Public Health Tiger Team User Story Template
1. Actors
List the business actors that are participants in the information exchange requirements. A business actor is a
person or organization that directly participates in a user story. The business actor must use a system to
perform the functions and to participate in the information exchange. The system or system actor has roles
(send, receive, publish, subscribe or in some cases display) and actions will involve exchanging context.
Primary care provider
Public health professional
Actor
PCP
Public Health Professional
System
EHR System
Public Health IT System
Role
Sender
Receiver
2. Related Use Cases and User Stories
List relevant S&I Use Cases and/or User Stories that apply to this User Story.
Related Use
Case
Structured
Data Capture
Use Case 1.0
Related User
Story
Reportable
Condition User
Story
Structured
Data Capture
Use Case 2.0
Non-reportable
Condition User
Story
Description
A provider has identified a patient with a health condition that could be
associated with environmental hazard exposure. For reportable conditions,
using an existing EHR system, the Provider requests the reportable condition
form electronically from the jurisdictional public health organization or
entity. In the background, the EHR system sends information already
collected about the patient to a forms manager. At the time of the request the
EHR indicates what archive option, if any, should be used. The archive
maintains the data as read only so they are an indisputable and auditable
record of the reporting. The archive may be maintained by the EHR or by an
independent service on behalf of the provider. The archive option specifies
information necessary to connect to the archive and may include any
combination of the following: the information that was sent with the request;
the form template; the form data returned after being auto-populated; and/or
the form data as they were submitted
A provider has identified a patient with a health condition that could be
associated with environmental hazard exposure. For non-reportable
conditions, using an existing EHR system, the Provider enters information
about the condition. In the background, the EHR system sends information
already collected about the patient to a forms manager.
3. User Story
User Stories summarize the interaction between the actors of the Use Case, and specify what information is
exchanged from a contextual perspective. The User Story should provide clinical context of the exchange and
highlight the applicable domain and/or reportable condition. This User Story should reflect the future vision
for electronic interoperable exchange (to-be) rather than an existing (as-is) un-interoperable process.
A provider has identified a patient with a health condition that could be associated with environmental
hazard exposure. Examples of such health outcomes include asthma or AMI hospitalizations and
emergency department visits; childhood blood lead poisoning; birth defects e.g. trisomy 21; Cancer e.g.
lung cancer and breast cancer; and birth outcomes e.g. low birth weight and preterm births. To study the
association between the health outcome and environmental exposures, a public health researcher needs
to be able to link these health outcomes to environmental monitoring and exposure data usually linked to
the patient’s location, e.g. the patient’s residence. Because of the long latency period between
environmental exposure and disease, historical information about the patient’s residence is required to
make these linkages. This historical residence information needs to be captured as part of the patient’s
demographic information. Some of these conditions are reportable and some are not. For reportable
conditions, the reportable form should include this historical residence information of a patient with any
of the conditions identified. For non-reportable conditions, the historic residence information should be
included as part of the patient’s demographic information.
4. Base Flow
The Base Flow presents the step-by-step process of the information exchange depicted in the user story. It
indicates the actor who performs the action and the description of the event/action).
Suggested Format: Table
Use case 1.0
Step
#
1
2
Actor
Provider
3
Public Health
Professional
(PHP)
PHP
4
Provider
5
Provider
6
PHP
Role
Event/Description
Request
Sender
Request
Receiver
Provider EHR System Requests Reportable Condition Form
Results Sender
PHP Sends Reportable Condition Form to Provider through PHP
System
Provider Receives Reportable Condition Form through EHR System
and completes it
Provider Sends completed Reportable Condition Form to PHP through
EHR System
PHP Receives Reportable Condition Form through PHP System
Results
Receiver
Results
Sender
Results
Receiver
PHP Receives Request for Reportable Conditions Form through Public
Health System
Use case 2.0
Step
#
1
Actor
Provider
2
Provider
Role
Request
Sender
Request
Sender
Event/Description
Provider EHR System requests patient information form
Provider EHR System captures patient’s residence and historic
residence information