Mridula Manikandan

The New York State Department of Health is issuing the health advisory in advance of the respiratory virus season to summarize influenza, COVID-19, and RSV prevention and reporting requirements for healthcare providers, clinical and limited-service laboratories, local health departments (LHDs), hospitals, long-term care facilities, and other public health stakeholders.

The Department conducts year-round surveillance for influenza, COVID-19, and RSV, with enhanced surveillance and reporting from October through May. Reporting requirements may vary by virus type, setting, and provider type.

• Performed Quality Assurance (QA) testing, including manual test case execution, and defect reporting.
• Assisted in automating test scripts to streamline regression testing and improve efficiency.
• Collaborated with development and QA teams to ensure application reliability, accuracy, and performance.
• Monitored application usage and generated performance reports to identify areas for improvement.

The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) – Facility Evacuation Planning Application (FEPA), previously known as the Facility Profile Application, is a planning tool that provides Health Care Facilities (HCFs) (adult care facilities, hospitals, nursing homes) with an easy process to assess and maintain information about the facility’s patient/resident send-receive arrangements with other HCFs as part of their evacuation planning.

• Developed and documented test cases from scratch for the FEPA application, ensuring comprehensive coverage of functional requirements.
• Executed manual testing to identify defects, validate fixes, and ensure application quality.
• Analyzed and verified the real functionality of each component to ensure alignment with specifications.

• Provided technical support for software and hardware issues across various departments.
• Managed system updates and security patches for organizational IT infrastructure.
• Assisted in developing training materials for staff on new technologies and tools.
• Collaborated with team members to troubleshoot network and connectivity problems.
• Conducted regular system audits to ensure compliance with IT policies and standards.
• Resolved user inquiries related to software applications and IT services promptly.
• Delivered frontline technical support by handling high-volume inbound calls, emails, and service requests from end users.
• Diagnosed and resolved software, hardware, and network-related issues, ensuring minimal downtime and high customer satisfaction.
• Managed and resolved Level 2 application-related tickets, including advanced troubleshooting, system access issues, and application performance concerns.
• Escalated complex issues to Level 3 teams while maintaining full ownership and follow-up to ensure timely resolution.
• Provided step-by-step technical guidance to users with varying levels of technical proficiency.
• Improved helpdesk efficiency by identifying recurring issues and recommending process enhancements.
• Ensured compliance with organizational IT policies, security standards, and data protection procedures.
• Maintained accurate ticket documentation in the Redmine system

Universal Public Health Node (UPHN Lite) is a scalable, standards-based software package used for the secure, unattended transmission of data payloads from a wide array of health-related organizations (e.g., providers, hospitals, laboratories, pharmacies, etc.). To the NYSDOH via the Internet. This robust, nonetheless simple-to-use software leverages existing HTTPS/SSL Internet standards and X.509 certificate protocols to provide pharmacy providers with the ability to securely transmit data to NYSDOH in an unattended, yet highly encrypted and fault-tolerant fashion. Authentication between UPHN Lite and NYSDOH is achieved over the Internet via the use of an Automated File Transfer (AFT) User ID and password for each UPHN Lite installation (typically one node per reporting organization). Therefore, any pharmacy provider interested in leveraging UPHN Lite must have an Organizational Security Coordinator (OSC) with an active HCS account in order to maintain the organization’s AFT credentials; in most situations, the organization’s administrator ("Director") has already been designated as their OSC.

• Provided Level 2 support for the UPHNLite application, resolving technical issues, and assisting end-users to ensure smooth operation.
• Conducted Quality Assurance (QA) testing to identify bugs, verify fixes, and ensure application reliability and performance.
• Collaborated with development and support teams to implement enhancements and streamline workflows.
• Monitored application usage and generated reports to track system performance and identify areas for improvement.
• Ensured compliance with security policies and organizational standards during all phases of support and testing.