FEATURE
It ’ s not just making sure that the hardware is there , but you need staff who understand what data elements are needed , what data elements would be useful .
Troy Willitt , JD , MPA
“ There are people who are ready and willing to provide to the Transportation Security Administration evidence of vaccination or a negative test result , but there are other people that feel very strongly that this is not the business of the federal government and may want to get on a plane without providing that evidence ,” Greene says . “ There are strong differences of opinion on what information should be disclosed to the government entities and public health authorities and under what circumstances .”
At-home Testing Data Challenges
Related to data privacy are the data collection challenges of at-home COVID-19 testing . President Joe Biden has endorsed making COVID-19 testing free for all Americans and creating a national strategy using rapid and at-home tests . If the number of tests increases substantially , Meigs says CDC may stop requiring negative and indeterminate test results because of the sheer volume of data . “ CDC and others , I think , will probably say , ‘ Enough is enough ; we don ’ t need millions upon millions of negatives flooding our system .’” However , the federal government will likely still want national-level testing data of some sort to show test coverage .
Individuals are not mandated to report at-home test findings , so reporting will depend on where the test was done and if it needed to be sent to a laboratory . Prescription-based tests or those marketed and run by private laboratories will likely get reported , as opposed to a test that is completely over-the-counter .
At-home testing could also reduce the testing burden on public health laboratories , Meigs says . This may allow laboratories to get back to some of their
AIMS Platform Adapts to New Challenges
In 2008 , APHL developed the original
APHL Informatics Messaging Services ( AIMS ) platform , which has become instrumental during the COVID-19 pandemic . The secure AIMS platform — which became cloud-based in 2014 — is the “ highway ” that allows public health laboratories and departments to safely transmit public health data .
In March 2020 , as COVID-19 expanded throughout the US , APHL quickly modified the AIMS platform to respond to the federal requirement for state public health laboratories to share all COVID-19 test results with CDC . AIMS allowed laboratories to quickly and securely adhere to the new requirement .
APHL keeps on top of recommended cybersecurity protocols to protect AIMS and the data flowing through it . The information itself is stored in the cloud , meaning in an offsite server by a third-party cloud service provider . APHL staff cannot get to that server . In fact , they don ’ t even know its exact address , as part of the cybersecurity measures . In addition , both the cloud service provider and APHL go through regular security and compliance audits that adhere to the
Federal Information Security and Management Act .
regular functions and not focus primarily on COVID-19 testing .
What ’ s Next ?
Federal health data collection has been swung wide open , with the government now requiring large amounts of personal health information . And Meigs doesn ’ t see the door closing anytime soon . “ They ’ re going to want as much data as possible , so that they feel like they ’ re prepared for the next pandemic . But I don ’ t know how they ’ re going to use it all , and I think that ’ s the point .”
Greene adds , “ With CDC and the federal government involved in the response , there ’ s definitely been a push for more direct reporting to the federal government rather than the more traditional reporting to the states and the states potentially reporting information to the federal government .”
That raises a lot of questions , he says , such as whether some states will be more
8 LAB MATTERS Winter 2021