Development of the Inventory Management and Tracking System (IMATS) to Track the Availability of Public Health Department Medical Countermeasures During Public Health Emergencies
Identifieur interne : 000044 ( Pmc/Corpus ); précédent : 000043; suivant : 000045Development of the Inventory Management and Tracking System (IMATS) to Track the Availability of Public Health Department Medical Countermeasures During Public Health Emergencies
Auteurs : Liora Sahar ; Guy Faler ; Emil Hristov ; Susan Hughes ; Leslie Lee ; Caroline Westnedge ; Benjamin Erickson ; Barbara NicholsSource :
- Online Journal of Public Health Informatics [ 1947-2579 ] ; 2015.
Abstract
To bridge gaps identified during the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic by developing a system that provides public health departments improved capability to manage and track medical countermeasures at the state and local levels and to report their inventory levels to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The CDC Countermeasure Tracking Systems (CTS) program designed and implemented the Inventory Management and Tracking System (IMATS) to manage, track, and report medical countermeasure inventories at the state and local levels. IMATS was designed by CDC in collaboration with state and local public health departments to ensure a “user-centered design approach.” A survey was completed to assess functionality and user satisfaction.
IMATS was deployed in September 2011 and is provided at no cost to public health departments. Many state and local public health departments nationwide have adopted IMATS and use it to track countermeasure inventories during public health emergencies and daily operations.
A successful response to public health emergencies requires efficient, accurate reporting of countermeasure inventory levels. IMATS is designed to support both emergency operations and everyday activities. Future improvements to the system include integrating barcoding technology and streamlining user access. To maintain system readiness, we continue to collect user feedback, improve technology, and enhance its functionality.
IMATS satisfies the need for a system for monitoring and reporting health departments’ countermeasure quantities so that decision makers are better informed. The “user-centered design approach” was successful, as evident by the many public health departments that adopted IMATS.
Url:
DOI: 10.5210/ojphi.v7i2.5873
PubMed: 26392843
PubMed Central: 4576441
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PMC:4576441Le document en format XML
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to Track the Availability of Public Health Department Medical Countermeasures
During Public Health Emergencies</title>
<author><name sortKey="Sahar, Liora" sort="Sahar, Liora" uniqKey="Sahar L" first="Liora" last="Sahar">Liora Sahar</name>
<affiliation><nlm:aff id="aff1">Northrop Grumman Corporation (NGC), Information Systems, Atlanta, GA</nlm:aff>
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<author><name sortKey="Faler, Guy" sort="Faler, Guy" uniqKey="Faler G" first="Guy" last="Faler">Guy Faler</name>
<affiliation><nlm:aff id="aff1">Northrop Grumman Corporation (NGC), Information Systems, Atlanta, GA</nlm:aff>
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<author><name sortKey="Hristov, Emil" sort="Hristov, Emil" uniqKey="Hristov E" first="Emil" last="Hristov">Emil Hristov</name>
<affiliation><nlm:aff id="aff1">Northrop Grumman Corporation (NGC), Information Systems, Atlanta, GA</nlm:aff>
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<author><name sortKey="Hughes, Susan" sort="Hughes, Susan" uniqKey="Hughes S" first="Susan" last="Hughes">Susan Hughes</name>
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</author>
<author><name sortKey="Lee, Leslie" sort="Lee, Leslie" uniqKey="Lee L" first="Leslie" last="Lee">Leslie Lee</name>
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<author><name sortKey="Westnedge, Caroline" sort="Westnedge, Caroline" uniqKey="Westnedge C" first="Caroline" last="Westnedge">Caroline Westnedge</name>
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<author><name sortKey="Erickson, Benjamin" sort="Erickson, Benjamin" uniqKey="Erickson B" first="Benjamin" last="Erickson">Benjamin Erickson</name>
<affiliation><nlm:aff id="aff3">Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response (OPHPR), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA</nlm:aff>
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<author><name sortKey="Nichols, Barbara" sort="Nichols, Barbara" uniqKey="Nichols B" first="Barbara" last="Nichols">Barbara Nichols</name>
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<sourceDesc><biblStruct><analytic><title xml:lang="en" level="a" type="main">Development of the Inventory Management and Tracking System (IMATS)
to Track the Availability of Public Health Department Medical Countermeasures
During Public Health Emergencies</title>
<author><name sortKey="Sahar, Liora" sort="Sahar, Liora" uniqKey="Sahar L" first="Liora" last="Sahar">Liora Sahar</name>
<affiliation><nlm:aff id="aff1">Northrop Grumman Corporation (NGC), Information Systems, Atlanta, GA</nlm:aff>
</affiliation>
</author>
<author><name sortKey="Faler, Guy" sort="Faler, Guy" uniqKey="Faler G" first="Guy" last="Faler">Guy Faler</name>
<affiliation><nlm:aff id="aff1">Northrop Grumman Corporation (NGC), Information Systems, Atlanta, GA</nlm:aff>
</affiliation>
</author>
<author><name sortKey="Hristov, Emil" sort="Hristov, Emil" uniqKey="Hristov E" first="Emil" last="Hristov">Emil Hristov</name>
<affiliation><nlm:aff id="aff1">Northrop Grumman Corporation (NGC), Information Systems, Atlanta, GA</nlm:aff>
</affiliation>
</author>
<author><name sortKey="Hughes, Susan" sort="Hughes, Susan" uniqKey="Hughes S" first="Susan" last="Hughes">Susan Hughes</name>
<affiliation><nlm:aff id="aff1">Northrop Grumman Corporation (NGC), Information Systems, Atlanta, GA</nlm:aff>
</affiliation>
</author>
<author><name sortKey="Lee, Leslie" sort="Lee, Leslie" uniqKey="Lee L" first="Leslie" last="Lee">Leslie Lee</name>
<affiliation><nlm:aff id="aff2">SRA International, Inc., Atlanta, GA</nlm:aff>
</affiliation>
</author>
<author><name sortKey="Westnedge, Caroline" sort="Westnedge, Caroline" uniqKey="Westnedge C" first="Caroline" last="Westnedge">Caroline Westnedge</name>
<affiliation><nlm:aff id="aff2">SRA International, Inc., Atlanta, GA</nlm:aff>
</affiliation>
</author>
<author><name sortKey="Erickson, Benjamin" sort="Erickson, Benjamin" uniqKey="Erickson B" first="Benjamin" last="Erickson">Benjamin Erickson</name>
<affiliation><nlm:aff id="aff3">Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response (OPHPR), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA</nlm:aff>
</affiliation>
</author>
<author><name sortKey="Nichols, Barbara" sort="Nichols, Barbara" uniqKey="Nichols B" first="Barbara" last="Nichols">Barbara Nichols</name>
<affiliation><nlm:aff id="aff4">Office of Public Health Scientific Services (OPHSS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA</nlm:aff>
</affiliation>
</author>
</analytic>
<series><title level="j">Online Journal of Public Health Informatics</title>
