this FAQ.

III.4 Using e-SIN - On the home page, I don’t see the “Create a Report Form” menu.

This is normal if you work at an ARS, a Cire, or a CPias. This feature is reserved for users at healthcare facilities.

If you work in a healthcare facility, this may be because you are listed in the application as a Reporting Officer (RS). In that case, you cannot initiate the creation of a report form and must contact the designated Hygiene Practitioner (PH) for your facility to do so.

If there is no PH at your facility and you believe you should also have this role, you must request a change to your profile. To do so, you must create a new entry in the e-SIN directory and update the information regarding your facility after obtaining approval from your management.

Tip: The PH and/or RS role assigned to you in the e-SIN application is displayed at the top of the e-SIN screen, right after your first and last name.

III.5 Using e-SIN - I filled out a report form, but the form was not submitted.

If you have been assigned the role of Public Health Practitioner (PH) in the application, you cannot issue a report. To be issued, the report must be validated by the Reporting Manager (RS) of your facility. Verify that you have completed the following steps:

  • you have saved the report,

  • you have assigned an action level to your report: select a level from the drop-down menu located on the top banner of the report (next to the "Delete Report" button). The report status will then show "Status: In Progress" in the "Additional Information" tab at the bottom of the window,

  • you have submitted the form to the RS: in the 5th tab "Additional Information," click the "Submit to RS" button at the bottom of the window. The form’s status will then show "Status: Submitted to RS" at the bottom of the window,

  • You have notified your RS that a record is pending transmission.

Note: The RS is automatically notified by email when the PH creates a new report, once the PH has clicked the "Send to RS" button at the bottom of the "Additional Information" tab of a report.

III.6 Using e-SIN - I have filled out a report form that is awaiting submission. How is the RS notified?

The e-SIN application generates an automatic email to notify the Reporting Officer (RS) that there is a report pending issuance. The message is also visible on the application’s home page.

III.7 Using e-SIN - I have a dual PH-RS profile and I am unable to issue my report.

Once your report is saved, you must click the "Submit" button located in the "ADDITIONAL INFORMATION" tab for non-BHRe reports or the "INVESTIGATIONS AND MEASURES" tab for BHRe reports.

III.8 Using e-SIN - I cannot edit an alert record.

This means that you have been assigned the role of Reporting Officer (RS) in the application. Therefore, you cannot edit a report form.

Only the Hygiene Practitioner (PH) at your facility has the rights to edit a report form. You must click the "Return" button so that they can make the changes. This "Return" button is located in the "Additional Information" tab of the report form, at the bottom of the page and to the right of the "Submit" button.

III.9 Using e-SIN - I cannot close a report.

This means that you have been assigned the role of Public Health Practitioner (PH) in the application. Therefore, you cannot close the report.

Only the Report Manager (RM) at your facility has the authority to close a report form.

III.10 Using e-SIN - I created a report. Is it visible to external entities (CPias, ARS, Santé publique France) responsible for health surveillance?

For the report to be distributed, it must first be pre-issued by the Public Health Practitioner (PH) and then issued by the Reporting Manager (RM). Registration alone ensures the traceability of the report’s creation but does not make the report visible to external entities outside your institution

III.11 Using e-SIN - I am unable to attach a file to my report form.

There are two ways to attach a document to a report form:

  • via the "Additional Information" tab: only when the report is in the "pre-issued" status,

  • via the "Follow-up Form" tab: when the form has been issued.

You can find details about this feature on page 42 of the user manual. This manual is available here: e-SIN "Users" manual

III.12 Using e-SIN - What is the maximum allowed size for attachments to an IN declaration?

The maximum allowed size for attachments to the declaration in the e-SIN application is:

  • for 1 attachment = 5 MB,

  • for all documents in a record = 20 MB.

It is recommended to add a comment such as "An attachment has been added" (mentioning the nature of the document) in the declaration tracking record, to ensure your attachment is clearly visible and can be easily located later.

III.13 Using e-SIN - Is it possible to create an e-SIN account with a "read-only" profile for someone who is neither a PH nor an RS?

No, the application does not provide for a "read-only" profile. Only the reporting entities listed in the decree of July 26, 2001 (and updated by Decree No. 2017-129 of February 3, 2017), validated by your institution, and authorized for PH and/or RS profiles have access to the application.

IV.1 Miscellaneous - I want to submit a report. What do certain abbreviations next to the names of some microorganisms (NMR or RNP) mean?

The code NMR (in the microorganism descriptions) stands for "Non-Multidrug-Resistant": this option should be used, for example, for Staphylococcus aureus, when the strain is sensitive to methicillin.

The RNP code (in the microorganism description) stands for "Resistance Not Specified": this option should be used when the strain responsible for the infection has not undergone an antibiogram, or when the results of the antibiogram are not available at the time of reporting.

V.1 BHRe Record – In what situations should I create a BHRe record?

The "BHRe form" was created in September 2017 during the implementation of new updates to the e-SIN application (in addition to the creation of CPias and the modification of reporting criteria). The BHRe form allows healthcare facilities to report one or more cases infected or colonized by an emerging Highly Resistant Bacterium (BHRe), meaning either a carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteria (EPC) or a glycopeptide-resistant Enterococcus (Enterococcus faecium; ERG).

The BHRe form should be used when reporting this type of bacterium.

V.2 HRA Form – How to Fill Out an HRA Form?

To assist you in completing a BHRe form, a training document is available on the SpFrance website. This document explains how to fill out each field of the BHRe form and also details the recent updates to the e-SIN application implemented in September 2017 (creation of CPias and changes to reporting criteria).