Laboratory reports to state and local health departments are largely not transmitted electronically. There is a need to create a standardized, flexible and efficient electronic surveillance system for laboratory reporting to states. CSTE endorses the activities of the work group on electronic laboratory reporting in its efforts to determine the functional characteristics of the system. CSTE should survey states and territories to determine their needs and capabilities for receipt and processing of electronic laboratory reports. Once designed, states are encouraged to begin approaching laboratories within their jurisdictions to begin electronic laboratory reporting states should provide feedback to the CSTE work group on their results.
Laboratories are a very useful source of reports for surveillance of national notifiable diseases.
Most laboratories are computerized. Currently, major national commercial laboratories process specimens from multiple states and must report findings appropriately to comply with each state s requirements. Additionally, the CDC is piloting electronic laboratory reporting through the New Jersey drug-resistant Streptococcous pneumoniae project and is developing computer programs to translate, merge, and match data in different formats.