We recognize that U-M community members have questions about using ResponsiBLUE, which is why we have included these frequently asked questions and answers below. If you have questions that are not answered on this page, we want to get you to the right resources or individuals which can, so please refer to the following:
- For questions on how the tool is being implemented in your unit, department or area, contact your supervisor or leadership.
- For questions on how the tool is being implemented in other units or areas where you work or have interactions, contact those units or areas.
- For HR-related questions on all campuses or in Michigan Medicine, contact your local HR department or email [email protected].
- For student-related questions, contact the Campus Information Centers.
- For privacy-related questions, contact the U-M Privacy Office at [email protected].
- For questions about vaccination submission or exemption request status please contact COVID Call Center: 734-936-7000.
- For technical questions, or for help signing in, contact the ITS Service Center.
Additional FAQs about the university's response to COVID-19 are on the Maize and Blueprint website.
About the screening tool
U-M community members (faculty, staff, students): The sign-in for ResponsiBLUE has two steps. First, go to ResponsiBLUE.umich.edu and enter or choose your University of Michigan account. It will be your [email protected] email address. Then, enter your UMICH (Level-1) Weblogin.
See more detailed instructions about how to sign in to ResponsiBLUE for Michigan Medicine.
Visitors, vendors, and guests can go to Guest.responsiBLUE.umich.edu to start the screening check without signing in.
ResponsiBLUE will collect a user's uniqname, the time the screening was started and completed, the responses to the individual screening questions and whether the user’s screening responses produced a red “X” or green check indicator. The type of device used to complete the screening (such as a phone or laptop) is collected in aggregate.
For more information, please see the ResponsiBLUE Privacy Policy.
You will be asked a series of three “Yes” or “No” questions:
- Do you have symptoms of:
- Fever (over 100.4°F or 38°C) or feeling feverish
- New shortness of breath
- New cough
- Do you have two of any of these symptoms:
- Chills
- Muscle aches
- Runny nose or congestion
- Sore throat
- Loss of sense of smell or sense of taste
- Headache
- Are you currently required to isolate due to a positive COVID-19 test in the last 10 days, or to quarantine following close contact with someone with COVID-19 in the last 14 days
- Have you returned from International travel within the past 7 days?
Questions may change based on guidance from the CDC and other health agencies.
Identifiable information is retained for one year in compliance with Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA); Emergency Rules; Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19); filed with the secretary of state on October 14, 2020. Identifiable data includes your U-M uniqname associated with individual responses to questions and results. After one year, the U-M uniqname is deleted in order to de-identify the information. De-identified information will be retained indefinitely.
For more information, please see the ResponsiBLUE Privacy Policy.
In order to receive a green or red result, here is how respondents would have answered their questions:
- Green result, meaning “No” to all questions.
- Red Symptom result, meaning “Yes” to either questions 1 or 2, which are about symptoms.
- Red Exposure result, meaning “Yes” to question 3 or 4, which is about exposure to a positive individual or travel.
This health screen is required for anyone entering U-M buildings and facilities—including employees who leave their home to come to work; students in residence halls, going to class, entering a library, etc.; and vendors or guests.
This information collected also allows the university to monitor trends in aggregate symptom reports over time and to measure the levels of COVID-19 in the community to provide an early indicator of potential on-campus outbreaks. University public health experts also will use this information to better understand the presence of COVID-19 in the community and make informed decisions regarding the university’s public health response to the virus.
For more information, please see the ResponsiBLUE Privacy Policy.
Yes! As of July 2021, The ResponsiBLUE app is now available in the Google and Apple app stores internationally*. If you are having difficulties with the mobile app, we recommend using the web app at responsiblue.umich.edu, since it is not geo-fenced. The website is mobile friendly, and the mobile and web app versions are always in sync.
* The inherent Google Play Store is not available on Android mobile phones in China.
No! The web site and the app are the same. As long as you have downloaded (or updated to) the most recent version of the mobile app, it is identical to the web site at ResponsiBLUE.umich.edu.
Faculty, staff, and students can either visit ResponsiBLUE.umich.edu (or the legacy healthscreen.umich.edu), or download the app, based on their preference. QR codes displayed by some building entrances generally open the web site.
Visitors and vendors must use the guest version of ResponsiBLUE (guest.responsiblue.umich.edu) whenever they come to campus.
Using the screening tool
Every university community member (faculty, staff and student) who is present in-person on U-M property or in a U-M facility must complete a daily health assessment through the ResponsiBLUE tool, if able, before they enter the building or property, or upon exiting living quarters if living on campus.
