Skip to main content

Ergas Rosa

In Massachusetts, syndromic surveillance (SyS) data have been used to monitor injection drug use and acute opioid overdoses within EDs. Currently, Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) SyS captures over 90% of ED visits statewide. These real-time data contain rich free-text and coded clinical and demographic information used to categorize visits for population level public health surveillance. Other surveillance data have shown elevated rates of opioid overdose related ED visits, Emergency Medical Service incidents, and fatalities in Massachusetts from 2014-20171,2,3. Injection of illicitly consumed opioids is associated with an increased risk of infectious diseases, including HIV infection. An investigation of an HIV outbreak among persons reporting IDU identified homelessness as a social determinant for increased risk for HIV infection.

Objective: We sought to measure the burden of emergency department (ED) visits associated with injection drug use (IDU), HIV infection, and homelessness; and the intersection of homelessness with IDU and HIV infection in Massachusetts via syndromic surveillance data.

Submitted by elamb on

With increasing awareness of SyS systems, there has been a concurrent increase in demand for data from these systems – both from researchers and from the media. The opioid epidemic occurring in the United States has forced the SyS community to determine the best way to present these data in a way that makes sense while acknowledging the incompleteness and variability in how the data are collected at the hospital level and queried at the user level. While significant time and effort are spent discussing optimal queries, responsible presentation of the data - including data disclaimers - is rarely discussed within the SyS community.

Objective:

To discuss data disclaimers and caveats that are fundamental to sharing syndromic surveillance (SyS) data

Submitted by elamb on

Systematic syndromic surveillance is undergoing a transition. Building on traditional roots in bioterrorism and situational awareness, proponents are demonstrating the timeliness and informative power of syndromic surveillance data to supplement other surveillance data.

Objective:

To assess evidence for public health impact of syndromic surveillance.

Submitted by elamb on

BioSense 2.0 has become a platform for technical receipt and analysis of syndromic surveillance data for many jurisdictions nationwide, as well as a collaborative effort that has engaged a larger community of syndromic surveillance practitioners, Governance Group, and federal agencies and organizations. The potential longterm benefits of BioSense 2.0 for resource and data sharing have at times been overshadowed by the short-term limitations of the system and disconnected efforts among the CoP. In May 2014, representatives from 41 jurisdictions attended a 2-day, in-person meeting where four workgroups were formed to address on-boarding, data quality, data sharing and syndrome definition in an effort to advance changes that resonate with actual surveillance practice.

Objective

This roundtable will provide a forum for the syndromic surveillance Community of Practice (CoP) to learn about activities of the BioSense 2.0 User Group (BUG) workgroups that address priority issues in syndromic surveillance. It will be an opportunity to discuss key challenges faced by public health jurisdictions in the era of Meaningful Use and identify further needs and best practices in the areas of data quality, data sharing, onboarding, and developing syndrome definitions.

 

Submitted by Magou on

As a participant in the National Syndromic Surveillance Program (NSSP), the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) has worked closely with our statewide Health Information Exchange (HIE) and National Syndromic Surveillance Program (NSSP) technical staff to collect and transmit emergency department (ED) data from eligible hospitals (EHs) to the NSSP. Our goal is to ensure complete and accurate data using a multi-step process beginning with pre-production data and continuing after EHs are sending live data to production.

Objective

To develop a detailed data validation strategy for facilities sending emergency department data to the Massachusetts Syndromic Surveillance program and to evaluate the validation strategy by comparing data quality metrics before and after implementation of the strategy.

Submitted by teresa.hamby@d… on

To provide community input on data quality issues and enhance data quality through sharing and testing of scripts.

Summary of activities:

The Data Quality workgroup has worked to address Data Quality issues through the development, sharing and testing of scripts. The Data Quality workgroup formed a DQ EHR-Vendor Concern Subcommittee to address issues across vendors nationwide. 

Submitted by uysz on
Subscribe to Ergas Rosa