Toxicology Test Results for Public Health Surveillance of the Opioid Epidemic: Retrospective Analysis.

Background: Addressing the opioid epidemic requires timely insights into population-level factors, such as trends in prevalence of legal and illegal substances, overdoses, and deaths.

Objective: This study aimed to examine whether toxicology test results of living individuals from a variety of sources could be useful in surveilling the opioid epidemic.

Methods: A retrospective analysis standardized, merged, and linked toxicology results from 24 laboratories in Marion County, Indiana, United States, from September 1, 2018, to August 31, 2019.

Strategies for laboratory professionals to drive laboratory stewardship.

Appropriate laboratory testing is critical in today's healthcare environment that aims to improve patient care while reducing cost. In recent years, laboratory stewardship has emerged as a strategy for assuring quality in laboratory medicine with the goal of providing the right test, for the right patient, at the right time. Implementing a laboratory stewardship program now presents a valuable opportunity for laboratory professionals to exercise leadership within health systems and to drive change toward realizing aims in healthcare.

Automated Real-Time Collection of Pathogen-Specific Diagnostic Data: Syndromic Infectious Disease Epidemiology.

Background: Health care and public health professionals rely on accurate, real-time monitoring of infectious diseases for outbreak preparedness and response. Early detection of outbreaks is improved by systems that are comprehensive and specific with respect to the pathogen but are rapid in reporting the data. It has proven difficult to implement these requirements on a large scale while maintaining patient privacy.