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Comparison of National and Local Syndromic Surveillance Data - Cook County, IL, 2017

Description

In 2005, the Cook County Department of Public Health (CCDPH) began using the Electronic Surveillance System for the Early Notification of Community-based Epidemics (ESSENCE) as an emergency department (ED)-based local syndromic surveillance program (LSSP); 23 (100%) of 23 hospitals in suburban Cook County report to the LSSP. Data are transmitted in delimited ASCII text files (i.e., flat files) and contain a unique patient identifier, visit date and time, zip code, age, sex, and chief complaint. Discharge diagnosis and disposition are optional data elements. Prior to 2017, the Illinois Department of Public Health placed facilities participating in the Cook LSSP in a holding queue to transform their flat file submissions into a HL7 compliant message; however as of 2017, eligible hospitals must submit HL7 formatted production data to IDPH to fulfill Meaningful Use. The primary syndromic surveillance system for Illinois is the National Syndromic Surveillance Program (NSSP), which transitioned to an ESSENCE interface in 2016. As of December 2016, 20 (87%) of 23 hospitals reporting to the LSSP also reported to IDPH and the NSSP. As both syndromic surveillance systems aim to collect the same data, and now can be analyzed with the same interface, CCDPH sought to compare the LSSP and NSSP for data completeness, consistency, and other attributes.

Objective:

This analysis was undertaken to determine how the data completeness, consistency, and other attributes of our local syndromic surveillance program compared to the National Syndromic Surveillance Platform.

Submitted by elamb on