Data Management

Healthcare today is a world of data, data that can be in many forms, from many different sources, even within the same institutions. That is why data mapping is so critical. In order to increase interoperability, improve patient outcomes, and ensure patient safety, this data often needs to be normalized.

Read: TSJG 2024 Data Management Capabilities Statement

Sounds simple enough, but what does “normalizing data” mean in today’s world? In its simplest form, normalizing data is the process of taking clinical information that may exist in different formats, gathered from various systems, and converting it to a singular and useful unified clinical language.

However, normalizing disparate clinical data can be an overwhelming and complex task which often requires specialized subject matter experts with both clinical and terminology expertise.  TSJG provides experienced clinicians and informaticists with the skills to help turn your jungle of data into standardized information that can be used to improve reimbursement, ensure regulatory compliance, increase interoperability, enable clinical decision support, and provide reliable quality metrics.

TSJG has many years of experience helping clients normalize their data. Data normalization includes careful analysis and cleanup of medical data which can include patient medications, allergies, and laboratory results. Our deep understanding and expertise in these areas facilitates the normalization and mapping of data to standard terminologies.

Engagements include:

Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) Technical Assistance

Our terminology experts work closely with the Association of Public Health Labs (APHL) to ensure public health labs are able to communicate with other institutions such as the Centers for Disease and Prevention (CDC) which is only possible by effectively mapping laboratory test orders and results to terminologies such as LOINC and SNOMED. Our team of terminologists worked closely with APHL to develop encoding guidelines using order and observations codes as well as resulting value sets for the reporting of Influenza which is used by every state public health lab in the country.  Electronic communication based on these guidelines is crucial in assisting the CDC to quickly identify, report, and respond to newly emerging diseases such as SARS-Cov-2.

CDC, Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services (CSELS) National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System (NNDSS) Modernization Initiative (NMI) Technical Assistance

TSJG works directly with CDC and APHL to provide technical assistance support of public health data exchange initiatives for Public Health Agencies and other partners.  Our team helps promote more efficient and effective electronic data exchange by working with jurisdictions to guide them through Message Mapping Guide (MMG) implementation.  Our teams have also worked closely with the agencies to develop an NMI Cohort program which helps to move multiple jurisdictions through the MMG implementation together thereby increasing efficiency in the ongoing effort to modernize their data exchanges.