TM1

PHIN Conference Atlanta, GAAugust 28th, 2007Joint Presentation

Christine Adamski, MANew Hampshire Department of Human Health Services

Jeanne Tropper, MS, MPHDivision of Emergency Preparedness and Response

National Center for Public Health InformaticsCenters for Disease Control and Prevention

SNS Exercise SupportRochester, New Hampshire

TM2

Agenda

• Purpose• Background• NH & CDC Observations• NH & CDC Summaries• CRA CAT System Updates

TM3

Purpose• The purpose of field test was twofold:

• For New Hampshire Department of Human Health Services (NHDHHS) – to determine whether the CRA CAT system was more effective than manual forms for tracking information

• For Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – to evaluate the CRA CAT system for utilization at a point of dispensing (POD), and gain better understanding of off-line requirements

TM4

Background

• The exercise’s original intent was to test Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) preparedness; New Hampshire DHHS added the CRA CAT testing to the planned exercise

• The exercise was conducted in three locations; Concord, Rochester, and Berlin (central, southeast, and northern areas of the state, respectively)

• The Rochester point of dispensing (POD), used the CRA CAT application; other locations relied on manual processes

TM5

Scenario• Event: The Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New

Hampshire hosts the high school hockey finals with a filled capacity of 10,000 people.

• Outbreak: Over an eight day course, multiple patients reported with high fever, difficulty breathing, body aches, and skin rash; majority of the infected are high school students and their parents.

• Analysis: Symptoms do not respond to decongestants, analgesics, or antiviral therapy; rapid antigen screening tests for influenza have come back negative; based on a gram stain and a blood smear, the laboratory suspects Bacillus Anthracis.

• Diagnosis: Local news channel receives anonymous phone call reporting anthrax attack; investigators find small amounts of anthrax in the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system of the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester.

• Action: The New Hampshire DHHS requests countermeasure supplies from SNS.

TM6

Site Information• Objective: Administration of

countermeasures to contain the outbreak of Anthrax in the Rochester, New Hampshire area

• Location: Local gymnasium of the Rochester Middle School

• Technical Set Up: Local Area Network (LAN) connections, 4 laptop computers and one additional laptop acting as the server

• Placement: The data entry was located at the backend of the process

• Duration: 2 hours

TM7

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table Table

Patients ExitingPOD

Medical Counseling Area

Table

Table

Table Table

Mental Health Area

Meds Dispensing / Vaccination Area

- Staff - Patient

6

12

Table

Table

Table

# - Number of stations

2

2

4

Medical Screening Area

CRAData Entry

Station

Yes

M

eds/

Vac

cina

tion

No Meds/ Vaccination

Routine

DoorDoor

DoorDoor

Door

Pa

tien

ts E

nte

r PO

D

Door

Door

POD Patient Flow

Table Table

LEGEND

Door

Special

Sp

ecia

l

TM8

New Hampshire ObservationsWhat worked well

Areas for improvement

• Users were able to effectively use CRA CAT with minimal to no training and the Quick Tips user instructions provided by CRA CAT staff.

• CRA CAT was flexible and allowed data entry staff to enter fields “on the fly.”

• A timed CRA CAT data entry operator revealed an average of 42 seconds to enter a single person form and 41 seconds per person for multi-person forms.

• CDC LAN was preloaded and arrived at the POD without incident. It was unpacked and set up efficiently.

• Delays occurred with medical dispensing station of the operation.

• State data form should be revisited and revised based on actual data needs.

• The speed at which the data entered varied greatly, because data entry operators were Registered Nurses (RN) and not staff with specific data entry skills.

• System navigation could be improved, i.e. tab, field defaults, order of information.

TM9

New Hampshire Summary• The CRA CAT system is more effective

as a tool than manual forms to track information during a public health event• Improved accuracy• Ability to find patients• Operational reports

• Future Considerations:• Needs of computers, informatics systems,

and system users must be taken into account in POD planning

• Planning for adequate data entry staff and workstations needs to be done and shared with partners

TM10

CDC ObservationsWhat worked well

Areas for improvement

• Exercise was an effective method to gather requirements.• Users were able to effectively use CRA CAT with minimal to no training and the

Quick Tips user instructions provided by CRA CAT staff – underscored the need to keep things simple

• Rapid data entry feature worked efficiently. • LAN setup worked efficiently; optimally it would incorporate reports to provide

analysis at the POD. • The CRA application produced summary statistics quickly.

• Wireless option to be explored, or possibly a hybrid LAN combined with wireless capabilities.

• Explore methods to capture data at the beginning of the process, as forms are completed by patients and finalized at the data entry when countermeasures are administered or dispensed.

• Consider real time data entry to capture: how many victims are processed; how much, and of what kind of countermeasure was dispensed; how much throughput for each individual dispenser; where are they in the process (may combine with above)

• The canned & ad hoc reporting were not available at user level.• Navigation i.e. tab, date defaults, etc.• Family and group entry

TM11

CDC Summary• To be most effective CAT needs to be

deployed at the front end of the process• Needs to continue to be cheap and easy• Needs to be flexible enough to support a

variety of operational flows• Future Considerations:

• Alternate methods of data entry; methods for accepting data

• Wireless capability• Offline deployment

TM12

CRA CAT System Updates

Rapid Data Entry form designs should be improved

Updated?Areas of

Improvements Details

DES could not enter new products or staff members

Tracking of contraindications or drug allergies capabilities should be added

Ability to tab from field to field should be added

Release 1.6 will allow PHA users to design the Rapid Data Entry screen to match forms used at a POD. Functionality include:• Adding existing Patient fields to screen• Ordering fields to match form

Future releases of CAT will allow PODs to:• Download and install CRA CAT for off-line use• Report off-line data to the central CAT• Provide for code update of deployed versions of CAT

Release 1.5 provides the ability to quickly add data by using a tab, rather than the mouse, to move from field to field

Release 1.6 will include the ability to:• Add new fields, not supported by CAT• Add new vocabulary lists to support the new fields

Download and install CAT

Reports and extracts were not readily available

CAT could only support data entry using laptops

Release 1.5 allows DES users to add new products (drugs) and staff members rather than relying upon PHAs to perform this task

Release 1.6 will provide access to reports and extracts through the user interface. Future releases will expand the reports offering to include throughput and analysis reports.

Future releases of CAT will provide for data entry at various POD stations including registration. Mass data entry, through uploads, will also be supported as will use of wireless and hand-held technology

TM13

Questions?