Five things to know:
1. There are about 370 testing labs in the state, and 46 are not reporting information due to data issues, including several hospital groups.
2. Formatting is one of the roadblocks for labs and health systems reporting COVID-19 test results. Several health systems have reported submitting results via spreadsheet, only to have the state change formatting requirements.
3. The Texas health department said it helps labs identify formatting issues that prevent files from uploading correctly into its electronic reporting system. But a statement from the agency also acknowledges that it can take several rounds of submissions before it can identify all formatting issues.
4. Setting up new labs with the system can take about eight months, according to the report.
5. Texas has hired a data team and updated its system since the pandemic began.
More articles on data analytics:
California county hires HIPAA expert to consult on COVID-19 death data release
3 reasons for the US’ COVID-19 data crisis
Texas city resumes COVID-19 reports despite county’s ‘no confidence’ dashboard disclaimer
