Posted By Dayna Riddle On February 11, 2025
How EHRs Help Public Health Win the War Against TB
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a total of 1.25 million people died from TB in 2023 alone, and now there is a historic tuberculosis outbreak in Kansas.
They estimate one-fourth of the world’s population is thought to have the causative agent of TB (mycobacterium tuberculosis) and are at risk of developing the disease. Those who are infected with HIV, have a weakened immune system, or have an alcohol or substance use disorder have a higher risk of developing TB. These high-risk individuals may be in your community and may need additional resources to help them.
As a public health professional, you do your part in the war against TB by tracking cases, treating infected individuals, managing medication, and administering vaccines to prevent the spread. Additionally, you are responsible for providing referrals for additional care coordination based upon behavioral health challenges, social determinants of health needs, and more. The good news is that using an Electronic Health Record (EHR) built for public health departments will provide your LHD software solutions that help fight the battle against TB.
TB Testing through your EHR
Tracking individuals who are infected with TB is critical for your health department to slow the spread in their communities. A public health EHR should have systems to document and track TB patients, both active and latent, by storing testing results and treatments.
Within a patient’s chart, some EHRs also allow your staff to upload lab, x-ray, and diagnostic testing results. Additionally, you can track the beginning and the end of infectious periods.
In the past, public health departments relied exclusively on x-ray reporting, but sputum collection is now considered the best method for an accurate diagnosis. Look for a public health EHR that allows your staff to import sputum collection information, like source (blood, stool, sputa, urine, etc.), submitting facility, smear results, and more, from either in-house analyzed results or electronically transferred records from outside labs.
Knowing where your patients may have been exposed to TB allows you to potentially trace where the infection started in your community and lets you know who else to notify who may be exposed. A good public health EHR should have contact tracing functionalities, like an epidemiological record sheet that allows your staff to record:
- The reason the patient was referred
- Symptoms
- HIV status
- Foreign travel history
- Alcohol and drug consumption
- Job (important if they are a healthcare worker)
- Imaging results
- CT findings
- If they are in jail/prison
- History of family/residents in the home
…among others.
If much of this information is already in the patient chart, some EHRs allow you to pull that data into the TB/LTBI episode of care without duplicate entry, saving your staff time and reducing the risk of errors.ull that data into the TB/LTBI episode of care without duplicate entry, saving your staff time and reducing the risk of errors.
TB Treatment and Progress Plans
EHRs can also be beneficial for tailoring the workflow of clinical staff during treatment and progress planning. Healthcare providers can base their TB treatment plan on several factors, including pre-existing medical conditions and drug allergies. A public health EHR solution may allow your staff to manage medications dispensed to patients, as well as the intake methods and reactions of the medications.
Intake methods available could include Directly Observed Therapy (DOT) so that your staff can monitor if patients are taking their medication. These treatment observations could be recorded in your EHR, and staff could mark for patient vomit, hold, partial dose, full dose, video observed, and more. Knowing the reactions to medications will help your staff choose the appropriate TB treatment method, and you can track which treatment they choose within your EHR system.
Progress plans via flow sheets in the patient’s Electronic Health Record chart can help your staff record visit details, like menstrual period dates, steroids taken, and weight, among others. They can also mark if their patients need an interpreter or other forms of care for Social Determinants of Health, ensuring that each patient is treated in a way they can understand.
TB Case Assignment and Referral Orders
Once your clinicians have tested patients for TB through x-ray, sputum collection, or other methods, a good EHR can help your practice management staff transfer ownership of that record to the next healthcare professional who will assist in treatment. Look for an EHR that allows them to assign a TB case manager, MD, MA, or CDI within your EHR solution.
Interoperable public health EHRs are solutions designed to help your practice management team quickly send or receive patient referrals and patient records safely to and from other health organizations. This allows patients to see the providers they need for treatment faster and can help reduce the spread of communicable diseases in your community. This is one of the primary ways an Electronic Health Record system can help you provide better patient care and help you increase your community health in an infections disease outbreak. EHRs are much more efficient than using a paper-based patient record system to transfer patient records and referrals.
An additional benefit of a good EHR for public health departments is an appointment recalls and reminders feature. Having an automated system for these can really save your practice management staff time and help ensure they get out—especially in the rise of an infectious disease outbreak in your local community. Appointment reminders reduce the number of appointment no-shows and can significantly lead to higher patient engagement.
Patient Education About TB
A public health-focused EHR will allow your staff to store infographics, articles, or other helpful resources to educate your patients. Some even allow you to share these resources via email or text, patient portal, or printed out right in your local health department for your patients to utilize.
Tuberculosis is often curable if treated, although there are multi-drug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) strains that are not cured through standard medications. These cases require more intensive and lengthy treatments, which require more effort from public health departments. The battle against TB will continue, but public health departments, with the help of a robust public health EHR, can treat the infected, educate community members, and slow the spread of tuberculosis
Updated February 2025
Original author credit: Monique Dever, March 29, 2017
About Patagonia Health, Inc.
Patagonia Health’s integrated EHR, Practice Management, and Billing solution is designed to improve departmental workflows using apps and cloud-based technology. Our company was founded with a focus on providing technology solutions with highly referenceable customer service. We collaborate with public and behavioral health organizations to develop advanced features, empowering them to improve the well-being of their communities. Our federally-certified software enables our customers to achieve their desired health outcomes. We serve those who serve others. If you’d like more information about our solutions, contact us today.