Informatics & Data Modernization

Informatics & Data Modernization

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Important Notices

​The Kentucky Health Information Exchange (KHIE) is actively transitioning participants to a new technology platform. For more information, please visit: https://khie.ky.gov/Pages/index.aspx.​

Informatics 

Public Health informatics is the effective use of data science, information technology and computer science to improve the health and outcomes for populations of people. ​

Informatics is an applied information science that combines the theory
and practices of multiple scientific disciplines to design and develop
data systems and tools that keep information secure and usable based
on user needs. The informatics team at the Kentucky Department of
Public Health focuses on building the data resources necessary for
effective monitoring and reporting that drives successful health
interventions and preventions- bettering the health of all Kentuckians.​​

What We Do

Diagram of what informatics and data modernization does

Public Health Informatics involves :

  • Biological and Behavioral Sciences
  • Information Technology and Cybersecurity
  • Computer Science
  • Information and Data Sciences
  • Social Sciences
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Learn More About Our Programs

Reporting Requirements

Reportable Disease and Conditions in Kentucky
Kentucky Reportable Disease Surveillance Regulation

Electronic Case Reporting

What is Electronic Case Reporting?

Electronic case reporting (eCR) is the automated, real-time exchange of case report information between electronic health records (EHRs) and public health agencies (PHAs). This process not only enhances Electronic Laboratory Reporting (ELR), it also further streamlines the workflow, minimizing the burden of reporting requirements. eCR uses a standards-based, shared, scalable, and interoperable infrastructure that is hosted on the APHL Informatics Messaging Services (AIMS) platform. The electronic initial case report (eICR) was created as an HL7 (Health Level Seven) standard to support eCR. The eICR standard defines an all-condition, all jurisdiction case report from EHRs to PHAs. For every eICR that is sent, the healthcare provider receives a reportability response (RR) from the PHA.

Benefits of eCR

• Provides timely and complete data to support outbreak management     and monitor disease trends.
• Improves collaboration with healthcare organizations by enabling     bidirectional data exchange.
• Fulfills Kentucky’s reporting requirements for reportable diseases.
• Streamlines reporting to multiple jurisdictions.

eCR Onboarding Process

Onboarding for eCR occurs in collaboration with CDC and AIMS, and KDPH. The Kentucky Health Information Exchange (KHIE) will work closely with the HCO to guarantee a successful implementation. In some instances, the HCO (Health Care Organization) may bypass KHIE to send eCRs to KDPH directly from AIMS.
Preliminary Preparation: KHIE Onboarding
To ensure the KHIE onboarding process runs efficiently, please visit the KHIE website for steps to complete onboarding.
Preliminary Preparation: Bypassing KHIE
For HCOs bypassing KHIE, please follow these steps to begin onboarding:
1. Register using the KDPH eCR Provider Registration REDCap form to register your list of physical locations.
2. Email KYelectroniccasereporting@ky.gov to learn more about getting started with eCR.
3. Review the AIMS technical specifications for electronic case reporting aimsplatform.org
4. Contact ecr@cdc.gov to onboard with APHL/CDC.
5. Partner with your EHR vendor to discuss options for implementing eCR.*
6. KDPH will provide an acknowledgement of successful registration.
* KDPH encourages all HCOs to implement triggering for all conditions, if available. If HCOs are using an EHR product that does not have the ability to trigger for all conditions, we encourage them to request the product vendor to develop the functionality and make it available.
KDPH eCR Data Validation
After completion of eCR onboarding and receiving approval from APHL, CDC, and KDPH/KHIE eCR teams, the HCO will move into PHA Validation phase. While production eICRs will be received by KHIE, they will be ingested into our UAT/testing environment of our surveillance system while data validation is being conducted. During this phase, Kentucky will provide feedback on any necessary changes before processing the eICRs into our production environment.
Ending Manual Reporting Methods
KDPH will send HCOs formal notification that they can turn off manual reporting, meaning they will only need to report electronically. Please do not stop faxing until this notification is received. HCOs will not be compliant with state reportable diseases reporting regulation 902 KAR 2:020 if they stop faxing prior to receiving the notification

Questions and More Information

Contact:
Emma Gough, MPH
eCR Lead and Informatics Epidemiologist
KYelectroniccasereporting@ky.gov

Electronic Laboratory Reporting

What is Electronic Laboratory Reporting?

Electronic Laboratory Reporting (ELR) is the automated transmission of laboratory test results from clinical laboratories to public health authorities. It plays a critical role in public health surveillance and response by ensuring timely and accurate reporting of infectious diseases and reportable conditions. Interoperability standards such as HL7 v2, LOINC, and SNOMED allow systems to exchange information seamlessly and are the foundation for ELR.

Benefits of ELR

• Efficiency:
Automated reporting eliminates manual data entry and reduces the burden on health care providers.

• Improved Surveillance:
ELR provides public health agencies with more comprehensive and accurate data

• Data Quality:
Standardization reduces human errors and increases the completeness and accuracy of the data being reported.

• Faster Response:
With real-time data, public health agencies can respond to outbreaks or emerging health threats more quickly.

Reporting Guidance

The Kentucky Department for Public Health requires laboratory results to be submitted for reportable conditions in accordance with 902 KAR 2:020

Laboratories that perform testing for reportable conditions can submit test results via the following mechanisms:
1. Electronic Laboratory Reporting
      a. Virtual Private Network (VPN)
      b. Web Services (WS)
      c. Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP)
2. KHIE’s Direct Data Entry platform
3. Fax results to a local health department in accordance with 902 KAR. The local health department reported to must coincide with the patients address/county of residence.

