A new national biosecurity center headquartered at UNMC will focus on improving rural health.
Funding for the National Biosecurity Center for Rural Health came from a $1 million appropriation in 2004 Omnibus Appropriation Bill approved last week by the U.S. Congress. President George W. Bush signed the bill Friday.
“We are tremendously grateful to the entire Congressional delegation to receive this funding in this important area,” said UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D. “These funds will assist us in improving the safety and health of people in areas that are often underserved.”
The NBCRH will facilitate interaction between academic researchers who specialize in infectious disease and researchers focused on agriculture-related fields such as food production and veterinary medicine, said Steven Hinrichs, M.D., director of the University of Nebraska Center for Biosecurity.
“The cooperation and the ability to work between the animal and the human diagnostic arenas is especially critical in rural areas of the country to reduce the risks of food being used to deliver a biological weapon,” Dr. Hinrichs said. Currently, there is limited or no ability to communicate electronically or to compare databases, he said.
For example, during the West Nile Virus outbreak, there was limited ability to correlate laboratory results in humans with animal and mosquito testing data, in an automated way.
“This capability would be critical if a bioterrorism event affected the agriculture industry and the food supply, which ultimately would harm humans,” Dr. Hinrichs said.
He said the technology would build upon, but not duplicate, the work being done at the Health Professions Tracking Center (HPTC) at UNMC. HPTC databases include physicians, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, physician assistants, dentists, infection control nurses, laboratory directors, clinics, hospitals and pharmacies in Nebraska and Western Iowa.
“UNMC is one of the leaders in the country in the development of successful processes for tracking and maintaining accurate and timely information on healthcare providers and services,” said Kolene Kohll, director of the HPTC. “The funding will give us the opportunity to expand the HPTC to include critical partners operating in the agriculture, animal, water and food industry.”
The database will contain information on how to contact each person and can be used to send messages electronically to everyone in the system or just a select group — such as veterinarians in the western part of the state.
“We are extremely grateful to the Nebraska Delegation for this opportunity to enhance preparedness efforts,” Kohll said.
The HPTC has become a model for other states working to develop health workforce data monitoring systems. During the past year, representatives from 14 states have contacted the HPTC to discuss either replicating the HPTC’s system or contracting with the HPTC to collect, maintain and store workforce data for their states.
“When people try to get a comprehensive look using other tools, nothing is complete,” Kohll said. “We will assist the National Biosecurity Center for Rural Health to develop new technologies for sharing this pertinent information electronically with other states. We’re ready to move to that next level. We could take somebody from zero to 60 pretty fast.”
Kohll said the new data-exchange technology could be used by state and federal agencies or by hospitals and diagnostic laboratories in the future.
“If there is terrorism event or an natural disaster, the various agencies and hospitals will be able to exchange critical information for managing that event more effectively,” Kohll said.
Kohll said that the new technology systems would continue to strengthen our partner’s capabilities, such as the Nebraska Health Alert Network.
Dr. Hinrichs noted that a number of federal laws protect the privacy of individuals and the use of the information that will be shared. These guidelines will be followed with the sharing of all information, he said.
He said he expects that the technology will be used in several states throughout the country over the next several years, providing economic development to the state.
“Information technology is one of the most important areas of economic growth for the future,” he said. “In addition to improving the safety of all Nebraska, this is another step in moving our technology ahead and providing economic benefits for the state.”