On November 20, 2017, several sites participating in the NSSP reported anomalies in their syndromic data. Upon review, it was found that between November 17-18, an EHR vendor’s syndromic product experienced an outage and errors in processing data. The ISDS DQC, NSSP, a large EHR vendor, and many of the affected sites worked together to identify the core issues, evaluate ramifications, and formulate solutions to provide to the entire NSSP CoP.

Routine childhood administration of varicella-containing vaccine has resulted in the number of varicella (chickenpox) cases in Pennsylvania falling from nearly 3,000 cases in 2007 to less than 400 cases in 2017. Prior to 2018, the completeness of varicella case investigation data documented in Pennsylvania's electronic disease surveillance system (PA-NEDSS) was not routinely monitored by Department of Health (DOH) staff. A pilot project was initiated in April 2018 to monitor and improve completeness of select varicella case investigation variables.

The National Syndromic Surveillance Program (NSSP) is a community focused collaboration among federal, state, and local public health agencies and partners for timely exchange of syndromic data. These data, captured in nearly real time, are intended to improve the nation's situational awareness and responsiveness to hazardous events and disease outbreaks.