Laboratories who participate in Electronic Laboratory Reporting will undergo review and validation. This process is referred to as ELR Onboarding. For more information and resources on Electronic Laboratory Reporting and Onboarding, please visit the Kentucky Health Information Exchange.

Questions and More Information

Autumn Ward, MPH
ELR Lead and Informatics Epidemiologist
kylabreporting@ky.gov

Data Dashboards

All Data Dashboards were created by various programs across the Kentucky Department for Public Health*
• KY Annual School Vaccination Status
• KY Respiratory Disease Dashboard
• KY Environment Public Health Tracking
• KY Waste Water Surveillance System (KYWSS)

​​Data Modernization

​National Purpose

The objective of the Data Modernization Initiative is to transition
from fragmented and outdated public health data systems to
integrated, robust, and flexible systems that are sustainable and
prepared for rapid response. These upgraded systems will allow us to
address potential issues proactively and minimize the impact of
challenges as they arise.

This effort establishes a foundation for seamless data sharing across
all public health levels, enabling coordinated, scalable, and timely
case investigations, management, and reporting. It also supports
shared analytics, forecasting, and response capabilities, allowing for
swift detection of trends both within individual jurisdictions and
across regions.​

How We Apply Data Modernization

Data Modernization involves enhancing data systems to keep pace with the evolving needs of public health and technological advancements. Data modernization impacts three general areas:

  1. People: Develop a highly skilled workforce capable of upgrading, using and maintaining systems and interpreting data.
  2. Technology: Improve or acquire systems to produce and access high-quality, actionable data.
  3. Governance: Create and implement policies to securely and easily share and access data.

Success Stories​

Direct Data Entry

Direct Data Entry Tool Built in Partnership with KHIE

Per the Kentucky reportable disease regulation (902 KAR 2:020), healthcare facilities are required to report laboratory and case reports for patients that have reportable conditions to public health. Healthcare facilities across the United States have varying levels of technological infrastructure required for automated, electronic reporting of this information. To assist facilities that have less technological support or infrastructure, in partnership with the Kentucky Health Information Exchange (KHIE), the Kentucky Department for Public Health (KDPH) developed direct data entry (DDE) screens. These screens are a modernized way for healthcare providers and administrators to use KHIE’s online web forms to enter laboratory and case data. This method of reporting replaces traditional paper-based methods and automatically, electronically sends data from the form to Kentucky’s National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS), reducing administrative reporting burden.

Direct Data Entry Web-Based Solutions Direct Data Entry (DDE) creates a workflow in the ePartnerViewer platform that allows healthcare organizations to submit communicable disease laboratory results and case reports directly into KHIE.
Success Stories Image

System Integration

KYIR Bulk Import

In 2021, the Kentucky Department for Public Health (KDPH) integrated their reportable disease surveillance system National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS) with the KY Immunization Registry (KYIR) to allow for manual query of vaccination records by end users for each case investigation. This quickly became burdensome on public health staff, so the KDPH informatics and NBS team developed an automated process that allowed for automated query of KYIR for vaccination records. These records were then automatically linked to disease investigations in NEDSS. This process reduced the burden of manual queries and allowed for more accurate analysis of vaccination protection from infectious conditions.
Success Stories Image two

Migration to Cloud Services

For over a decade, Kentucky has used the National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS) as their integrated disease surveillance system. Historically, the system experienced sporadic periods of slowness and the inability to load screens, which sometimes led to recurring, unplanned system outages. These downtimes were inconvenient to end users, sometimes creating workflow issues and small delays in disease investigation and response. The frequency and length of these downtimes created major delays in monitoring reportable condition cases, impacting the public health surveillance and response activities. To improve system performance and to modernize the NBS infrastructure, Kentucky worked with state, federal and external partners to migrate their instance of NBS from on-premises infrastructure to cloud-based infrastructure. This migration allowed for easier system performance monitoring and more timely scaling of system infrastructure. This led to fewer outages and improved timeliness of disease investigation and reporting

Reproduction in Duplicate Reporting Mechanisms

The Kentucky Department for Public Health (KDPH) is required to submit case surveillance data, for conditions that are reportable in KY, to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This data is used to understand disease trends and actions needed to prevent further spread of the disease. This case surveillance data includes:

• Who is affected—the demographic, clinical, and epidemiologic characteristics • Where they are affected—the geographic distribution of disease
• How they are affected—the course of clinical illness and care received

Historically, KDPH has collected case surveillance data in multiple systems that are siloed and do not communicate with one another. To reduce the burden of duplicate data entry and maintenance of multiple systems, KDPH is working to move data for all reportable conditions into a centralized disease surveillance in one central system, the National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS). KDPH has also historically had to send case data to CDC through many different mechanisms/systems. KDPH is modernizing and automating reporting case surveillance data to CDC by onboarding message mapping guides (MMGs). MMG implementation allows for condition-specific information to be sent in a standardized, automated way and directly to CDC through HL7 messages. As of 2024, KY is sending case data through MMGs for over 60% of reportable conditions. This modernization has reduced the burden of duplicate data entry and improved data accuracy by reducing manual data entry mistakes.

Sources: CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/nndss/about/index.html

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​Services

  • Interoperability standards development
  • Electronic data exchange
  • Consultation and technical assistance with regard to standards or technical implementations and workflow analysis
  • Software and standards training
  • Development and maintenance of an integrated disease surveillance system
  • ​Vocabulary support

Resources

Contact Information

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