[{"innerBlocks":[],"name":"core\/freeform","postId":3641,"blockType":{"name":"core\/freeform","keywords":[],"attributes":{"content":{"type":"string","source":"raw"},"lock":{"type":"object"}},"providesContext":[],"usesContext":[],"selectors":[],"supports":{"className":false,"customClassName":false,"reusable":false},"styles":[],"variations":[],"apiVersion":3,"title":"Classic","description":"Use the classic WordPress editor.","category":"text"},"originalContent":"The public health response to the outbreak of the mosquito-borne Zika virus is relying heavily on information technology to help prevent its spread, particularly among pregnant women who are at risk of passing the illness on to fetuses and causing congenital birth defects.

Since early 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT have been collaborating with electronic health record vendors to develop resources to support rapid deployment of critical information through EHRs and other clinical software in the battle against Zika. CDC and ONC are coordinating several activities including developing algorithms, standardizing vocabulary sets, incorporating Zika order sets into HIT products, as well as reaching out to EHR vendors.

\u201cWe are really dealing with computer science vs. the biological sciences,\u201d said Daniel Chaput, an ONC public health analyst, during an education session at the HIMSS17 conference in Orlando. \u201cNever before in history has there been a situation where a bite from a mosquito can result in a devastating malformation.\u201d

As of February 7, more than 1,450 pregnant women in the United States have been identified with laboratory evidence of Zika virus infection, with more than 3,150 such cases in the U.S. territories, according to the CDC.

Also See:<\/b> Capturing pregnancy status data critical to Zika fight<\/a>

Floyd Eisenberg, MD, president of iParsimony contends that lessons learned from the public health response to infectious diseases like Ebola do not easily translate to combating the current Zika crisis.

\u201cFrom an IT perspective, it was simpler with Ebola, even though the disease is much more acute,\u201d observed Eisenberg. \u201cBut, with Zika virus, there\u2019s a lot more to deal with in terms of identifying risk\u2014where someone was, when they were there, what tests need to be done, in what sequence, what to do for them, as well as what they should do to avoid pregnancy or\u2014if they are already pregnant\u2014to manage pregnancy.\u201d

However, according to Eisenberg, capturing pregnancy status in women of child-bearing age is \u201cnot as easy as it sounds in the EHR.\u201d In addition, he said complicating matters is the fact that Zika can also be transmitted sexually and that pregnant women and their sexual partners can be exposed to the virus during travel to areas of active local transmission.

\u201cIt\u2019s really important to collect data on all these women who are exposed and what happens to their children,\u201d Eisenberg added.

Sanjeev Tandon, MD, lead for CDC\u2019s EHR Meaningful Use & Public Health Project and the CDC Zika Response Health IT Team, said that \u201cas we start to go into the mosquito-breeding season in the next few months, CDC will be keeping a watch\u201d over the emerging situation from its Emergency Operations Center, which is actively monitoring and coordinating the federal government\u2019s response to the U.S. outbreak.

\u201cWe receive the clinical guidance from CDC that comes out of the Emergency Operations Center, and we transform that guidance for EHR to develop decision support to implement those rules consistently,\u201d added Chaput.

\u201cWe are still in full active mode,\u201d concluded CDC\u2019s Tandon.","saveContent":"The public health response to the outbreak of the mosquito-borne Zika virus is relying heavily on information technology to help prevent its spread, particularly among pregnant women who are at risk of passing the illness on to fetuses and causing congenital birth defects.

Since early 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT have been collaborating with electronic health record vendors to develop resources to support rapid deployment of critical information through EHRs and other clinical software in the battle against Zika. CDC and ONC are coordinating several activities including developing algorithms, standardizing vocabulary sets, incorporating Zika order sets into HIT products, as well as reaching out to EHR vendors.

\u201cWe are really dealing with computer science vs. the biological sciences,\u201d said Daniel Chaput, an ONC public health analyst, during an education session at the HIMSS17 conference in Orlando. \u201cNever before in history has there been a situation where a bite from a mosquito can result in a devastating malformation.\u201d

As of February 7, more than 1,450 pregnant women in the United States have been identified with laboratory evidence of Zika virus infection, with more than 3,150 such cases in the U.S. territories, according to the CDC.

Also See:<\/b> Capturing pregnancy status data critical to Zika fight<\/a>

Floyd Eisenberg, MD, president of iParsimony contends that lessons learned from the public health response to infectious diseases like Ebola do not easily translate to combating the current Zika crisis.

\u201cFrom an IT perspective, it was simpler with Ebola, even though the disease is much more acute,\u201d observed Eisenberg. \u201cBut, with Zika virus, there\u2019s a lot more to deal with in terms of identifying risk\u2014where someone was, when they were there, what tests need to be done, in what sequence, what to do for them, as well as what they should do to avoid pregnancy or\u2014if they are already pregnant\u2014to manage pregnancy.\u201d

However, according to Eisenberg, capturing pregnancy status in women of child-bearing age is \u201cnot as easy as it sounds in the EHR.\u201d In addition, he said complicating matters is the fact that Zika can also be transmitted sexually and that pregnant women and their sexual partners can be exposed to the virus during travel to areas of active local transmission.

\u201cIt\u2019s really important to collect data on all these women who are exposed and what happens to their children,\u201d Eisenberg added.

Sanjeev Tandon, MD, lead for CDC\u2019s EHR Meaningful Use & Public Health Project and the CDC Zika Response Health IT Team, said that \u201cas we start to go into the mosquito-breeding season in the next few months, CDC will be keeping a watch\u201d over the emerging situation from its Emergency Operations Center, which is actively monitoring and coordinating the federal government\u2019s response to the U.S. outbreak.

\u201cWe receive the clinical guidance from CDC that comes out of the Emergency Operations Center, and we transform that guidance for EHR to develop decision support to implement those rules consistently,\u201d added Chaput.

\u201cWe are still in full active mode,\u201d concluded CDC\u2019s Tandon.","order":0,"get_parent":{},"attributes":[],"attributesType":{"content":{"type":"string","source":"raw"},"lock":{"type":"object"}},"dynamicContent":""}]

Rapid use of EHR data critical to Zika public health response

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