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• 2003 Press
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LA County Health Department/Atlas Development Corporation Offer Communicable Disease Reporting System to Other Health Agencies
LOS ANGELES, CA. (July 15, 2003) – The Los Angeles County Health Department and Atlas Development Corporation have developed an award winning communicable disease reporting system that is speeding response and analysis by public health officials.
The county health department received the National Association of Counties Achievement Award for improved efficiency and services for this system at the organization’s national meeting in Milwaukee July 13.
The county and Atlas have a business relationship in which the county will retain ownership of key elements of the system it conceived, and Atlas Development Corporation, which contributed technology to enhance the capabilities the county required, will retain the exclusive right to market the system for five years. The county’s revenues from sales will be used to expand the system.
Atlas CEO Robert Atlas commended the county, saying, “LA’s foresight in realizing the need for the system, which began initial operation in 2000, was confirmed following the terrorist events of September 2001. Our company develops software for a number of industries, but none have been as rewarding as this public health system, which is so important to our homeland security.”
The complex computer software has improved the ability of the county to recognize and respond to outbreaks of both known and unusual communicable diseases, reducing by two-thirds the time it takes to understand disease patterns and locate sources.
The system fully integrates communicable disease reporting, analysis and notification and is probably the most sophisticated in the country. It is actively being marketed to other jurisdictions by Atlas Development Corporation on behalf of Los Angeles County.
LA County Health/Atlas 2-2-2
State law requires that physicians and laboratories report to county health agencies diagnoses of a range of communicable diseases, including sexually transmitted diseases; food borne illnesses like salmonella and other infectious diseases like smallpox, anthrax, measles and cholera.
The new system allows health care providers to report disease incidents using the Internet or other data systems. It can immediately notify public health officials using wireless communications like beepers and email in circumstances determined by those officials. The system permits faster analysis of reported data because it integrates with standard analytical software tools such as Excel and Access. Previously, officials would collate information provided over the phone and by facsimile.
Atlas pointed out that, “We are currently in negotiations with several California counties about purchase of the system and in discussions with other governments around the county.”
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