All other remote students, faculty, and staff may also use the health assessment tool, but are not required to do so. While it is not required of individuals who are remote, doing so will help make using the tool a healthy habit, and the aggregated data gathered will provide useful information about the overall health of the U-M community.
Visitors and vendors must use the guest version of ResponsiBLUE (guest.responsiblue.umich.edu) whenever they come to campus.
As of January 2022, ResponsiBLUE will be utilized for entrance to indoor U-M athletic events.
Results produced by the tool expire every 12 hours.
No. Only those faculty and staff that are reporting to work in-person are required to complete the health assessment on a daily basis when those individuals are present in-person on U-M property.
Those working remotely or from home are not required to use the ResponsiBLUE health assessment tool. However, it is available to these remote individuals to use should they want to use it for recommended individual daily health monitoring and/or to provide health assessment information through the tool so that the U-M can obtain a more robust picture of the health of our community and monitor our ongoing public health response to the virus.
No. Only those students who are on campus are required to complete the health assessment on a daily basis when those individuals are present in-person on U-M property.
Those not going to campus on a particular day are not required to use the ResponsiBLUE health assessment tool. However, it is available to these remote individuals to use should they want to use it for recommended individual daily health monitoring and/or to provide health assessment information through the tool so that the U-M can obtain a more robust picture of the health of our community and monitor our ongoing public health response to the virus.
No. If you will not be present in-person on U-M property or facilities, you are not required to complete a health assessment through the ResponsiBLUE tool for that day. If, however, you will be present in-person on these days (e.g., you are working on the weekend in your on-campus office), then the requirement to complete the health assessment would apply as it does on any other day.
While it is not required of individuals who are remote, doing so will help make using the tool a healthy habit, and the aggregated data gathered will provide useful information about the overall health of the U-M community.
Compliance and monitoring programs are being implemented to ensure compliance with the requirement to complete a health assessment through the ResponsiBLUE tool for all individuals that will be present in-person on university property. This may include providing aggregated data to university units/departments for monitoring for employee compliance with the daily completion requirement, spot-checking employees in a work setting or students in an in-person class to show the green check from the app for that day, etc. You may be required to complete the app in order to remain on premise. Employees may be subject to corrective action for repeat violations.
If individuals receive a red indicator, they must stay home and follow the instructions displayed within ResponsiBLUE, including informing their supervisor, professors, residence hall director, etc. Results of the individual screenings are not shared with supervisors, managers, classroom instructors, residence hall directors, etc.
No.
Individuals with responses that produce a red indicator must not report for in-person work or classes and instead should stay home and/or seek the appropriate medical care. Employees should follow normal workplace call-in procedures to report absences.
Please note that ResponsiBLUE is not intended for the diagnosis or treatment of disease or other conditions and any and all medical decisions are between the patient and treating physician.
A red response does not automatically mean that the individual needs to be tested for COVID-19. The tool is not intended for the diagnosis of disease or other conditions, including COVID-19. Individuals should use the prompts within the screening tool to make decisions about next steps, which includes seeking appropriate medical care.
If you accidentally click the wrong response, simply close and restart the screening check.
No. Visitors and vendors must use the guest version of ResponsiBLUE (guest.responsiblue.umich.edu) whenever they come to campus.
You will see a warning state (yellow) start to display beginning on the 6th day following your test. This will remain yellow until the end of the 8th day. The testing card will switch to red (out of compliance) on the 9th day following a test. This grace period is designed to allow for small delays in scheduling testing.
Data & privacy
Information collected in the ResponsiBLUE application is managed by U-M’s Information and Technology Services and shared with other University officials who need the information in order to perform their job functions, particularly those associated with U-M’s COVID-19 response activities.
Such data may also be provided in a de-identified, aggregate form as part of reports to units/departments for ongoing compliance and monitoring programs in order to comply with the state of Michigan executive order and other requirements for health screening.
Other data requests for de-identified data and use cases will only be considered if they are public health related.
For more information, please see the ResponsiBLUE Privacy Policy.
No.
No.
However, certain university areas and units may request that individuals present their green indicator status when accessing those locations in person.
Results of the individual screenings are not shared with supervisors, managers, classroom instructors, residence hall directors, etc.
However, whether or not an individual completed the app on a particular day and de-identified, aggregate information may be included as part of reports provided to units/departments for ongoing compliance and monitoring programs in order to comply with State of Michigan executive order and other requirements for health screening.
Yes. Education records maintained by U-M, including in the ResponsiBLUE application, are maintained in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
For more information on how the data collected by the ResponsiBLUE application, please see the ResponsiBLUE Privacy Policy.
Not at this time. However, if you will not be present in person on U-M property or in a U-M facility, you are not required to use the ResponsiBLUE tool.