By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The plan from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment is to get better numbers in the hands of local authorities as fast as they can.
"We are in the beginning stages of putting forth a new process that will be timely for all the health care providers in our community that are testing, as well as for us as a health department, in terms of the epidemiological investigation," said Reno County Health Department Director Nick Baldetti.
The difference is coming from entities other than the state lab.
"Private labs are beginning to upload those results daily into the statewide system that we draw those results from," Baldetti said. "We're now getting those results in a much more timely fashion, in terms of communication, than we were previously. We should be able to turn around and discuss with both the individuals who have been tested, but then also with our health care providers as well, in terms of protection of staff and exposure."
This communication will make it so everyone knows at around the same time the results of a given test, while still protecting the identity of the individual who was tested.
"There's basically one synchronized database versus waiting for disaggregated communication from each individual private lab as well as the state lab," Baldetti said. "Now, we're just getting one full report versus multiple reports of different entities at differing times."
This should make it easier for those who are tracking the data to compare one day to the next and get a better handle on where we are on the infection curve.