Traditionally, public health agencies (PHAs) wait for hospital, laboratory or clinic staff to initiate case reports. However, this passive approach is burdensome for reporters and produces incomplete and delayed reports, which can hinder assessment of disease in the community and potentially delay recognition of patterns and outbreaks. Modern surveillance practice is shifting toward greater use of electronically transmitted disease information. The adoption of electronic health record (EHR) systems and health information exchange (HIE) among clinical organizations and systems, driven by policies such as the meaningful use program, is creating an information infrastructure that public health organizations can take advantage of to improve surveillance practice.
Objective: To enhance the process by which outpatient providers report surveillance case information to public health authorities following a laboratory-confirmed diagnosis of a reportable disease.