This Panel Discussion seeks to move past discussions on Meaningful Use policy, certification, attestation and conformance and provide attendees with the insights, challenges, successes and failures that only come from executing the steps to achieve the reportable laboratory result objective of Meaningful Use. This Panel Discussion will be led by a cross section of experts from state public health departments in delivering on the realities of reportable laboratory results under Meaningful Use Stage 1.

This Panel Discussion seeks to move past discussions on policy, certification, attestation and conformance and provide attendees with the insights, challenges, successes and failures that only come from actually executing the steps to achieve the reportable laboratory result objective of Meaningful Use. This Panel Discussion will be led by a cross section of experts in delivering on the realities of electronic reportable laboratory results under Meaningful Use.  The epidemiological perspective will be provided by Erin Holt (Tennessee Department of Health), Doug Hamaker (Texas Department of State Health Services)  will provide the data integration perspective and Keith Higginbotham (Alabama Department of Health) the project management perspective.  The Panel Discussion will be moderated by Stephen Macauley (CSC) who brings a cross-cutting perspective based on the intersection of federal policies with state realities.   The Panelists will discuss their experiences through the lenses of a four phase framework developed in collaboration with the TXDSHS and CSC:  Engage, Connect, Validate and Operate.  In discussing the phases of the framework, each panelist will discuss their experiences and share insights that attendees can apply to their own engagement with clinical data sources.  Specific discussion points will include:  1) Engage:  How to truly assess the readiness of clinical data sources, 2) Connect: Navigating the numerous methods for the secure exchange of data, 3) Validate: Realistic level of effort/resource utilizations required by state public health departments to validate messages and 4) Operate:  How to determine when a clinical data source can have a “meaningful” impact on public health decision making.  Ultimately, this Panel Discussion seeks to provide attendees with the frontline experiences of public health subject matter experts from across the United States.