California Links up to the STARLIMS Public Health Collaboration Effort

STARLIMS selected to replace legacy LIMS systems at the Richmond Laboratory Complex of the California Department of Health Services. The implementation will serve approximately 100 lab technicians and scientists across 5 laboratories.

Hollywood, Florida April 25, 2005, STARLIMS Corporation, a leading global provider of Laboratory Information Management Systems, (LIMS), today announced selection by the University of California, Davis on behalf of the California Department of Health Services (CDHS) of STARLIMS for the Richmond Laboratory Campus. STARLIMS will replace several legacy LIMS system currently in place. STARLIMS is purposely designed to fully integrate the daily functions of a multidisciplinary public health laboratory (PHL).

STARLIMS Richmond Laboratory Campus implementation will serve approximately 100 lab technicians and scientists across five laboratories located at the Richmond Lab Complex (RLC). Included in the project is a workflow for approximately 200 tests performed within the CDHS, incorporating input from over 110 different instruments. The RLC is the tertiary public health lab for the state of California. It serves as a reference lab for 39 regional public health labs as well as for the testing of reportable disease specimens from private hospital and commercial labs.

The complex responsibilities and interactions between public health partners necessitate significant coordination of information technology and information sharing methodologies to meet public health objectives. The specifications required by CDHS were based on industry data and systems standards, including the National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS) and Public Health Information Network (PHIN) standards. The implemented STARLIMS system will also interact with the State's CAHAN, ELR and WebCMR initiatives to provide up to date and easy to access data on which to make quick and educated decisions.

STARLIMS is an enterprise level information system that brings together all public health laboratory activities into a single platform, offering comprehensive reporting, surveillance, and networking capabilities compatible with national and international standards. Public health solutions from STARLIMS are designed as a platform for linking between regional public health partners working under the PHIN framework, HL7 messaging protocols and using LOINC and SNOMED as the common vocabulary for test names and observations. This functionality will enable cross site sample transfer and data exchange between CDHS and appropriate federal agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its STARRS transaction engine, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other public health partners.

"This is an outstanding example of an e-government initiative that spans the enterprise" said J. Clark Kelso, State of California Chief Information Officer.

A shared vision for public health laboratories adopted by STARLIMS and state and county public health agencies across the US, led to the collaborative creation of the STARLIMS Public Health Intranet community. The STARLIMS Intranet acts as an open gateway to the largest online PHL LIMS user community where participants can exchange content and directions gaining enormous value. All new modules developed as part of the PHL collaboration process such as time management functions are provided to the whole PHL user community via the STARLIMS Intranet or via scheduled upgrades.

"The Public health solutions platform from STARLIMS will offer access to greater levels of supporting detail and greater flexibility in accessing Laboratory information for analyses and reports." commented John Williamson PMP, Chief, Office of Informatics and Surveillance at the California Department of Health Services. "STARLIMS, when linked to other key applications will form the of California's automated preparedness efforts. The Office of Informatics and Surveillance recognizes the leadership provided by the Department's CIO Christy Quinlan and is thankful that Chris Cruz was able to serve as Senior Project Manager for this effort".

"STARLIMS is pleased to welcome the prestigious California Department of Health Services to the ever expanding STARLIMS public health collaboration initiative," said Jeff Ferguson STARLIMS Chief Operating Officer.