Document jB6Z5BERd8wMV3bOD3M9yxde5

r iFGoodrich INTER-ORGANIZATION CORRESPONDENCE TO II. E. Barrett ROM W. P- Svkes 1 FIELD POINT OR DEPT. & BLDG. NO. I DATE YOUR LETTER 1 Louisville 1 1 PRO POINT OR DEPT, ft BLDG. NO. 1 DATE THIS *^TTrn _______1 Louisville________________________________________9/5/78 ~ subject university of Louisville Medical Surveillance Program Meeting at the University Medical Center on August 29,1978 Attending From the University Dr. Carlo Tamburro Dr. Richard Greenberg John Sandoz Mary Wawrukiewicz From BFG Dr. II. Deitz Director, Environmental Health T. Stevens Corporate M.I.S. M. Seibert Corporate M.I.S. W. Sykes Louisville Plant The meeting was primarily an exchange of ideas and information between two groups which are actively involved in Medical Surveil lance Programs. The BFG group was interested in reviewing the system which the University has been using for several years, as a part of the design effort for a similar corporate-wide system. The University hopes to gain benefits from the broader scope of the BFG system in their- on-going program of scientific study. Background. The Medical Surveillance Program at the University consists of job history data, a rating of job exposure to certain chemicals, and medical history data of employees, past and present, in the Louisville plant. BFG personnel have played an active role in setting up the program which has been financed primarily by a Federal government grant. However, this grant has ended at a time when the system was being moved to a larger computer system at the University in order to allow more extensive and sophisticated analysis of the accumulated data. Also due to lack of financial resources, the accumulation of current job and medical data was discontinued on May 31, 1978. The Corporate M.I.S. group has been working on a Medical Surveil lance Program for more than a year, and its design includes the same basic data elements as the University's system. In addition, the proposed structure of the database is very similar to the one the University will be using on the new computer system there. In the future it appears there could not be much difficulty in passing selected data from the BFG system to the University, to allow them to continue the work they are already doing. Both groups agree on the two fundamental purposes of the Medical Surveillance Program: a) Provide a resource of information for routine medical care b) Provide a resource of data for epidemiological studies. BFG-45-1-E e/77 LITHO U.S.A. BFG66111 TO: FROM: pj;; DATE: H. E. Barrett W. P. Sykes University of Louisville Medical Surveillance Program September 5, 1978 -2- (The BFG Program will be more comprehensive in the diseases being tracked, while the University is concerned only with cancer studies). Current Status. The BFG system will begin gathering data in October, 1978. For the most part it is geared toward the future; that is, accumulating data now which will begin yielding benefits in four or five years. This could begin earlier if some prior history data were entered into the system as well. This type of data is available from two sources - the University of Louisville Program and another independent program involving U.R.W. person nel. A decision has not been made on whether to use any past records. If the prior data at the University is to have tiny meaning, the interim period between June and October must also be accounted for Currently these records are not being kept up to date, and they will be even more difficult to recapture as time passes. It may be advisable for the Plant to begin recording data from payroll records until October at which time a decision to continue can be based on the overall Corporate program implementation. The Univer sity has already requested financial assistance from BFG for the continuation of this program, and they would also like to have technical assistance in the moving of the accumulated data bank to the new computer system. There are three possible sources of this computer expertise - Corporate M.I.S. (Management Information Ser vices) , Chemical Division II.I.S. in Cleveland, or the Louisville plant. Recommended Action. In view of the investment which has been made in gathering all of the past data on Louisville plant employees, it seems worthwhile for the plant to bridge the gap from May to October when the Corporate system will begin gathering data. If at a minimum the job history information were kept up to date, the integrity of'the Program at the University would be maintained. Medical history data other than that required by OSHA will not be necessary during that period. Once the BFG system is in operation the University would then make a decision whether they wish to con tinue receiving updates from BFG. In any case the University would like to do more analysis of data already gathered. They feel that it may be possible to show from this data that the extensive medical testing now required by OSHA BFG66112 TO: FROM: RE: DATE: H. E. Barrett W. P. Sykes University of Louisville September 5, 1978 Medical Surveillance Program -3- is not fully warrented. If this is true, substantial cost reduc tion in medical testing could result. In order to do more statisti cal analysis, it will be necessary to move the database to the larger computer system at the University, and the Corporate M.I.S. group, acting through the Louisville plant staff, could signifi cantly aid the migration effort. The assistance required would be about two man months between now and the end of the year. During this time it would be necessary for the University to acquire and begin using the services of their own systems analyst experienced in the database management system being used. W. P. Sykes WPS/jmv cc - " T II. W. Dietz, M.D. Richard Greenberg W. R. Holstein G. F. Krcmar G. R. Pruitt John Sandoz M. W. Seibert T. E. Stevens Carlo Tamburro, M.D. Mary Wawrukiewicz BFG66113