public health preparedness and response
Sharing the Future: Data Exchange in the Laboratory Response Network
by Tyler Wolford, MS, senior specialist, Laboratory Response Network
Members of the Laboratory Response Network( LRN) must be able to rapidly communicate test results to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention( CDC). Currently the LRN employs both LRN Results Messenger( RM) and Laboratory Information Management System integration( LIMSi) for this purpose.
Deployed over 15 years ago, LRN RM provides LRN laboratories with the ability to manage and share laboratory results securely with CDC and allows CDC to provide remote updates for evolving reporting requirements, especially for emerging infectious diseases such as Ebola and Zika.
The Laboratory Information Management System Integration( LIMSi) project, which began in 2010 as a parallel effort to LRN RM, enables laboratories to rapidly exchange data with CDC using a laboratory’ s existing LIMS. LIMSi reduces the burden of duplicate data entry into both LIMS and LRN RM. To date, CDC has provided $ 2.2 million in funding to APHL to implement 37 LIMSi projects. An additional eight laboratories have implemented LIMSi on their own, using CDC’ s Public Health Emergency Preparedness funding.
Assessing Gaps and Needs
Despite the capabilities of LRN RM and LIMSi, both platforms require significant financial and technical support to implement and maintain— a burden shared by CDC and public health LRN member laboratories. In 2016, APHL, in collaboration with CDC, convened a stakeholders meeting to discuss a path forward for data exchange in the LRN. The strategic planning session outlined core strategies to define LRN data messaging capabilities and needs, and to redefine data reporting requirements. The information gathered provided the foundation for efforts to reduce data reporting requirements and explore emerging technologies to meet the evolving needs of the LRN.
Continuing Exploration of Solutions
As data sharing technology evolves, the LRN will look for a solution that limits the burden on LRN member laboratories, reduces implementation and sustainability costs, and meets emerging threat reporting needs. It will continue to explore solutions that can meet the diverse needs of CDC and its federal partners( e. g., Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation).
KEY DRIVERS
• Responses to events, especially large-scale
• Evolving LRN to include emerging threats
• Sustainability
• Advancing technology
KEY RESTRAINERS
• Funding
• Variability in state and local data management systems
• Availability and level of information technology expertise
• Diverse stakeholder requirements
Future of Data Exchange
Security, storage, speed and sustainability are a few of the many factors that will affect data exchange in the future. APHL is now working with partners to complete a comprehensive landscape analysis of current LRN data exchange capabilities and emerging technologies that could meet the evolving needs of the LRN, while considering data exchange needs across CDC. The project will explore systems and technologies such as data collation and integration for public health event responses, APHL informatics messaging services and blockchain. While a gold standard for data exchange may not currently be available, continuing to assess gaps and needs will be vital for the future of LRN data exchange. n
22 LAB MATTERS Summer 2018
PublicHealthLabs @ APHL APHL. org