The Public Health Laboratory Perspective: readiness to support “meaningful use”

1. The Public Health Laboratory Perspective: readiness to support “meaningful use” PHDSC Annual Meeting November 12th 2009 Mary Shaffran, MPA Senior Director, Public Health Programs Association of Public Health Laboratories

2. APHL’s NEW Mission Statement “To promotethe role of public health laboratories in shaping national and global health objectives, and to promote policies, programs, and technologies which assure continuous improvement in the quality of laboratory practice and health outcomes.”

3. *Meaningful use general objectives (2011, 2013, and 2015) • Improve quality, safety, and efficiency • Capture Data in coded format • Incorporate lab test results into EHR • Engage patients • Improve care coordination • Reduce health disparities through public & population health data-sharing • Ensure privacy and security *Health Information Technology Policy Committee June 16th 2009

4. The PHL e-health domain Test Order / Result (ETOR) and Lab Result to local EHR/EMR RHIO etc..

5. Flavors of Electronic Messaging • Electronic Lab Reporting (ELR): • Reportable disease related result from labs to state EPI & NND related results to CDC • Electronic Case Reporting (ECR): • Reportable disease related patient information from physician to state EPI (includes lab results) – NND related de-identified cases on to CDC (from state EPI) • Electronic Laboratory Messaging (ELM): • Lab electronic data exchange between partners • test requests and results to submitter (local) • test requests and results to submitter intra state for: • COOP, Surge, Reference tests • Reportable disease related results to state and federal EPI

6. As we wait for a “definitive” definition….. “The concept of meaningful use is simple and inspiring, but we recognize that it becomes significantly more complex at a policy and regulatory level.  As a result, we expect that any formal definition of “meaningful use” must include specific activities health care providers need to undertake to qualify for incentives from the federal government.” 10.01.09 Quote from a Message from Dr. David Blumenthal, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology- http://healthit.hhs.decenturl.com/healthitmessage

7. And see the problems that are arising “We’re not going to be able to make a lot of progress on any higher level ambitions until we can get our arms around some of the nitty-gritty details, like the exchange of lab results and greater standardization” • Micky Tripathi, co-chairman, Health IT Policy Committee Experts call for widening scope of lab test exchange http://govhealthit.com/newsitem.aspx?nid=72229

8. PHL: Putting their House in Order- • Increasing data exchange capacity & expertise • Taking control of their vocabularies- • Reviewing and tracking pertinent federal standards development • Working with LIMS vendors- • Defining the best solutions to meet data exchange • Participating in the Public Health Laboratory interoperability project (PHLIP)- 22 states, CDC-CCID & CDC-NCPHI working collaboratively

9. PHLIP- advancing lab data exchange PHLIP includes components related to: • laboratory data vocabulary • messaging • security and architecture • building community and collaboration around the critical issue of laboratory data messaging

10. PHLIP Current Use Cases

11. PHLIP TECHNICAL ARCHTECTURE Route not Read (RnR) Hubs • Direct Send: Currently in place (will transition to RnR Hub when Phase 3 is complete) • Phase 1: Implement RnR Hubs in FL and NE • Phase 2: Develop Hub-to-Hub Interoperability • Phase 3: CDC develop capability to exchange messages with RnR Hubs PHL 1 PHL 3 RnR Hub FL RnR Hub NE CDC PHL 2 PHL n • Status: • Direct Send: In Production (used for H1N1 and seasonal surveillance) • Phase1: In Production • Phase 2: In Production • Phase 3: Available- not yet in full production- CDC can poll the hubs.

12. Looking Forward to Our Future..

13. THE FUTURE OF DATA EXCHANGE TO SUPPORT CLINICAL CARE

14. Future of PHLIP- ETOR with clinical partners • Release PHLIP harmonized lab order and result terminology • Forge stronger collaborations with private sector • Work with the ONC NHINConnect technical staff and the CDC to establish the mechanism for the RnR hubs to be used as a pilot for NHIN architecture for the PHL to Clinical Lab use case.

15. PHLIP in Action- H1N1 responseWhat’s in a Name? A pig by any other name….

16. Influenza A unsubtypeableNovel Influenza A H1N1Swine Influenza VirusInfluenza A H1N1 swine-likeNovel Influenza A H1N1 swine-likeInfluenza A H1, porcineswine-origin influenza virusSwine-origin Influenza A (H1N1)SO-IVFlu A/SW H1………………………………………

17. The result.. • PHLIP Outbreak Response • States utilizing PHLIP • Impact on daily operations • PHLIP Role • Lead in determining LOINC and SNOMED codes for new Influenza assays • Collaborating with ELR, LIMSi, and other partners to harmonize data elements..

18. Recommendations- • Evidence that we NEED clear direction on test names and procedures AS the test protocols are developed. • a terminologist should participate at the outset in the naming of new tests and determination of the results • Assays should go to FDA with standardized codes already submitted…messaging cannot be an afterthought!

19. Obstacles for PH to address if they are to remain relevant in HIT •  State/Local Relationships – not working well together • Public Health has to be perfect over practical • Funding problems have decimated Public Health Departments, especially knowledgeable informatics workforce • Siloed funding is a huge obstacle

20. THANK YOU For More Information Contact phlip@aphl.org