APHL Informatics has developed the Technical Assistance Team approach to guide and support public health laboratories, public health agencies and other data exchange partners.
With the tools and expertise offered by APHL’s Technical Assistance Services, public health laboratories and agencies can understand, navigate and implement electronic data exchange that uses simple, effective, standards-based methods.
Areas of Technical Assistance
The Technical Assistance Team works with laboratory, technical and epidemiology Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), both remotely and on-site, to assist in the following areas:
- Project management and business analysis: Identifying needed resources, risks and dependences for electronic messaging.
- Data standards expertise: Working closely with laboratorians, SME staff and IT administrators to harmonize testing and resulting terminology to incorporate nationally recognized electronic data standards into the LIMS workflow.
- Assistance with workflow analysis: Helping laboratory and epidemiology SMEs understand how, when and why to use standard codes like LOINC and SNOMED.
- Hands-on technical architectural expertise: Implementing technical solutions that address data exchange needs.
Benefits of Technical Assistance
Working with APHL's Technical Assistance Team offers an organization many advantages.
- A focused, accelerated approach: The Technical Assistance Team approach liberates a laboratory or agency's staff resources from time-consuming reporting obligations as soon as possible.
- Knowledge: Laboratorians, SME staff and IT administrators benefit from an unprecedented knowledge transfer and gain valuable technical capability and expertise.
- Resources: The Technical Assistance Team helps identify gaps in a laboratory's current data exchange capability, and accelerates the laboratory's capabilities from electronic data exchange.