GI disease outbreaks can be focal (for example, restaurant associated), generalized (for example, seasonal rotavirus increases) or intermediate (for example, widely disseminated contaminated commercial products). Health departments (HDs) are commonly notified of focal outbreaks by passive reporting, whereas generalized outbreaks in non-institutional settings are seldom reported as clusters. Intermediate outbreaks are often detected via laboratory testing, which may be subjected to backlogs and delays. Healthcare systems routinely collect in EMRs clinical data related to GI disease, such as ambulatory care diagnoses, that could be exploited for surveillance. Multiple syndromic and laboratory data sources could potentially be used to prospectively detect generalized and intermediate GI disease outbreaks for situational awareness and possible epidemiological investigation.
Objective
To identify which syndromic and laboratory-based data streams from electronic medical records (EMRs) may be used to detect gastrointestinal (GI) disease outbreaks in a timely manner.