NHSPI_measure_metadata: 22

Data provided by Big Local News. Data from the National Health Security Preparedness Index. The overall index is useful for examining a state’s readiness in dealing with any number of issues. There also are specific metrics that directly relate to states’ abilities to respond to the Coronavirus pandemic. With that in mind, we have pulled out and processed key metrics -- from preparedness for surge testing to evaluating how many people in each state have access to paid time off. Our goal is to make it easier for journalists to access and analyze for their reporting. For more information, please start with the NHSPI_READ_ME file. Questions? Contact biglocalnews@stanford.edu.

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rowid	obsid	index	item_code	domain_code	domain_name	domain_description	subdomain_code	subdomain_name	subdomain_description	subdomain_long_desc	measure_name	measure_description	measure_rationale	data_source	verbose_data_source	data_dates	limitations
22	27.0	Index	1.2.12	1.0	HSS	Health Security Surveillance	2.0	BMLT	Biological Monitoring & Laboratory Testing	The ability of agencies to conduct rapid and accurate laboratory tests to identify biological, chemical, and radiological agents to address actual or potential exposure to all hazards, focusing on testing human and animal clinical specimens. Support functions include discovery through: active and passive surveillance (both pre- and post-event), characterization, confirmatory testing data, reporting investigative support, ongoing situational awareness. Laboratory quality systems are maintained through external quality assurance and proficiency testing.	M216	Percent of 15 tests for infectious diseases that the state public health laboratory provides or assures including: antimicrobial susceptibility testing confirmation for vancomycin resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Anaplasmosis (Anaplasma phagocytophilum), Babesiosis (Babesia sp.), botulinum toxin—mouse toxicity assay, Dengue Fever, Hantavirus serology, identification of unusual bacterial isolates, identification of fungal isolates, identification of parasites, Klebsiella pneumoniae Carbapenemase (blaKPC) by PCR, Legionella by culture or PCR, malaria by PCR, norovirus by PCR, Powassan virus, rabies	The measure focuses on the public health laboratory's (PHL's) ability to provide a range of diagnostic and surveillance testing.	APHL CLSS	Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL), Comprehensive Laboratory Services Survey (CLSS)	2012, 2014, & 2016	The state public health laboratory testing “provide or assure” standard is based on national consensus expert opinion and is recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and is reflected in the Healthy People 2020 goals concerning access to comprehensive public health and environmental health laboratory testing. This standard requires the state public health authority, through its laboratory, engage in the testing and reporting process – either by directly performing the tests or by assuring that alternative labs perform the tests adequately. This standard is designed to ensure that laboratory testing, interpretation, and reporting is guided by specialized public health knowledge and expertise found within the state public health agency, and that timely, effective public health responses and protective actions occur based on test results. States that provide testing through another type of laboratory, with no assurance role performed by the public health laboratory, do not meet this standard. (see https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2846798/). Inclusion of this measure ensures that the Index is consistent with national expert opinion and federal recommendations concerning comprehensive public health laboratory testing capabilities. However, the measure does not assess the quality of the testing, the timeliness of results reporting to enable responses to public health threats, nor whether sufficient capacity exists to test the volume of samples required during a health security event. Selected responses from the 2016 survey have been corrected for North Carolina and therefore no longer correspond to the originally published survey results.