<idno type="eISSN">1947-2579</idno>
<imprint><date when="2015">2015</date>
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<front><div type="abstract" xml:lang="en"><sec><title>Objective</title>
<p>To bridge gaps identified during the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic by
developing a system that provides public health departments improved
capability to manage and track medical countermeasures at the state and
local levels and to report their inventory levels to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC).</p>
</sec>
<sec><title>Materials and Methods</title>
<p>The CDC Countermeasure Tracking Systems (CTS) program designed and
implemented the Inventory Management and Tracking System (IMATS) to manage,
track, and report medical countermeasure inventories at the state and local
levels. IMATS was designed by CDC in collaboration with state and local
public health departments to ensure a “user-centered design
approach.” A survey was completed to assess functionality and user
satisfaction.</p>
</sec>
<sec><title>Results</title>
<p>IMATS was deployed in September 2011 and is provided at no cost to public
health departments. Many state and local public health departments
nationwide have adopted IMATS and use it to track countermeasure inventories
during public health emergencies and daily operations.</p>
</sec>
<sec><title>Discussion</title>
<p>A successful response to public health emergencies requires efficient,
accurate reporting of countermeasure inventory levels. IMATS is designed to
support both emergency operations and everyday activities. Future
improvements to the system include integrating barcoding technology and
streamlining user access. To maintain system readiness, we continue to
collect user feedback, improve technology, and enhance its
functionality.</p>
</sec>
<sec><title>Conclusion</title>
<p>IMATS satisfies the need for a system for monitoring and reporting health
departments’ countermeasure quantities so that decision makers are
better informed. The “user-centered design approach” was
successful, as evident by the many public health departments that adopted
IMATS.</p>
</sec>
</div>
</front>
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<biblStruct><analytic><author><name sortKey="Mccoy, Jh" uniqKey="Mccoy J">JH McCoy</name>
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<author><name sortKey="Brandeau, Ml" uniqKey="Brandeau M">ML Brandeau</name>
</author>
</analytic>
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<biblStruct><analytic><author><name sortKey="Adida, E" uniqKey="Adida E">E Adida</name>
</author>
<author><name sortKey="Delaurentis, Pc" uniqKey="Delaurentis P">PC Delaurentis</name>
</author>
<author><name sortKey="Lawley, Ma" uniqKey="Lawley M">MA Lawley</name>
</author>
</analytic>
</biblStruct>
<biblStruct><analytic><author><name sortKey="Lin, C" uniqKey="Lin C">C Lin</name>
</author>
<author><name sortKey="Lin, Cm" uniqKey="Lin C">CM Lin</name>
</author>
<author><name sortKey="Yen, Dc" uniqKey="Yen D">DC Yen</name>
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<biblStruct><analytic><author><name sortKey="Cannava, P" uniqKey="Cannava P">P Cannava</name>
</author>
<author><name sortKey="Cicillini, D" uniqKey="Cicillini D">D Cicillini</name>
</author>
<author><name sortKey="Higgins, M" uniqKey="Higgins M">M Higgins</name>
</author>
</analytic>
</biblStruct>
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<pmc article-type="research-article"><pmc-dir>properties open_access</pmc-dir>
<front><journal-meta><journal-id journal-id-type="nlm-ta">Online J Public Health Inform</journal-id>
<journal-id journal-id-type="iso-abbrev">Online J Public Health Inform</journal-id>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher-id">OJPHI</journal-id>
<journal-title-group><journal-title>Online Journal of Public Health Informatics</journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<issn pub-type="epub">1947-2579</issn>
<publisher><publisher-name>University of Illinois at Chicago Library</publisher-name>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta><article-id pub-id-type="pmid">26392843</article-id>
<article-id pub-id-type="pmc">4576441</article-id>
<article-id pub-id-type="publisher-id">ojphi-07-e212</article-id>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.5210/ojphi.v7i2.5873</article-id>
<article-categories><subj-group subj-group-type="heading"><subject>Research Article</subject>
</subj-group>
</article-categories>
<title-group><article-title>Development of the Inventory Management and Tracking System (IMATS)
to Track the Availability of Public Health Department Medical Countermeasures
During Public Health Emergencies</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author"><name><surname>Sahar</surname>
<given-names>Liora</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1"><sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author"><name><surname>Faler</surname>
<given-names>Guy</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1"><sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author"><name><surname>Hristov</surname>
<given-names>Emil</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1"><sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author"><name><surname>Hughes</surname>
<given-names>Susan</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1"><sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author"><name><surname>Lee</surname>
<given-names>Leslie</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2"><sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author"><name><surname>Westnedge</surname>
<given-names>Caroline</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2"><sup>2</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="corresp" rid="cor1">*</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author"><name><surname>Erickson</surname>
<given-names>Benjamin</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3"><sup>3</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author"><name><surname>Nichols</surname>
<given-names>Barbara</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff4"><sup>4</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<aff id="aff1"><label>1</label>
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NGC), Information Systems, Atlanta, GA</aff>
<aff id="aff2"><label>2</label>
SRA International, Inc., Atlanta, GA</aff>
<aff id="aff3"><label>3</label>
Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response (OPHPR), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA</aff>
<aff id="aff4"><label>4</label>
Office of Public Health Scientific Services (OPHSS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA</aff>
</contrib-group>
<author-notes><corresp id="cor1"><label>*</label>
Correspondence: <email xlink:href="rie7@cdc.gov">rie7@cdc.gov</email>
</corresp>
</author-notes>
<pub-date pub-type="epub"><day>01</day>
<month>7</month>
<year>2015</year>
</pub-date>
<pub-date pub-type="collection"><year>2015</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>7</volume>
<issue>2</issue>
<elocation-id>e212</elocation-id>
<permissions><copyright-statement>Copyright Statement for OJPHI: This is an Open Access article.
