Direct Laboratory Notification of Communicable Diseases

6.5 Security

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  Each user will require a unique username and password.
  
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  Users will be managed through a directory service as a national administration function.
  
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  The system will automatically time out after 60 minutes of inactivity. After this, the program will log out and all unsaved information will be lost.
  
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  PHU users can access information for cases and outbreaks relating to their PHU.
  
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  National information about cases and outbreaks outside a PHU boundary is to be available at a summary level (with personal details restricted).
  
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  Role-based security will be utilised to enhance privacy protection.
  
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  There will be a national read-only view, which will allow national information to be accessed with sensitive information removed from the view.
  
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  The system will support different security models for different diseases in the future.
  
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  The system will keep an audit trail of all data accesses and a record of changes made by users. Basic audit information will be available through the system (eg, last updated by ‘user name’). Specific analysis of the audit trail will be available on request.
  

6.6 Availability

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  The system will be available 24 hours per day, seven days per week.
  
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  In any situation where the system is unavailable, an email message will be sent to all registered users. Those same users will be notified by email once the system becomes available again.
  
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  IT support should be available during normal business hours. Faults that occur outside these hours will be addressed on the following business day. This includes a national administration service (ie, issuing users’ IDs and passwords).
  

6.7 Data management

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  The provider will manage the data captured in the system.
  
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  The data will be securely backed up daily, with an offsite back-up storage regime. Restorations will be practised every six months.
  

6.8 Data warehouse

Data entered into the system is stored in a data warehouse. Data is transferred to the data warehouse with each updated transaction (that is, when the ‘save case’ button is clicked). This provides a national view of the system data, instantly. The data warehouse also holds historical ‘views’ of the system; that is, a view of the data at a particular date. This provides the ability to analyse the data over time.

6.9 Data integration

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  PHUs will be able to extract all data generated by their own PHU for integration in other systems.
  
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  Local PHU systems will be able to send messages to the central system modifying, closing, deleting cases, etc.
  
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  Laboratory results from an external LIS will be automatically stored in the system, eliminating the need for users to manually enter data. When an electronic message from an external LIS is received, users of the central system are notified.
  
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  Where appropriate, existing details will be able to be copied over into a new case/ form/field.
  

6.10 Software

The system will be accessible using PCs with browser software Internet Explorer version 6 and above installed.

6.11 Performance

Electronic data exchange will be in real time. That is, once a notification message is received by the central system, it will be available to the assigned PHU within one minute.

Appendix 1: Diseases Notifiable in New Zealand (include suspected cases)* as at December 2007

Notifiable infectious diseases under the Health Act 1956

Section A: Infectious diseases notifiable to a Medical Officer of Health and local authority

Acute gastroenteritis** Campylobacteriosis

Cholera Cryptosporidiosis

Giardiasis Hepatitis A

Legionellosis Listeriosis

Meningoencephalitis – primary amoebic Salmonellosis

Shigellosis Typhoid and paratyphoid fever

Yersiniosis

Section B: Infectious diseases notifiable to a Medical Officer of Health

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome Arboviral diseases Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and other spongiform encephalopathies Enterobacter sakazakii invasive disease Hepatitis B Hepatitis (viral) – not otherwise specified Hydatid disease Leptospirosis Measles Mumps Neisseria meningitidis invasive disease Plague Poliomyelitis Rabies Rickettsial diseases Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) Viral haemorrhagic fevers

Anthrax Brucellosis Diphtheria Haemophilus influenzae b Hepatitis C Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) Invasive Pneumococcal Disease Leprosy Malaria Non-seasonal influenza (capable of being transmitted between human beings) Pertussis Rheumatic fever Rubella Tetanus Yellow fever

Diseases notifiable to a Medical Officer of Health (other than notifiable infectious diseases)

Notifiable to the Medical Officer of Health

Cysticercosis

Taeniasis

Trichinosis

Decompression sickness

Lead absorption equal to or in excess of 0.48 µmol/l (10 µg/dl) ***

Poisoning arising from chemical contamination of the environment

Notifiable diseases under the Tuberculosis Act 1948

Notifiable to the Medical Officer of Health

Tuberculosis (all forms)
Notes:

* During times of increased incidence, practitioners may be requested to report, with informed consent, to their local Medical Officer of Health cases of communicable diseases not on this list.

** Not every case of acute gastroenteritis is necessarily notifiable – only those where there is a suspected common source or from a person in a high-risk category (eg, food handler, early childhood service worker, etc), or single cases of chemical, bacterial or toxic food poisoning such as botulism, toxic shellfish poisoning (any type) and disease caused by verocytotoxic E. coli.

*** Blood lead levels to be reported to the Medical Officer of Health (10 g/dl or 0.48 mol/l) are for environmental exposure. Where occupational exposure is suspected, please notify OSH through the NODS network.