Development and Implementation of an Inventory Management and Tracking System (IMATS)

During the 2009 H1N1 Influenza Pandemic event, it became evident that there was a need for increased visibility of countermeasure inventory to the dispensing level. This information, used to make critical decisions concerning the allocation and distribution of countermeasures (e.g., antivirals and personal protective equipment), proved difficult to obtain. In response, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) developed an Inventory Management and Tracking System (IMATS) available nationwide. This system is a tool which allows public health providers to track both medical and non-medical countermeasure inventory during either daily operations or an event down to the local level, report data to CDC, and facilitate warehouse operations including receiving, staging, and storing of inventory.

To ensure the inventory management solution meets the needs, preferences, goals and business objectives of users, innovative, user-centered design methods along with user feedback was incorporated throughout each stage of the development process. An initial release of IMATS took place in September 2011. In addition, an IMATS evaluation environment was created to allow interested partners a chance to assess the system before deciding whether to implement it as their inventory management solution. As part of this evaluation process, users may provide system feedback which is then analyzed for incorporation into future releases. As of Jan 2012, 67 jurisdictions have completed evaluations and 21 have chosen to adopt IMATS for their organization.