Authors own copyright of their articles appearing in the Online Journal of
Public Health Informatics. Readers may copy articles without permission of the
copyright owner(s), as long as the author and OJPHI are acknowledged in the copy
and the copy is used for educational, not-for-profit
purposes.</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2015</copyright-year>
<copyright-holder>2015 the author(s)</copyright-holder>
</permissions>
<abstract><sec><title>Objective</title>
<p>To bridge gaps identified during the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic by
developing a system that provides public health departments improved
capability to manage and track medical countermeasures at the state and
local levels and to report their inventory levels to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC).</p>
</sec>
<sec><title>Materials and Methods</title>
<p>The CDC Countermeasure Tracking Systems (CTS) program designed and
implemented the Inventory Management and Tracking System (IMATS) to manage,
track, and report medical countermeasure inventories at the state and local
levels. IMATS was designed by CDC in collaboration with state and local
public health departments to ensure a “user-centered design
approach.” A survey was completed to assess functionality and user
satisfaction.</p>
</sec>
<sec><title>Results</title>
<p>IMATS was deployed in September 2011 and is provided at no cost to public
health departments. Many state and local public health departments
nationwide have adopted IMATS and use it to track countermeasure inventories
during public health emergencies and daily operations.</p>
</sec>
<sec><title>Discussion</title>
<p>A successful response to public health emergencies requires efficient,
accurate reporting of countermeasure inventory levels. IMATS is designed to
support both emergency operations and everyday activities. Future
improvements to the system include integrating barcoding technology and
streamlining user access. To maintain system readiness, we continue to
collect user feedback, improve technology, and enhance its
functionality.</p>
</sec>
<sec><title>Conclusion</title>
<p>IMATS satisfies the need for a system for monitoring and reporting health
departments’ countermeasure quantities so that decision makers are
better informed. The “user-centered design approach” was
successful, as evident by the many public health departments that adopted
IMATS.</p>
</sec>
</abstract>
<kwd-group kwd-group-type="author"><kwd>Inventory Management</kwd>
<kwd>Countermeasures</kwd>
<kwd>Public Health Emergency Response Events</kwd>
<kwd>Pharmaceuticals</kwd>
<kwd>User-centered Design</kwd>
</kwd-group>
</article-meta>
</front>
<body><sec sec-type="intro"><title>Introduction</title>
<sec><title>Background and Significance</title>
<p>The Department of Health and Human Service’s Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) and state and local public health departments share the
responsibility to protect the public from negative health consequences resulting
from terrorist attacks, natural disasters, or disease outbreaks. When such
public health emergencies occur, it may be necessary for state and local public
health departments to provide vaccines, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment
(collectively referred to as <italic>medical countermeasures</italic>
) to the
public in order to save lives. If such an event were to affect large numbers of
people, local supplies of medical countermeasures could be depleted quickly,
putting persons at risk for illness or death. Accordingly, CDC has a plan to
resupply state and local public health departments with medical countermeasures
through its Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) [<xref rid="r1" ref-type="bibr">1</xref>
]. “The SNS is a national repository of antibiotics,
chemical antidotes, antitoxins, life-support medications, IV-administration,
airway maintenance supplies, and medical/surgical items. The SNS is designed to
supplement and re-supply state and local public health agencies in the event of
a national emergency anywhere and at any time within the U.S. or its territories
[<xref rid="r1" ref-type="bibr">1</xref>
]”. In addition, CDC advises
state health departments to have primary and backup inventory management systems
that can support responses to public health emergencies [<xref rid="r2" ref-type="bibr">2</xref>
].</p>
<p>During a public health emergency, effective dissemination of medical
countermeasures is crucial for a fast, efficient response. Supporting such
efforts requires advanced planning, preparation and stockpiling [<xref rid="r1" ref-type="bibr">1</xref>
,<xref rid="r3" ref-type="bibr">3</xref>
-<xref rid="r5" ref-type="bibr">5</xref>
], as was evident during
the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic [<xref rid="r6" ref-type="bibr">6</xref>
].
During this emergency, CDC and state and local public health departments found
that they needed a way to better understand their medical countermeasure
inventory quantities. Improved inventory awareness was needed all the way down
to the local point-of-dispensing level. Decision makers felt they needed better
countermeasure inventory information to help ensure they made the best choices
on allocating and distributing antiviral drugs and personal protective
equipment. During the H1N1 response, it was clear that state and local public
health departments needed a comprehensive management system so they could
accurately track and report their countermeasure inventory levels [<xref rid="r7" ref-type="bibr">7</xref>
]. As a result, the CDC Division of
Strategic National Stockpile (DSNS) partnered with the CDC Office of Public
Health Scientific Service’s (OPHSS) Countermeasure Tracking Systems (CTS)
program to plan and build the Inventory Management and Tracking System
(IMATS).</p>
</sec>
<sec><title>Objective</title>
<p>IMATS is a software application used to manage inventories of materials housed in
warehouses or other storage facilities owned by or known to state and local
public health departments. These inventories include medical countermeasures
poised for distribution by public health departments during an emergency. The
vision for IMATS was to increase the capacity at all levels of public health to
accurately manage, track, and report the quantities of medical countermeasures
needed to address a specific health threat. IMATS increases response readiness
because it is useful for daily non-emergency inventory management operations.
This enables users to become familiar with the system before an emergency
response. When confronted by a public health crisis, decision makers need timely
and comprehensive information that accurately describes the magnitude of the
emergency, such as populations at risk, their location, and the availability of
medical countermeasures. IMATS is designed to provide comprehensive information
about medical countermeasure inventory available, locations of distribution
facilities (i.e., state or regional warehouses, local storage facilities, etc.)
and how much product has been used.</p>
<p>In this paper we provide an overview of events leading to the development of
IMATS and a review of the system’s design and implementation processes.
