Att B_Sample PHPSFF

ATTACHMENT – B: Sample PHPSFF – New Jersey NPHII

Public Health Practice Stories
from the Field
National Public Health Improvement
Initiative in New Jersey
NJ

Improved

performance in
communicable disease
reporting, a key essential
public health service area

Reduced

lag time between testing a
specimen and reporting to
CDC from 2–3 weeks down to
2–3 days

Identified

achievable and scalable tasks
with important, measurable
results

Increased

health department workforce
capacity by eliminating
redundant tasks

Advancing Technology to Improve Efficiency
of Reporting Influenza Results
The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services is the lead
public health agency in a densely populated, diverse state. During a
typical flu season, New Jersey’s Public Health and Environment Laboratory
tests about 1,000 specimens. Prior to updating the system, the laboratory
reported positive test results electronically to the health department’s
Communicable Disease Service for epidemiology follow up, and reported
all influenza test results manually via web entry to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC). When a novel influenza strain is circulating,
the number of specimens submitted for testing can more than triple. The
manual data entry to CDC was time-consuming, labor intensive, and prone
to human error.
With funding from CDC’s National Public Health Improvement Initiative
(NPHII) and key technical assistance from CDC, the health department
convened staff from the public health laboratories, information
technology, and epidemiology divisions to develop and implement
automated, electronic reporting of influenza test results from the state lab
to CDC. The existing electronic reporting to the Communicable Disease
Service was modified to include all influenza tests, which were then routed
to CDC through a new messaging server built per CDC specifications.
This standardized messaging system can be expanded to include all
reportable communicable diseases and allows health department
staff more time to fulfill other essential responsibilities.

The information in Public Health Practice Stories from the Field was provided
by organizations external to CDC. Provision of this information by CDC is for
informational purposes only and does not constitute an endorsement or
recommendation by the U.S. government or CDC.

OSTLTS

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Office for State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support

Public Health Practice Stories from the Field

What We Did
CDC’s NPHII funding provided the impetus and technological assistance to re-engineer a key process and
improve communicable disease reporting, one of the essential functions of public health practice. In year one,
funds were used to
• Assemble a team of subject matter experts from CDC and three different health department divisions —
public health laboratories, information technology, and epidemiology
• Modify the existing state public health laboratory information system to redirect electronic reports of
influenza tests to CDC through a new communications server that was developed per CDC standards

What We Accomplished
We were able to implement our action plan and move forward immediately. The entire improvement process
was completed in eight weeks. In year one, we were able to
• Establish direct electronic reporting for influenza laboratory results to CDC, eliminating time, effort, and risk
of human error related to manual data entry
• Cut lag time from 2–3 weeks down to 2–3 days between testing of a specimen and reporting to CDC,
depending on severity and type of outbreak
• Achieve more timely detection and reporting of influenza

What We Learned
Key factors to the success of year-one activities included
• Choosing achievable and scalable goals in the face of limited resources and other constraints
• Having staff with requisite expertise in effecting process improvement

For more stories, visit
www.cdc.gov/stltpublichealth/phpracticestories
For information about this story, contact
NJ Department of Health and Senior Services
Simi Octania-Pole
Director of Data Systems and Evaluation
Telephone: 609-292-1918
E-mail: [email protected]

For information about this product, contact
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
1600 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30333
OSTLTS Toll-free Helpdesk: 866-835-1861
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: www.cdc.gov/stltpublichealth
Publication date: 2/17/2012