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Thursday, August 28, 2008: 8:50 AM
International E
Background: Merlin has been the Florida Department of Health’s statewide secure web-based disease reporting and epidemiologic analysis system since 1/1/2001. An outbreak module was added to the system in 2004 to enable users to manage outbreak investigation data. The Merlin Outbreak Module (MOM) was developed before the PHIN Outbreak Management standards were released.
Methods: MOM was evaluated using the PHIN Outbreak Management Functional Self Assessment Tool.
Results: Several gaps were identified, including integration with the central electronic laboratory database, laboratory specimen collection tracking and the ability to create and save questionnaire templates in a library for later use in another event. Development efforts have addressed these gaps. Users can now search for electronically received laboratory results that are related to an outbreak, import them to MOM and attach them to outbreak associated cases, for both notifiable and non-notifiable diseases. Electronic laboratory specimen tracking allows users to link the laboratory specimen collection record with results and the subject. Questionnaire templates facilitate data summary and analysis across outbreaks or sites. Questionnaires can be stored for future use. For notifiable diseases, case records can be shared seamlessly between MOM and the surveillance module of Merlin.
Conclusions: System interoperability can improve disease investigators’ access to key data and eliminate duplicate data entry. The intersection of traditional surveillance methods with new technological capabilities allows a focus on end users of the system. Integration of MOM with electronic laboratory reporting and the rest of Merlin enables public health information exchange between outbreak response activities and traditional public health surveillance.
Methods: MOM was evaluated using the PHIN Outbreak Management Functional Self Assessment Tool.
Results: Several gaps were identified, including integration with the central electronic laboratory database, laboratory specimen collection tracking and the ability to create and save questionnaire templates in a library for later use in another event. Development efforts have addressed these gaps. Users can now search for electronically received laboratory results that are related to an outbreak, import them to MOM and attach them to outbreak associated cases, for both notifiable and non-notifiable diseases. Electronic laboratory specimen tracking allows users to link the laboratory specimen collection record with results and the subject. Questionnaire templates facilitate data summary and analysis across outbreaks or sites. Questionnaires can be stored for future use. For notifiable diseases, case records can be shared seamlessly between MOM and the surveillance module of Merlin.
Conclusions: System interoperability can improve disease investigators’ access to key data and eliminate duplicate data entry. The intersection of traditional surveillance methods with new technological capabilities allows a focus on end users of the system. Integration of MOM with electronic laboratory reporting and the rest of Merlin enables public health information exchange between outbreak response activities and traditional public health surveillance.