EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE
AIMS-ing Towards The Future
APHL recognizes that safe, reliable and
fast data exchange is critical to public
health laboratories and their scientists. So
one of the association’s highest priorities
for this year is to determine the future
business model for our AIMS platform.
Wait…you don’t know what AIMS is? Take
a seat and let me share.
AIMS, which stands for APHL Informatics
Messaging Service, was developed as
a way for public health partners (i.e.,
laboratories, agencies, etc.) to exchange
data electronically using standards-based
messaging services. The cloud-based
platform provides data translation
and transformation as well as support
services.
Since its inception over a decade ago,
there has not only been tremendous
usage growth, but AIMS has proven to be
very agile, adapting to multiple purposes
including:
• Cross-jurisdictional electronic lab
reporting and exchange of data from
clinical laboratories
• eporting of rabies and vaccine-
R
preventable disease data to CDC
• lectronic test order and result
E
reporting (ETOR) for TB drug
susceptibility testing for the National
TB Reference Laboratory in California
and for CDC’s AR Lab Network
• ase notification messaging from
C
a number of states for syndromic
surveillance
• Consulting on LIMS acquisition.
there is a need to strengthen public health
surveillance and provide relevant, timely
information back to providers.
To be sustainable, AIMS needs a effective
strategy. APHL has contracted with
Deloitte to design a plan, in collaboration
with the association and its partners,
to guide the development and direction
of the platform. Deloitte will conduct a
full-scale analysis of the stakeholders and
the marketplace, APHL’s current role and
potential future directions.
To further this work, APHL and Deloitte
held a Greenhouse® Corporate Innovation
Lab Experience, which we called the
“Chicago Exchange.” This meeting
brought together key stakeholders from
within the membership and leadership
of APHL; partner organizations such
as ASTHO, CSTE and NACCHO; federal
representatives including key CDC
partners from across the agency;
representatives from academia; our
technical partners and others. Together
they took a “deeper dive” into the future of
the AIMS platform: its mission and vision,
the services it provides and the customers
it serves.
AIMS offers standards-based
messaging services, data translation
and transformation services, cloud
infrastructure and support services.”
Scott Becker, Executive Director, APHL
Such collaboration has marked AIMS
from its inception as a shared endeavor
with CDC. We look forward to continuing
our partnership with CDC as we review
potential AIMS business models and
proceed with other projects under the
APHL/CDC Cooperative Agreement. Over
the next six months, we will identify the
next steps in the evolution of AIMS. n
One important project underway is
electronic case reporting, which will
deliver bidirectional connectivity across
all 5,500 hospitals nationwide and their
public health partners to support public
health surveillance and clinical decision
making. With the increasing adoption of
electronic health records in clinical care,
PublicHealthLabs
@APHL
APHL.org
Summer 2019 LAB MATTERS
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