THISIS FAQ - Labs

What do I do if I cannot find a laboratory and/or facility in the provided list in the lab results section of THISIS?

If you are entering lab results in THISIS (in the lab results tab from within an event dashboard) and unable to find the performing laboratory, sending laboratory, or ordering facility in a field that contains a searchable list, such as one of the following:

You will need to enter information about the facility in the open fields (fields that begin with “New-Specify…”).

After entering information in these fields and inputting the rest of the lab result data, click save before adding new lab results or moving onto another page in THISIS. Clicking Save will trigger a notification for the facility manager at central office who will review the request and update THISIS accordingly.
 

Since our program is a cactus site, how should we handle the ACRF?

If your program receives an HIV lab you will be able to enter the lab into the system and an initial assignment will be triggered. Surveillance staff will fill out the initial assignment information. If a field record is needed, staff will proceed with initiating a field record. If a Medical Chart abstraction is needed, surveillance can initiate a Medical Chart Review assignment and assign it to Central Office. This may change once Release 3 is available.
 

Will more information be captured in ELR and imported into THISIS?

THISIS will capture as much information as is available from the lab report. This includes opportunities for labs to add clinical information and users to add notes associated with the labs.
 

Will we still need to QA Labs? If so, how?

Labs will import into the THISIS system via the ELR. Labs imported will be monitored for completeness of data. If a lab is determined to have missing values which are required/critical to assigning to the appropriate jurisdiction, the lab will enter a central office workflow and central office staff will work to correct the information.
 

I could not add a negative HIV lab to a syphilis case nor could I add a negative syphilis lab to an HIV case. What should I do?

Labs are event type/product code (or disease) specific. You need to create a separate HIV event (or vice versa) to enter negative labs which are for a different disease.

Users do have the opportunity to enter HIV testing information in the Risk Factors question package for patients who receive either an original or cluster interview.
 

I cannot create a patient record with negative labs from a team screening, which could be vital for future references. THISIS requires a positive disease code to create a patient record. Could “None” be added in the disease box when creating a new record?

Creating an event in THISIS is for both negative and positive lab results. If a person tests negative for a disease, you simply create an event specific to that disease and enter the negative labs associated with that disease. Remember an event type is in reference to the disease or product code and does not necessarily mean the person has morbidity for that disease.
 

We noticed that the Biomat feed is not coming to our regular ELR feed from you all. Is there any possibility that Biomat reports can be included in the ELR- HL7 feed that we get from you all right now?

All labs that currently report to DSHS in non-HL7 format will be converted to HL7 when release 2 goes live. Melissa and Lisa can provide more details on this process.
 

When receiving faxed and mailed chlamydia/gonorrhea STD-27s from providers, they often write the test performed, specimen type, and result. If the associated lab was not imported, and the provider did not send in a copy of the lab report, should we be creating a lab from this information if we don’t know which lab was used? How should these morbidities be processed?

Users can enter test information with an "unknown" laboratory, but it will be better to call the provider to get the correct info. Surveillance staff can follow up with providers to see what labs they are using. Sites will need to get used to calling providers to request the missing lab test information. Staff should also follow up with the labs to see why they are not reporting as required by law. For now, they can still enter them with "unknown" information.

CDC has changed the case definitions/reporting requirements for chlamydia and gonorrhea to require a positive laboratory test. CDC is currently still accepting morbidity reports that do NOT have a positive test associated with them. Expect that to change soon. By next year, it is expected that only CTGC with positive lab tests will be able to be reported.
 

Processing of labs should be happening at midnight, why are labs showing up at noon?

This is a known issue. There are issues with the processor and is delaying labs from entering into the system. DSHS is working with the developer to address.
 

Labs triggering Field Follow-Up but cannot get out of the Field Follow-Up Needed workflow.

The qualifying criteria for this workflow are currently set up to identify labs that trigger the initial assignment outcome of Field Follow-Up needed. The workflow is looking for this initial outcome and whether a field record was created. If a field record is created, this event will leave the workflow.

Central Office staff is looking to see if we can update the workflow to include assignment types of Field Record, Interview Only, and Surveillance as more exit criteria.
 

When submitting a request for lab deletions please send the party ID and Event ID

The Event ID is located on the dashboard of the event and it is the first field while the party ID is found by clicking the person's name (blue hyperlink) in the event the Party ID is the second field from the bottom.
 

If there are labs we received during the downtime that have still not been imported into THISIS, should we just manually enter them?

Yes, if it is a case-defining lab and you need to cut a field record. Sites do not need to enter routine HIV care labs.
 

Do we need to send a list of labs that are still not in there (like is this a known issue or not?)

No need to send a list of labs; we are aware of the issue. We have not been able to import the Excel reporters such as Parkland, JPS, UHSA, El Paso HD, and others. We can’t import them until Informatics finishes the CSV to HL7 route in Rhapsody. We also haven’t imported CDD or CPL yet.
 

Negative Labs are creating two events

Negative Labs are creating two events, one of event is generating a field follow up and the other is fine. We are continuing to investigate this issue.

You’ve notice new labs importing into older events for a person, this issue can be resolved by a Tier II SME who will copy the labs into a new event. CPL and AURP Labs
 

How do I enter a provider reported lab?

When entering STD morbidity from provider reports which contain some lab information, the user should go to the lab tab and enter whatever lab information is on the provider report (using the correct report source of “Medical Record/Provider Report):

See the THISIS tip sheets to learn more.
 

Entering in dual treatment for CT/GC events.

THISIS will only allow you to enter one treatment at a time.

We are exploring the option of creating a data entry tool called a Wizard which might address the amount of time it takes to enter labs and treatments. We could see this developed in the Enhancement stage of the project.