We provide detailed descriptions of IMATS components and the role each plays in
improving the capacity of public health officials to track and manage medical
countermeasure inventory. The current adoption status of IMATS and proposed
system enhancements also are presented.</p>
</sec>
</sec>
<sec sec-type="materials|methods"><title>Materials and Methods</title>
<sec><title>Partnerships and collaborations</title>
<p>Following the 2009 H1N1 influenza response, DSNS partnered with the OPHSS CTS
team to plan and build IMATS. In support of the cooperative agreement,
<italic>Strengthen and Improve the Nation’s Public Health Capacity
through National, Non-Profit, Professional Public Health Organizations to
Increase Health Protection and Health Equity</italic>
, CDC formed the SNS
Inventory Management and Tracking Workgroup. Workgroup members represented the
Public Health Informatics Institute (PHII), DSNS, the OPHSS CTS team, and 10
state and local public health departments. The health department representatives
were selected on the basis of their emergency response and inventory management
expertise. Applying a user-centered design approach, the CTS team gathered user
input by hosting online, virtual focus-group meetings, Webinars to define
technical requirements, system demonstrations, in-person user experience and
usability workshops, and conference presentations. Input from potential IMATS
users was incorporated throughout each stage of development to ensure that IMATS
met or exceeded user needs, preferences, goals and business objectives. <xref ref-type="fig" rid="f1">Figure 1</xref>
depicts key partner-collaboration
events occurring throughout the IMATS development process.</p>
<fig id="f1" fig-type="figure" orientation="portrait" position="float"><label>Figure 1</label>
<caption><p>Key IMATS partner-collaboration events during program development</p>
</caption>
<graphic xlink:href="ojphi-07-e212-g001"></graphic>
</fig>
<p>The workgroup’s objective was to develop high-level business processes and
identify functional requirements to inform further development of the system. In
June 2010, the workgroup kick-off meeting was held in Atlanta, Georgia. The
meeting results included defining nine business processes that IMATS must
support (<xref ref-type="fig" rid="f2">Figure 2</xref>
).</p>
<fig id="f2" fig-type="figure" orientation="portrait" position="float"><label>Figure 2</label>
<caption><p>High-level public health inventory-management business processes</p>
</caption>
<graphic xlink:href="ojphi-07-e212-g002"></graphic>
</fig>
<p>The workgroup reconvened in August 2010 to review, refine, and validate the nine
business processes. To develop system requirements, the workgroup met biweekly
with the CTS team from October 2010 to March 2011. During the 13 workgroup
meetings, which were conducted via Webinar, the group gathered technical
requirements, produced design layouts, and reviewed IMATS screen mockups.</p>
<p>From May 3˗5, 2011, workgroup members participated in an in-person
user-experience workshop held in Atlanta, Georgia. The objectives of this
workshop were to refine user requirements, test system usability, and ensure
required functionality was present. Participants were presented a public health
emergency scenario with 18 tasks to complete by using a pre-production version
of IMATS. By working through the task assignments, each user had multiple
opportunities for comprehensive interaction with IMATS functionality. To acquire
assessments of the greatest value, the participants were not provided IMATS
training before performing their tasks. After completing the scenario tasks,
participants recorded their assessments of IMATS and joined in productive
open-group discussions. When this hands-on workshop ended, the CTS team was
armed with valuable information that they incorporated into further IMATS
development to help increase acceptance of the system.</p>
<p>In addition to the SNS Inventory Management and Tracking Workgroup, the OPHSS CTS
team in collaboration with DSNS formed a Data Exchange Focus Group. The focus
group included some members of the workgroup and representatives from state and
local public health departments that purchased or developed their own inventory
management systems. The focus group’s objective was to develop an IMATS
capability that would enable exchange of inventory data to CDC by those public
health departments wishing to continue using their own inventory management
systems. Focus group members met with the CTS team via Webinar on six occasions
from April to July 2011. These meetings resulted in the creation of an Inventory
Data Exchange (IDE) specification document.</p>
<p>Throughout the IMATS development cycle, CTS team members made multiple
presentations and held poster sessions at various public health conferences.
Those conferences also gave state and local public health representatives
opportunities to ask questions of the CTS team and to describe their current
inventory management needs and the limitations of their present systems. Their
information proved highly useful for developing further IMATS refinements. The
CTS team also launched a quarterly electronic newsletter in August 2010 to keep
public health inventory managers nationwide informed about progress on IMATS
development.</p>
</sec>
<sec><title>System Requirements</title>
<p>The set of requirements and constraints guiding IMATS development is described
below.</p>
<sec><title>Requirements for Inventory Management and Tracking Processes</title>
<p>To achieve the primary IMATS requirement to track and report medical
countermeasure inventories during public health emergencies, the workgroup
identified nine mandatory high-level inventory management processes that
IMATS must include. These processes all complied with DSNS guidance for
receiving and redistributing medical countermeasures and for supporting
routine operations at warehouses or other storage facilities. The first step
in an emergency response is to mobilize required resources (<xref ref-type="fig" rid="f2">Figure 2</xref>
). The remaining processes are
followed iteratively as necessary until the response effort ends and
resources are demobilized.</p>
<p>From multiple Webinars and other discussions, the workgroup developed
detailed requirements for IMATS that met the specific objective for each of
the nine processes. The workgroup further suggested that IMATS be useful for
daily operations in addition to public health emergency response activities.
The workgroup determined that IMATS should provide support for analysis,
visualization, and data reporting. The system also should support
alternative means of data collection including import/export,
bar-coding/scanning and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology.
