BACKGROUND: There is a need for improving data integration and interoperability between disparate data sources present within public health organizations. At the Utah Department of Health (UDOH), the Office of Public Health Assessment (OPHA) manages the Indicator-Based Information System for Public Health (IBIS-PH), an educational resource used for the dissemination of statistical numerical data and contextual information on the health status of residents in the state of Utah. Different programs within the UDOH share data, from a variety of sources, with OPHA using manual procedures to maintain IBIS-PH data. In an effort to streamline and automate this data sharing process, the Environmental Epidemiology Program and OPHA have created a method to extract electronic lab reports and convert the SQL query results for blood lead test results into a SAS dataset. This method will serve as a proof of concept to more automatically share data with OPHA for IBIS-PH, thereby better informing the public, while improving data integration and interoperability.
METHODS: The blood lead test results data are stored on a PostgreSQL database. A scheduler, which runs daily, is used to perform a SQL query on the electronic lab report data and convert these results into an XML format. The created XML file is saved within the SAS server at the UDOH. As a final step, a SAS script runs daily by a separate scheduler, which retrieves the XML data file and converts that data into a final SAS dataset. The SAS script is also a control point which defines how the variables are displayed on the query.
RESULTS: The final product is an automated daily updated interactive query available on IBIS-PH. A person is able to select blood lead test result counts by birth cohort year, test year, test month, age, sex, race, ethnicity, blood lead level, specimen type, confirmation status, and county. These preliminary test results are limited based on reporting labs’ timeliness and the capability of a lab to report electronically to the UDOH.
CONCLUSIONS: The ability to automate the data sharing process within the UDOH for IBIS-PH has been demonstrated by this proof of concept methodology. This method could be adopted throughout the UDOH, with minor to moderate modification, to more automatically share data with OPHA for IBIS-PH. Furthermore, other health departments using the IBIS-PH system may be able to replicate this data flow. This automation has illustrated the ability to improve data integration and interoperability within public health organizations.