Timeliness of Chlamydia Laboratory and Provider Reports: A Modern Perspective

Timeliness of reports sent by laboratories and providers is a continuous challenge for disease surveillance and management. Public health organizations often collect communicable disease reports with various degrees of timeliness raising the concern about the delay in patient information received. Timely reports are beneficial to accurately evaluate community health needs and investigate disease outbreaks. According to Indiana state law, chlamydia reports are required to be sent to public health within 3 days after a positive test result confirmation. Therefore, laboratories and providers must be accountable and comply with regulation to ensure accurate data quality of disease assessment.