These capabilities would make IMATS useful for routine inventory management
activities. This, in turn, would increase users’ system familiarity
and alleviate the need for training during public health emergencies, which
could delay starting emergency response operations. During public health
emergencies, CDC may ask state and local public health departments to
provide the agency with what amounts of specific medical countermeasures are
needed to protect or treat people in their jurisdictions. IMATS was designed
to aid fulfilling such requests by enabling users to easily produce the
appropriate reports. Some workgroup members requested that in addition to
its emergency response capabilities, the system would also have the ability
to operate as a standalone system. As a result, an easy installer and
synchronization mechanism was developed, as was a data exchange capability
whereby inventory data can easily be reported to CDC. <xref ref-type="table" rid="t1">Table 1</xref>
provides details about the objectives of each
process conducted by state and local public health departments.</p>
<table-wrap id="t1" orientation="portrait" position="float"><label>Table 1</label>
<caption><title>High-level public health inventory-management business
processes</title>
</caption>
<table frame="hsides" rules="groups"><col width="31.49%" span="1"></col>
<col width="68.51%" span="1"></col>
<tbody><tr><td valign="middle" align="left" style="border-left: solid 1pt; border-top: solid 1pt; border-right: solid 1pt; border-bottom: solid 1pt; background-color:rgb(184,204,228)" scope="row" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Process</bold>
</td>
<td valign="middle" align="left" style="border-left: solid 1pt; border-top: solid 1pt; border-right: solid 1pt; border-bottom: solid 1pt; background-color:rgb(184,204,228)" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Objective</bold>
</td>
</tr>
<tr><td valign="top" align="left" style="border-left: solid 1pt; border-top: solid 1pt; border-right: solid 1pt; border-bottom: solid 1pt" scope="row" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Mobilization</bold>
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left" style="border-left: solid 1pt; border-top: solid 1pt; border-right: solid 1pt; border-bottom: solid 1pt" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Activate additional people and resources when response to
an emergency has exhausted or nearly exhausted existing
resources</td>
</tr>
<tr><td valign="top" align="left" style="border-left: solid 1pt; border-top: solid 1pt; border-right: solid 1pt; border-bottom: solid 1pt" scope="row" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Order/Request Resources</bold>
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left" style="border-left: solid 1pt; border-top: solid 1pt; border-right: solid 1pt; border-bottom: solid 1pt" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Accurately and efficiently request needed resources on the
basis of meeting the jurisdiction’s justification
criteria</td>
</tr>
<tr><td valign="top" align="left" style="border-left: solid 1pt; border-top: solid 1pt; border-right: solid 1pt; border-bottom: solid 1pt" scope="row" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Approve/Deny Request</bold>
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left" style="border-left: solid 1pt; border-top: solid 1pt; border-right: solid 1pt; border-bottom: solid 1pt" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Determine the validity of resource requests in a timely
manner</td>
</tr>
<tr><td valign="top" align="left" style="border-left: solid 1pt; border-top: solid 1pt; border-right: solid 1pt; border-bottom: solid 1pt" scope="row" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Receive Inventory</bold>
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left" style="border-left: solid 1pt; border-top: solid 1pt; border-right: solid 1pt; border-bottom: solid 1pt" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Physically receive, inspect and verify the accuracy of
newly received inventory within a specified time</td>
</tr>
<tr><td valign="top" align="left" style="border-left: solid 1pt; border-top: solid 1pt; border-right: solid 1pt; border-bottom: solid 1pt" scope="row" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Store Inventory</bold>
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left" style="border-left: solid 1pt; border-top: solid 1pt; border-right: solid 1pt; border-bottom: solid 1pt" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Identify appropriate storage locations and accurately
inventory all items to identify stock that is readily
available</td>
</tr>
<tr><td valign="top" align="left" style="border-left: solid 1pt; border-top: solid 1pt; border-right: solid 1pt; border-bottom: solid 1pt" scope="row" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Pick Order</bold>
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left" style="border-left: solid 1pt; border-top: solid 1pt; border-right: solid 1pt; border-bottom: solid 1pt" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Accurately pick and stage orders to be shipped to another
location</td>
</tr>
<tr><td valign="top" align="left" style="border-left: solid 1pt; border-top: solid 1pt; border-right: solid 1pt; border-bottom: solid 1pt" scope="row" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Ship Inventory/Order</bold>
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left" style="border-left: solid 1pt; border-top: solid 1pt; border-right: solid 1pt; border-bottom: solid 1pt" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Ensure timely delivery of assets regardless of barriers, in
accordance with federal, state and local
requirements</td>
</tr>
<tr><td valign="top" align="left" style="border-left: solid 1pt; border-top: solid 1pt; border-right: solid 1pt; border-bottom: solid 1pt" scope="row" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Dispense Medical Countermeasures</bold>
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left" style="border-left: solid 1pt; border-top: solid 1pt; border-right: solid 1pt; border-bottom: solid 1pt" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Safely and accurately dispense appropriate medical
countermeasures to target populations</td>
</tr>
<tr><td valign="top" align="left" style="border-left: solid 1pt; border-top: solid 1pt; border-right: solid 1pt; border-bottom: solid 1pt" scope="row" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Demobilization</bold>
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left" style="border-left: solid 1pt; border-top: solid 1pt; border-right: solid 1pt; border-bottom: solid 1pt" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Secure remaining medical countermeasures and return to
normal operations</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</table-wrap>
</sec>
<sec><title>Design Goals and Constraints</title>
<p>In order to provide a system at no or little cost to partners and to support
the above inventory system requirements, the set of design goals and
constraints developed were that IMATS</p>
<list list-type="bullet" id="L1"><list-item><p>should be designed as a Web application and must be fully capable of
being developed and distributed under an open source licensing
model,</p>
</list-item>
<list-item><p>must scale upwards to support hundreds or thousands of simultaneous
users entering large volumes of data such as during an incident
requiring mass prophylaxis,</p>
</list-item>
<list-item><p>shall integrate with existing state and local public health inventory
management systems,</p>
</list-item>
<list-item><p>must support data exchange using Public Health Information Network
(PHIN) [<xref rid="r8" ref-type="bibr">8</xref>
] compliant messaging
protocols,</p>
</list-item>
<list-item><p>can be simultaneously deployed centrally at CDC and at state and
local areas, and</p>
</list-item>
<list-item><p>should require few as possible hardware and processing assets and be
database independent.</p>
</list-item>
</list>
</sec>
</sec>
<sec><title>System Design and Development</title>
<p>IMATS is intended to have an easy and intuitive user interface that encourages
