Author Affiliations: Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (Drs Flanagan, Braman, Chillrud), Mailman School of Public Health (Dr Navas-Acien), Columbia University, Palisades, New York; Hunterdon Healthcare Partners (Dr Puelle), Flemington, New Jersey; New Jersey Department of Health (Ms Gleason), Trenton, New Jersey; and Diagnosis Water (Dr Spayd), Montgomeryville, Pennsylvania.
J Public Health Manag Pract. 2024;30(4):E184-E187. doi: 10.1097/PHH.0000000000001968. Epub 2024 Jun 12.
Chronic arsenic exposure is associated with adverse health outcomes, and early life exposure is particularly damaging. Households with pregnant people and young children drinking from unregulated wells in arsenic-prevalent regions are therefore a public health priority for outreach and intervention. A partnership between Columbia University, New Jersey government partners, and Hunterdon Healthcare has informed Hunterdon County residents of the risks faced from drinking arsenic-contaminated water and offered free well testing through a practice-based water test kit distribution and an online patient portal outreach. Encouraged by those successes, Hunterdon Healthcare incorporated questions about drinking water source and arsenic testing history into the electronic medical record (EMR) template used by most primary care practices in Hunterdon County. The new EMR fields allow for additional targeting of risk-based outreach and water test kit distribution, offering promising new opportunities for public health and environmental medicine outreach, surveillance, and research.
慢性砷暴露与健康不良后果有关，而生命早期暴露尤其有害。因此，在砷污染地区，有孕妇和幼儿饮用未经监管水井水的家庭成为外联和干预的公共卫生重点。哥伦比亚大学、新泽西州政府合作伙伴和亨特登医疗保健公司之间的合作关系，让亨特登县居民了解到饮用砷污染水所面临的风险，并通过实践为基础的水质测试包分发和在线患者门户外联，提供免费的井水测试。亨特登医疗保健公司受到这些成功的鼓舞，将饮用水源和砷测试历史的问题纳入亨特登县大多数初级保健实践使用的电子病历 (EMR) 模板中。新的 EMR 字段允许针对基于风险的外联和水质测试包分发进行进一步的目标定位，为公共卫生和环境医学外联、监测和研究提供了有前景的新机会。
