Data sets from disparate sources widely vary in the number and type of factors which most hamper integrity and timeliness of the data. To maintain high quality data, data sets must be regularly assessed, particularly for those vulnerabilities that each is especially prone to due to the methods involved in collecting the data. For surveillance practitioners charged with monitoring data from multiple data sources, keeping track of the issues that each data set is susceptible to, and quickly identifying any inconsistencies or deviations from normal trends, may be a challenge. An application that can track all those issues, and trigger alerts when patterns diverge from what is expected, could help to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the surveillance efforts.
Objective
An interactive, point-and-click application was developed to facilitate the routine assessment of known data quality factors that compromise the integrity and timeliness of data sets used at the Marion County Public Health Department (MCPHD). The code (and associated documentation) for this application is being made available for other surveillance practitioners to adopt.