its use and helps increase system adoption. IMATS must also adhere to the access
and use requirements in Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (<ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://www.section508.gov">http://www.section508.gov</ext-link>
) requiring that when Federal agencies
“<italic>develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and
information technology, Federal employees with disabilities have access to
and use of information and data that is comparable to the access and use by
Federal employees who are not individuals with disabilities, unless an undue
burden would be imposed on the agency”.</italic>
</p>
<p>The IMATS security approach was developed with the assistance of CDC business,
technical and security stewards to be compliant with federal regulations. When
the application is deployed centrally at CDC, user registration and
authentication is managed by CDC security processes and tools. IMATS is a secure
Web-based application that limits user access to functions and data by means of
role-based security authorization. Database access control is governed by public
health jurisdiction or organization ownership.</p>
<sec><title>Technology and Development Tools</title>
<p>IMATS is a typical Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) Web
application. It has a 3-tier architecture in which each application tier is
composed of one or more layers of code. <xref ref-type="fig" rid="f3">Figure
3</xref>
shows the tiers and the layers associated with each tier.</p>
<fig id="f3" fig-type="figure" orientation="portrait" position="float"><label>Figure 3</label>
<caption><p>IMATS 3-Tier Architecture</p>
</caption>
<graphic xlink:href="ojphi-07-e212-g003"></graphic>
</fig>
<p>IMATS database design followed the concept of database independence to
provide maximum portability. For example, stored procedures were avoided and
naming conventions were standardized. The system is currently using SQL
server 2008 enterprise standard edition for the CDC centrally deployed
application, and either SQL Server Express or H2 databases for standalone
deployment.</p>
</sec>
<sec><title>Development and Design Process</title>
<p>Project management, design and development followed Scrum and Agile methods
[<xref rid="r9" ref-type="bibr">9</xref>
]. Agile methods refer to
iterative, incremental, near-term development cycles (sprints). These enable
short and regular feedback loops from customers who can see regular,
tangible results [<xref rid="r10" ref-type="bibr">10</xref>
]. Agile
methodology supports “user-centered” development and requires
that a customer be involved throughout the life cycle of the project.</p>
<p>Risk mitigation was accomplished through several methods. One such method was
stakeholder identification. Because CDC is a large organization,
communicating the vision of the project to CDC leadership allowed the team
to secure necessary approvals, refine project scope, and identify other
stakeholders. The 10 state and local public health departments of the
workgroup were selected based on their expertise in preparedness and
response but also on characteristics of the jurisdiction they represented
including location, population, budget, and technical expertise. The
resulting workgroup reflected national needs and established solid
requirements for development. Further risk management processes included
strict adherence to Agile methodology principles such as direct
communication between users and the development team, daily stand-up
meetings to exchange ideas, and recurring sprint reviews with demonstrations
to stakeholders and users.</p>
<p>The Agile methodology and risk mitigation methods provided frequent
opportunity for users and stakeholders to change requirements and direction
or affirm project development was proceeding according to schedule and cost
baselines [<xref rid="r11" ref-type="bibr">11</xref>
]. During the
development cycle, no requests for additional funding were made and staffing
levels remained constant throughout. This controlled development process
allowed IMATS to be launched by the scheduled release date.</p>
</sec>
<sec><title>Trial period</title>
<p>The “user-centered design approach,” which focuses on
interleaving design and development efforts, continued even after the
initial release of IMATS. Public health partners were encouraged to use the
system during trial periods before moving forward with the adoption process
to ensure IMATS met their needs. Those participating in a trial period were
granted full access to the trial system for 30 days. The trial instance of
IMATS was set up in partnership with the Informatics Innovation Unit at CDC,
and an email-based “help desk” was created so users could send
questions and suggestions. The development team evaluated requests for
enhancements and prioritized those selected for implementation.</p>
<p>After public health partners completed the trial period, they received
implementation guidance and were asked to complete a Web-based survey. The
survey consisted of 26 multiple choice and short answer questions. The
questions were designed to gather information about the</p>
<list list-type="bullet" id="L2"><list-item><p>effectiveness of the communication methods used to promote IMATS
availability;</p>
</list-item>
<list-item><p>effectiveness of the IMATS trial period;</p>
</list-item>
<list-item><p>identification of decision criteria for IMATS adoption;</p>
</list-item>
<list-item><p>satisfaction level of current inventory management system (not
including IMATS);</p>
</list-item>
<list-item><p>identification of inventory management systems in use; and</p>
</list-item>
<list-item><p>perceived ability of IMATS to meet the user’s needs.</p>
</list-item>
</list>
<p>The survey was distributed to 96 public health departments on August 20,
2012. Forty-one responses (43%) were received by the August 31 deadline,
covering 17 state- and 24 local-level public health departments. This
activity was not research involving human subjects and did not require
institutional review board (IRB) approval.</p>
</sec>
</sec>
</sec>
<sec sec-type="results"><title>Results</title>
<sec><title>IMATS System Description</title>
<p>IMATS enables public health officials to track medical countermeasure inventory
during both everyday operations and public health emergencies. State and local
public health department users can track quantities of inventory, monitor
reorder thresholds and facilitate warehouse operations such as inventory
receiving, staging, and storing. To use IMATS to perform these and other
inventory management functions, users access the system’s Web-based
interface and enter product, location, quantity and other data. Listed in <xref ref-type="table" rid="t2">Table 2</xref>
are major system features
accompanied by brief descriptions.</p>
<table-wrap id="t2" orientation="portrait" position="float"><label>Table 2</label>
<caption><title>High-level public health inventory management system features</title>
</caption>
<table frame="hsides" rules="groups"><col width="26.51%" span="1"></col>
<col width="73.49%" span="1"></col>
<tbody><tr><td valign="top" align="left" style="border-left: solid 1pt; border-top: solid 1pt; border-right: solid 1pt; border-bottom: solid 1pt; background-color:rgb(184,204,228)" scope="row" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>IMATS Feature</bold>
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left" style="border-left: solid 1pt; border-top: solid 1pt; border-right: solid 1pt; border-bottom: solid 1pt; background-color:rgb(184,204,228)" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Description</bold>
</td>
</tr>
<tr><td valign="top" align="left" style="border-left: solid 1pt; border-top: solid 1pt; border-right: solid 1pt; border-bottom: solid 1pt" scope="row" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Product Information</bold>
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left" style="border-left: solid 1pt; border-top: solid 1pt; border-right: solid 1pt; border-bottom: solid 1pt" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Includes prepopulated product and supplier data from the FDA
approved drug products list (the <italic>Orange Book</italic>
).
