Cryopreserved peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) constitute an important component of immune monitoring studies as they allow for efficient batch- testing of samples as well as for the validation and extension of original studies in the future. In this study, we systematically test the permutations of PBMC thawing practices commonly employed in the field and identify conditions that are high and low risk for the viability of PBMC and their functionality in downstream ELISPOT assays. The study identifies the addition of ice-chilled washing media to thawed cells at the same temperature as being a high risk practice, as it yields significantly lower viability and functionality of recovered PBMC when compared to warming the cryovials to 37 °C and adding a warm washing medium. We found thawed PBMC in cryovials could be kept up to 30 minutes at 37 °C in the presence of DMSO before commencement of washing, which surprisingly identifies exposure to DMSO as a low risk step during the thawing process. This latter finding is of considerable practical relevance since it permits batch-thawing of PBMC in high-throughput immune monitoring environments.

HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 states that all healthcare providers must ensure the protection of patient privacy with HIPAA compliance required by April 14, 2003. The other key provision of HIPAA is portability of information and patient access. Compliance with this act may prove a major challenge due to the lack of standardization in existing systems across the industry. This panel will review the impact of the HIPAA compliance on the development of Hospital Information Systems and the ongoing challenges associated with the development of Electronic Medical Records Systems. The topics will include: Guidelines for EMR System Selection Process with HIPAA in mind General Issues Interpretation and Integration of HIPAA Rules Integrated Policies and Procedures Staffing Issues Employee Training Solutions for implementing a HIPAA compliant EMR A case study of the implementation of a EMR system using VIANETA technology will be presented.