Data from the Emergency Departments (EDs) of 49 hospitals in New York City (NYC) is sent to the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) daily as part of the syndromic surveillance system. Currently, thirty-four of the EDs transmit data as flat files. As part of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Electronic Health Record Incentive Program, otherwise known as Meaningful Use, many EDs in our system have switched or are in the process of switching to HL7 Messaging Standard Version 2.5.1. Given there may be differences in data completeness, quality, and content between the new HL7 data and legacy data, we evaluated data sent in both formats in parallel by several EDs.
Objective
To evaluate potential changes in emergency department (ED) syndromic surveillance data quality, as hospitals shift from sending data as flat file format (Legacy Data) to real-time/batch HL7 Messaging Standard Version 2.5.1, in compliance with Meaningful Use requirements.