Lab Matters Spring 2018 | Page 21

newborn screening

By Joshua Miller , MPH , research instructor , Epidemiology , Colorado School of Public Health ; Willie Andrews , BSMT ( ASCP ), director of laboratory operations , Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services , Virginia Public Health Laboratory ; Melanie Kourbage , MA , J Michael Consulting ; and Mary Kate Yost-Daljev , PhD , J Michael Consulting

Physicians and public health professionals agree that the turnaround time for newborn screening ( NBS ) is critical to positive outcomes . The Newborn Screening Technical assistance and Evaluation Program ( NewSTEPs ) recognizes that health information technology — specifically electronic test orders and results ( ETOR )— can significantly improve turnaround times , increasing the opportunity for early diagnosis and treatment , and avoiding potential irreversible damage for infants at risk of a disorder on state NBS panels .

To assist the NBS community members in implementing an electronic data exchange , NewSTEPs worked with the Virginia Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services , J Michael Consulting , ten NBS programs and national stakeholders to develop a new publication , Building Blocks : Newborn Screening Health IT Implementation Guide and Toolkit . The guide is directed to laboratory professionals , project managers , hospital administrators , subject matter experts , nurse managers and other NBS project stakeholders .

Building Blocks focuses on HL7 messaging from the perspective of a NBS laboratory implementing ETOR with one or more hospitals . It offers guidance on all phases of implementation , including the technical aspects of data exchange set-up , defining a message profile , managing relationships with stakeholders and budgeting resources and time . Despite the emphasis on HL7 messaging , the recommendations can be applied to any data exchange implementation .

“ Building Blocks is valuable to a NBS program at any phase of the electronic data exchange implementation process ,” explains Joshua Miller , MPH , epidemiology research instructor at the Colorado School of Public Health . “ In the past , programs worked separately to implement electronic data exchange and , as a result , they have reinvented the proverbial wheel . Building Blocks brings guidance , uniformity , clarity and a level of standardization to a complex process .”

Building Blocks includes project management templates , examples of partnership agreements and worksheets to help map , implement and validate an HL7 message . Terminologists and HL7 subject matter experts ( SMEs ) can use the workbooks to conduct a gap analysis comparing the laboratory ’ s systems to the message format , map local to standard codes and validate test messages . To provide a real world perspective , the guide also includes case studies contributed by members of the NBS community .

Users are encouraged to approach the guide in an “ à la carte ” fashion . The SME Matrix in the appendix allows users to find relevant content rapidly .

As laboratories begin to review and use the guide , they will likely identify topics that are not covered or that would benefit from more in-depth treatment . Accordingly , Building Blocks will be a living document that is expanded and updated in response to the needs of the NBS community . Currently the Building Blocks team is developing a web-based version of the guide . n

Building Blocks brings guidance , uniformity , clarity and a level of standardization to a complex process .”