Laboratory Freezer Checklist

APHL’s Laboratory Systems and Standards Committee developed a checklist to assist with an inventory of laboratory freezers. The checklist contains suggestions for conducting a freezer inventory, including labeling of specimens and other materials.

Read and print the "Do You Know What's in Your Freezer?" checklist

Policy Guide for PHL Test Service Sharing

APHL's Laboratory Efficiencies Initiative document, “Policy Guide for Public Health Laboratory Test Service Sharing," examines legal questions relating to sharing of test services with other jurisdictions. Accompanying the Guide are fifteen formal memoranda of agreement and contracts adopted by state laboratories for test service sharing. These are accessible in the APHL Member Resource Center. Though focused at the state level, recommendations are relevant to all jurisdictions.

Read “Policy Guide for Public Health Laboratory Test Service Sharing

Public Health Reports Supplement

APHL and CDC sponsored the Public Health Reports Supplement "Public Health Laboratory Systems: At the Crossroads." The 14 editorials, commentaries, and manuscripts focus on public health laboratory systems improvements and research.

Read "Public Health Laboratory Systems: At the Crossroads"

Billing Status Report and Recommendations

State public health laboratories (SPHLs) face increasing pressue to bill for services as a way to replace lost revenue from cuts to state
and federal funding. This report reviews current SPHL billing capacity with discussion of effective billing processes, challenges in initiating a billing program, recommendations and resources. 

Read "State Public Health Laboratory Billing: Status Report and Recommendations"

Informatics Self-Assessment Tool

The Informatics Self-Assessment Tool assists public health laboratories to define and plan their informatics requirments, including prioritization of  existing resources, documentation  and communicate priorities to policy makers and monitor current informatics capabilities on an ongoing basis.

Access the new Informatics Self-Assessment Tool

A Practical Guide to Service Changes

APHL and CDC created “A Practical Guide to Assessing and Planning Implementation of Public Health Laboratory Service Changes” as a resource for assessing and planning laboratory changes to strengthen the public health laboratory system. Directors and managers of public health laboratories can use this guide as they assess and, if they so choose, implement changes in the models of their laboratories’ testing services.

Read “A Practical Guide to Assessing and Planning Implementation of Public Health Laboratory Service Changes” (APHL member access only)

An Overview of Legal Considerations

“An Overview of Legal Considerations in Assessing Multijurisdictional Sharing of Public Health Laboratory Testing Services” was created in 2012 as a resource for public health laboratory directors in assessing potential legal issues related to sharing testing services with other jurisdictions.

Read the overview of legal considerations (APHL member access only) for sharing of public health testing services.

Billing Webinar

APHL collaborated with the National Coalition of STD Directors and the Michigan Department of Community Health to host the webinar “Moving Toward Third-Party Billing and Revenue Generation in Public Health: An Emerging Model from Michigan” on June 22, 2012.

Access the archived webinar.