DOH - Bureau of Epidemiology
Merlin System - User Update
(Version 1.28, 1.31 & 1.32) Historic Data, Admin Screens And Other Change Controls

Purpose: The purpose of this document is to notify Merlin System users and trainers about changes to current functionality and to briefly instruct on the use of new functionality. These updates will accompany any future versions of the Merlin System in an effort to keep users and trainers current on the Merlin System as it continues to evolve.

Changes: The following is a list of changes to current functionality within the Merlin System. If applicable, the change is followed by a brief description of the issue and/or it's impact on usage of the system.

• Removed one of the save buttons from Person Profile 1.13. Clicking the save button will navigate to a screen asking the user to categorize the change as a correction or as historic profile record because of name or residential address change.
• When linking a resource from the Basic Case Information or Lab Results screens, the Resource Search 3.10 screen will show the LINK hyperlink when the resource is not expired. If the resource is expired, the word EXPIRED will be displayed and will not be hyper linked back to the Basic Case Information screen.
• The Resource Search 3.10 screen was changed to search the database by the first 4 characters of the Resource name and First name, no matter how many characters are entered in these fields. This will eliminate some duplication in the Resource area of Merlin.
• The Personal Profile 1.12 and 1.13 screens were updated to add an edit check and will display a warning message when the address number is left blank and the address name starts with a number.
• Approximately 150,000 historic records are being entered into the Merlin tables for the last 10 morbidity years. The data being loaded into the Merlin tables comes from the Bureau of Epidemiology’s historic Epi Info morbidity files.
• The only historical profiles that will be returned on a profile search are profiles with a lead poisoning case. Most of the Merlin fields will be blank because only limited data was stored in Epi Info.
• Due to the number of profiles and historical records being loaded into the Merlin system, the profile search screen has been changed requiring the user to enter at least 2 characters of the last name before a search will be done.
• Most reports under Epi-Analysis will include 1992 through 2002 except the Case Management Report and Performance Report.

Improvements: The following is a list of new functionalities available within the Merlin System. If applicable, any instructions necessary are provided with the description of the improvement.

• The Merlin System Code Detail 6.21 administration screen was updated to add and Association field so the administrator can identify what area of the system is affected by the code.
• The Resource Search 3.10 screen was updated to add a new check box to allow the users to search by STATE LABS.

Further Assistance: If you require further assistance, or have additional questions about the use of the Merlin System, please contact the Merlin Helpdesk at Merlin_Helpdesk@doh.state.fl.us