Regional Network Consultation Meeting

APHL and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) held a consultation on November 12-13, 2015, to discuss comprehensive testing services in support of public health programs. The consultation addressed uneven access to, and support for, testing services for public health programs in states and territories and identified opportunities and barriers to a shared strategy for public health laboratory (PHL) service provision in the US.

Read the Meeting Summary, December 2015.

Partners Update

Representatives from the American Public Health Association (APHA), the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE), and the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) participated in a conference call with APHL and CDC to follow up on the Partners forum APHL held in 2012. Topics included: a sharing of products and tools that have been created or are in stages of development that assist public health laboratories in becoming more efficient in laboratory operation and management; exploration of efficiency-related activities that the partners are considering and have adopted; and engagement in open discussion to explore opportunities for collaboration on additional efficiency related directions.

Read the Meeting Summary, December 16, 2013.

PHLSD Consultation

As a follow up to the data consultation meeting in 2012, APHL and CDC developed the Public Health Laboratory System Database (PHLSD). A meeting was held on August 27, 2013 with a workgroup of APHL, CDC and public health laboratory leaders to discuss the structure and framework of the database. Participants considered the data to be uploaded to a national file hosted at APHL, needed reporting features and  marketing .

Federal Policy Meeting

On June 21, 2013, APHL’s team of laboratory directors who work on federal policy issues met with CDC policy staff from the divisions with a laboratory presence to discuss legislative and policy decision making and its impact on the laboratory system. The CDC Advanced Molecular Detection Initiative was highlighted. The draft of the Policy Guide for Public Health Laboratory Test Service Sharing was shared.

Workforce Strategic Planning

In an effort to expand on the workforce goal from the LEI Strategic Plan, APHL and CDC convened a group of 30 participants in Atlanta on May 13–14, 2013. APHL member representatives, APHL staff, and CDC principals collaborated to design a workforce strategic plan that strengthens current activities, offers new strategies for addressing unmet needs, and refines existing recommendations to ensure a strong public health laboratory workforce.

Read the Framework for the PHL Workforce Strategic Plan.

Read the Executive Summary, May 13-14, 2013.

Workforce Competency

The APHL Workforce Development Committee (WDC) has been engaged developing draft leadership and management competencies for Public Health, Environmental, and Agricultural Laboratory (PHEAL) workers to address multiple member needs such as defining appropriate job descriptions and developing career ladders. The WDC convened on October 16-18, 2012 to develop a tool on Public Health Laboratory core competencies (action-oriented statements that delineate the essential knowledge, skills, and abilities in the performance of work).

Read the PHL Competencies Project Overview.

LEI Partners Forum

The partners forum provided partner organizations a standing, structured opportunity to contribute to the LEI, facilitate ready exchange of information about the LEI and find where there could be alignment of LEI activities with partner public health priorities. Representatives from APHA, ASTHO, CSTE and NACCHO participated in the forum with APHL and CDC.

Read the LEI Partners Forum Summary, December 13, 2012. 

LEI Policy Meeting

APHL convened a legislative policy meeting to identify the legal and policy barriers and potential solutions for public health laboratories to achieve greater efficiency. Participants discussed public policy issues such as the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the role of federal funding in state and local laboratory operations and what actions federal, state and local laboratories can take to improve public policy decisions that have an impact on their operations.

Read the Policy Meeting Summary, August 17, 2012.  

Director Forums

To facilitate the LEI- a member-based initiative- APHL hosted two director forums to give members the opportunity to assemble and discuss ideas for methods of improving the delivery of public health laboratory services at the state and system levels.

Read the Forum Summary Report.

Strategic Selection of Platforms

The Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) convened a focus group to develop strategies for improving testing platform selection and implementation in state and local public health laboratories.

Read the Strategic Selection of Platforms Summary Report, April 11, 2012. 

LEI Update and Planning

Forty public health laboratory directors or their senior staff, thirteen CDC leaders and APHL staff convened at the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases (ICEID) to have the opportunity to hear an update of the activities related to the Laboratory Efficiencies Initiative (LEI) and to participate in a discussion on future LEI events.

View the APHL – LEI Presentation, ICEID, March 12, 2012.

Procurement Meeting

Through its National Center for Public Health Laboratory Leadership (NCPHLL), APHL convened a meeting focused on procurement improvement strategies. The purpose of the meeting was to identify models to improve purchasing of laboratory equipment and supplies and explore ways that APHL and other stakeholders can improve the procurement process.

Read the APHL – NCPHLL Procurement Meeting Summary, January 19-20, 2012.

Informatics Consultation Meeting

APHL and CDC hosted a joint meeting with representatives from state and local public health laboratories and other interested Subject Matter Experts within CDC to identify assistance methodologies to improve PHL informatics capabilities on a national level. The discussion centered on CDC’s proposal to develop a business case that would support PHLs in their requests for investment in laboratory informatics.

Read the APHL – CDC Meeting Summary,  December 15, 2011 Informatics Meeting.

Read the APHL - CDC Meeting Summary, May 8-9, 2012 Informatics Meeting.

LEI Data Meetings

A key component of LEI is the collection and reporting of data and information related to the capabilities, capacities, organization and services of state and local public health laboratories. APHL and the CDC have held meetings to explore the feasibility of a joint data collection process and to develop an implementation framework for an efficient data gathering and reporting process.

Read the APHL – CDC Meeting Summary, data consultation, December 7-8, 2011.

Read the APHL - CDC Meeting Summary, data consultation, April 6, 2012.

For more information contact, Karen Breckenridge, MBA, MT(ASCP), Director, Quality Systems, 240.485.2756, karen.breckenridge@aphl.org