Contacts

The Division of Laboratory Systems (DLS) firmly believes that development of a nation-wide laboratory system which provides the communication, coordination and testing capacity required to effectively detect and report outbreaks and exposures is crucial to the future health and safety of our communities.

There have been a number of reports that have underscored the need for development of such a system:

• Emerging Infectious Diseases: Consensus on Needed Laboratory Capacity Could Strengthen Surveillance
  Text, PDF (Feb. 1999 - General Accounting Office report)
   
• Notifiable Disease Reporting by Out-of-State Laboratories, Implications for Managed Care and Options for Reform (Jan. 1999 - George Washington University)
   
• Public Health Laboratories and Health System Change (Oct.1997 - Lewin Group Report)

Recent federal initiatives addressing issues such as bioterrorism, food safety and emerging infectious diseases have identified similar needs and may provide the funding required for the long term success of a nation-wide laboratory system.
   

• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Nebraska
• Washington
   

• Slides from Dr. Robert Martin's presentation to the State Public Health Laboratory Directors at the regional workshops held in Atlanta, Boston, Denver and San Francisco (March 2002). - PowerPoint, PDF
     
• Emergency Supplement Guidance Tool: Position Description Template for a State Laboratory Training Coordinator - MS Word, PDF 
   

1. Continue to support the six NLS demonstration projects and expand to additional states.
    
2. Continue support for the Clinical Laboratory Initiative as the director, Jon Counts, focuses on: 1) factors that affect why labs select methodologies, technologies and testing policies/protocols in clinical microbiology, 2) factors to consider in determining levels of service in small hospital labs, 3) assessment of perceptions of clinical microbiologists and clinicians of the quality of testing performed in primary referral and reference labs, and, 4) other factors that affect implementation of clinical microbiology testing practices, including point-of-care testing.
    
3. Foster development of the National Center for Public Health Laboratory Leadership
    
4. Continue regional meetings of state laboratory directors and laboratory liaisons to address issues of national and regional concern.
    
5. Expand the National Laboratory Database (NLD) to include approximately 1,000 VA labs and the estimated 10,000 public health laboratories currently registered under multi-site certificates of other public health laboratories.
    
6. Expand the granularity of information in the NLD by working with State Surveyors and/or proficiency testing programs to increase information on testing capabilities.
    
7. Collaborate with proficiency testing providers in the private sector to update the list of approximately 4,400 clinical laboratories with expected capabilities of conducting Level A bioterrorism testing and redistribute the list to state public health laboratories.
    
8. Continue development of a geographical information systems (GIS) program for public health officials to allow identification of clinical laboratories and their testing capabilities within a given location.
    
9. Continue to foster stronger ties within CDC programs and broaden awareness among professional organizations, and state and local public health agencies.
    
10. Broaden participation in the NLS consultants group to include representatives from more professional laboratory organizations and other stakeholder groups.

1.  Continued funding of the NLS demonstration in the Northwest, Washington Clinical Laboratory Initiative: 1) built on previous work that showed microbiology laboratories lacked understanding of, and adherence to guidelines for antimicrobial resistance testing, 2) targeted gaps in practice based on availability of educational media (PCs, Internet, satellite downlinks, etc.), and, 3) broadcasted a series on antimicrobial resistance testing to 16 states in the Northwest Center, reaching 161 sites and 713 individuals. This work continues to leverage CDC and PHPPO assets including expertise in antimicrobial susceptibility testing at NCID, the NLTN, and the Seattle Center for Public Health Preparedness.
    
2. Expanded the NLS to include two new states, Massachusetts and Wisconsin, which have shown outstanding leadership in connecting with the private laboratory community.
    
3. Set up internal systems to deploy access and training for use of the National Laboratory Database, which is used by approximately 250 users in at least 46 states. The number of users is increasing among State users and other Federal partners: both HRSA and the VA Administration recently joined the users of the database.
    
4. Launched the National Center for Public Health Laboratory Leadership.
    
5. Conducted regional meetings of state laboratory directors and laboratory liaisons in the Northwest and Midwest.