Enables users to add individual items or perform bulk upload of
additional product and supplier data into IMATS as they receive
these products at their warehouses.</td>
</tr>
<tr><td valign="top" align="left" style="border-left: solid 1pt; border-top: solid 1pt; border-right: solid 1pt; border-bottom: solid 1pt" scope="row" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Setup</bold>
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left" style="border-left: solid 1pt; border-top: solid 1pt; border-right: solid 1pt; border-bottom: solid 1pt" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Establishes data-import capabilities about users, products,
suppliers, product units of measure, locations within a
warehouse and current inventory data. Manual configuration
allows users to key in information about new facilities,
custom-user roles and funding sources for countermeasures stored
in each warehouse.</td>
</tr>
<tr><td valign="top" align="left" style="border-left: solid 1pt; border-top: solid 1pt; border-right: solid 1pt; border-bottom: solid 1pt" scope="row" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Inventory Management</bold>
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left" style="border-left: solid 1pt; border-top: solid 1pt; border-right: solid 1pt; border-bottom: solid 1pt" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Supports warehouse activities by enabling users to complete
purchase order, back order, receive, put away, pick, ship, and
import push package operations and complete other inventory
functions as needed at each warehouse.</td>
</tr>
<tr><td valign="top" align="left" style="border-left: solid 1pt; border-top: solid 1pt; border-right: solid 1pt; border-bottom: solid 1pt" scope="row" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Reporting</bold>
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left" style="border-left: solid 1pt; border-top: solid 1pt; border-right: solid 1pt; border-bottom: solid 1pt" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Provides public health partners with reports of warehouse
operations, available in PDF or Excel format. Types of reports
include:<break></break>
•
Count Inventory Report: provides current stock levels plus
request and shipment information for selected
products<break></break>
•
Audit Trail Report: provides detailed information on all
transactions in the
system<break></break>
•
Inventory Reports: enables public health partners to provide
inventory status to CDC during public health
emergencies</td>
</tr>
<tr><td valign="top" align="left" style="border-left: solid 1pt; border-top: solid 1pt; border-right: solid 1pt; border-bottom: solid 1pt" scope="row" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Inventory Data Exchange (IDE)</bold>
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left" style="border-left: solid 1pt; border-top: solid 1pt; border-right: solid 1pt; border-bottom: solid 1pt" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Provides electronic data exchange interfaces, standards and
specifications for public health partners to electronically
transmit to CDC data files showing state and local public health
jurisdictions’ inventory levels. Allows data transfer
from local public health departments to the state level and then
to CDC regardless of the inventory management system in place.
Data transfer is performed by conventional import/export
functionality using standard protocols (e.g., HL7, XML,
etc.).</td>
</tr>
<tr><td valign="top" align="left" style="border-left: solid 1pt; border-top: solid 1pt; border-right: solid 1pt; border-bottom: solid 1pt" scope="row" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Synchronization</bold>
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left" style="border-left: solid 1pt; border-top: solid 1pt; border-right: solid 1pt; border-bottom: solid 1pt" rowspan="1" colspan="1">For local deployments of IMATS, allows communication and data
transfer between two instances of IMATS. For example, from a
local instance of the application to a state level or other
centralized instance. The current implementation is based on a
client-server paradigm in which client instances of IMATS can
synchronize their data with a preconfigured parent IMATS server
instance. The synchronization mode can be automatic with
preconfigured intervals of time, or manual via the IMATS user
interface.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</table-wrap>
</sec>
<sec><title>Trial Period and Adoption</title>
<p>State and local public health partners were encouraged to participate in a 30-day
IMATS trial period before adopting the system. In October 2011, the first month
the trial site was available, 31 public health departments (9 state, 22 local)
began an IMATS trial period. By September 30, 2012, a year after IMATS’
release, 102 public health departments (27 state, 75 local) completed an IMATS
trial period. Thirty-six public health departments (16 state, 20 local) adopted
IMATS as their primary or backup system. As of June 2015, 27 state and 38 local
public health departments have implemented IMATS. Four of the implementations
are statewide (implementation at the state and all local public health
departments). By June 2015, the CTS help desk at CTSHelp@cdc.gov responded to
2804 user inquiries and received 94 enhancement requests, of which 44 are
implemented thus far.</p>
<p>According to results of the survey, the most effective vehicles of communicating
the availability of IMATS were interaction with the state-level SNS coordinators
(46%) and publication of the IMATS quarterly newsletter (56%). About 85% of
respondents said the IMATS trial period was helpful in deciding whether to adopt
IMATS. The top three adoption-decision criteria varied among state and local
public health departments. States indicated (in descending order) cost,
availability, and incident response suitability as their leading criteria. Local
public health departments cited cost, ease of use, incident response
suitability, and efficiency as the leading factors. Whereas cost is a major
concern at all levels of government, the need for a system that can be
successfully used during an incident response was consistently a leading
assessment factor. Only 15% of respondents indicated they were not satisfied
with the value IMATS provides as an inventory management system (<xref ref-type="fig" rid="f4">Figure 4a</xref>
). The majority of respondents
indicated IMATS met their expectations for a medical countermeasure inventory
tracking system (<xref ref-type="fig" rid="f4">Figure 4b</xref>
), and that it
has sufficient functionality and features to track inventory during a public
health emergency (<xref ref-type="fig" rid="f4">Figure 4c</xref>
).</p>
<fig id="f4" fig-type="figure" orientation="portrait" position="float"><label>Figure 4</label>
<caption><p>X axis (respondent rating) Y axis (percentage of respondents). (a)
Ratings of IMATS features to track inventory during an event response.
