LSU Health Data Specialist Wins Top Career Civil Service Award
Leslie Capo, Director of Information Services
Zina Daniel, a data specialist at LSU Health New Orleans School of Public Health, is one of 12 people chosen as recipients of the Charles E. Dunbar, Jr. Career Civil Service Award this year. The award was presented by the Louisiana Civil Service League at the 61st Dunbar Award Luncheon on January 17, 2020.
According to the League, the Dunbar Award is the highest honor classified state employees can receive for their service to the citizens of Louisiana. The Civil Service League bestows the award on local, state and municipal civil service employees who distinguish themselves through unselfish service to the citizens of Louisiana. Nominees are judged on commitment to the classified service, contributions toward workplace improvement, personal initiative and volunteer community service.
Daniel was nominated by LSU Health New Orleans' Louisiana Breast and Cervical Health Program, where she manages the extensive database for the program that provides early detection breast and cervical cancer screening services to lower income women. Her improvements significantly expanded the program's ability to address unmet early detection needs, evaluation and services, which resulted in recognition from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the program's funding agency, for outstanding data quality.
“Zina has also streamlined data collection and entry at the clinical level, increasing our patient in-reach by ensuring all eligible women in a health care system are identified and recruited for breast and cervical cancer screenings,” notes Jasmine Meyer, program manager. “In short, Zina has contributed beyond measure to the efficacy of our service delivery and data quality - the two most critical and integral components of our program.”
Daniel has worked as a classified employee at LSU Health New Orleans School of Public Health's Louisiana Breast and Cervical Health Program for more than 16 years. Her contributions include quality control for thousands of individual patient data entries, investigating data errors with contracted clinical providers and providing technical support to reduce errors and streamline data entry, running and editing data submission reports biannually for CDC submission, interpretation and evaluation of findings to improve service delivery, training and communication with contracted clinical providers, and developing strategies to increase recruitment of eligible women through clinical in-reach processes.
“Her singular work ethic, critical thinking skills, and dedication to improving quality of life for vulnerable women in Louisiana have, without a doubt, saved lives,” Meyer adds.