(b) Satisfaction with the value of IMATS. (c) IMATS meets expectations
as an inventory management system</p>
</caption>
<graphic xlink:href="ojphi-07-e212-g004"></graphic>
</fig>
<p>The <italic>Public Health Preparedness Capabilities: National Standards for State
and Local Planning</italic>
states in order to receive medical
countermeasures, public health departments should “have or have access to
a system (hardware and software) to receive and manage inventory.” In
addition, the “system must also have a backup which can be inventory
management software, electronic spreadsheets, or paper [<xref rid="r2" ref-type="bibr">2</xref>
].” Public health departments can choose whichever
system they wish for inventory tracking; they are not required to use IMATS. To
help the CTS team understand the current system status of those public health
departments interested in adopting IMATS, respondents to the survey mentioned
earlier were asked to identify both the primary and backup inventory management
system (<xref ref-type="fig" rid="f5">Figure 5</xref>
) they currently use. Eight
percent of respondents indicated they do not have a primary system. The majority
(70%) with a primary system invested in a home-grown electronic inventory
management system. Only 23% of all respondents indicated they were satisfied
with their primary system. Regarding a backup system, about 85% of respondents
indicated they had no backup system in place or were using Access, Excel, or pen
and paper. Only 20% of the respondents indicated they were satisfied with their
backup system.</p>
<fig id="f5" fig-type="figure" orientation="portrait" position="float"><label>Figure 5</label>
<caption><p>Types of Inventory Management systems in use. Primary (Left). Backup
(Right)</p>
</caption>
<graphic xlink:href="ojphi-07-e212-g005"></graphic>
</fig>
</sec>
</sec>
<sec sec-type="discussion"><title>Discussion</title>
<p>During a public health emergency, accurately reporting medical countermeasure
inventory data provides CDC’s DSNS with an understanding of the types and
quantities of medical countermeasures available at state and local health
departments. The specific countermeasure data reported are unique and vary according
to the nature of each emergency. IMATS is a flexible system that can manage data
about any type of inventory. The state and local countermeasure inventory data
managed and reported through the use of IMATS better informs decision makers about
medical countermeasure availability and resupply needs.</p>
<p>IMATS is a user-friendly system designed to support public health emergency responses
as well as daily operations. Daily use fosters in-depth familiarity with the system
to help ensure smooth and efficient responses during public health emergencies.
IMATS was developed in partnership with its end users in order to tailor the system
to maximally support the needs of public health. IMATS is a free solution that is
maintained, updated, and provided to users at no cost.</p>
<p>A high percentage (85%) of respondents indicated they are using Access, Excel, or pen
and paper for their backup system or have no backup system in place. That statistic
suggests there is considerable potential for many to adopt IMATS as their backup
system. In addition, since only 23% of respondents were satisfied with their current
system, IMATS is a particularly viable option for public health departments ready to
adopt a new inventory management system. Accordingly, it is important to keep those
public health departments not using IMATS well informed about improvements to the
system and its uses. This can be accomplished through state-level SNS coordinators,
continuing to publish the quarterly IMATS-update newsletter and discovering
additional effective means of communication.</p>
<sec><title>Limitations and Future Work</title>
<p>It is important that IMATS continually improve its functionality so it can adapt
to changing user needs and technology advancements. Currently, IMATS lacks the
capability to support barcode scanning and system access via mobile devices. The
CTS team is exploring ways to incorporate these advanced technologies, which may
interest jurisdictions that have not yet implemented the system. To comply with
security requirements, user identity must be verified before system access is
allowed. During a public health emergency, delays in onboarding new users and
volunteers could slow the response effort.</p>
<p>To help alleviate these delays, IMATS Connect was developed to give jurisdictions
full control of the user enrollment process and security of both IMATS and the
data it contains. IMATS Connect is a standalone version of IMATS available for
jurisdictions to download, install, and maintain. Alternatives that would
accelerate the access process continue to be explored. IMATS is a comprehensive
inventory management system designed to meet the specific needs of state and
local public health departments. It does not, however, provide the means to
track the administration of countermeasures to people. To capture these data,
state and local public health departments often rely on state vaccine registries
or other systems.</p>
<p>The IMATS team continues to work closely with stakeholders to improve IMATS so
that it provides increasingly better support to CDC and state and local public
health departments. Our efforts to continue user engagement and to maintain
system readiness increases the public health community’s preparedness for
effective responses to future public health emergencies.</p>
</sec>
</sec>
<sec sec-type="conclusions"><title>Conclusion</title>
<p>IMATS supports emergency response efforts by enabling rapid and accurate data
collection and reporting of public health departments’ medical countermeasure
inventory down to the local point-of-dispensing level. The development and release
of IMATS provides state and local public health departments with an effective
solution to help bridge the inventory data gaps identified during the H1N1
pandemic.</p>
<p>The “user-centered design approach” used to develop IMATS is
successfully providing public health partners nationwide with a system that meets
their inventory management and tracking requirements. IMATS continues to be adopted
by both state and local public health jurisdictions. Many jurisdictions that have
adopted IMATS now incorporate it into their preparedness exercises. Survey results
show that a majority of IMATS adopters believe the system provides sufficient
functionality and features to track inventory during public health emergencies.
These findings are important, as survey results also indicate that only 23% of
respondents were satisfied with their current non-IMATS primary inventory management
system. The combination of survey results showing a high level of user satisfaction
and the adoption of IMATS by 65 public health departments (27 state, 38 local)
highlights the system’s usefulness as an effective medical countermeasure
inventory management and tracking tool. The proven “user-centered design
approach” is still being applied to enhance the system. Combined with
continued support from DSNS as the program sponsor, IMATS continues to evolve and
better support the needs of public health partners.</p>
</sec>
</body>
<back><fn-group><fn id="fn1"><p>The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not
necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.</p>
</fn>
</fn-group>
<ack><title>Acknowledgements</title>
<p>The authors thank the Public Health Informatics Institute and members of the SNS
Inventory Management and Tracking Workgroup for their important contributions to
developing IMATS.</p>
</ack>
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</record>
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