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NCDETECT

NC DETECT receives daily data files from emergency departments (ED), the statewide EMS data collection system, the statewide poison center, and veterinary laboratory test results. Included in these data are elements, which may contain Protected Health Information (PHI). It is the responsibility of NC DETECT to ensure that security of these data is managed during their entire life cycle, including receiving, loading, cleaning, storage, managing, reporting, user access, archiving, and destruction. A web interface is provided for users at state, regional and local levels to access syndromic surveillance reports, as well as reports for broader public health surveillance such as injury, occupational health, and disaster management.

Objective

This paper describes how the North Carolina Disease Event Tracking and Epidemiologic Collection Tool (NC DETECT) utilizes various methods of encryption and access control to protect sensitive patient data during both integration and reporting.

Referenced File
Submitted by uysz on

North Carolina hosted the 2018 FEI WEG in Polk County at the Tryon Equestrian Center in September 2018. Polk County, located in the Mountain region of Western North Carolina, is home to 20,357 people, and the population is widely distributed. Event organizers expected approximately 300,000 to 500,000 people to visit the area, with 800 horses from 71 countries taking part in the games. Providing adequate public health epidemiologic investigations and response for the large scale event in the predominantly rural area presented a challenge. The NC Surveillance & Response Team was created to facilitate enhanced surveillance for significant public health events during the WEG, assist local public health agencies with epidemiologic investigations and response, develop public health risk assessments, and implement control measures. Surveillance data were collected from the North Carolina Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NC EDSS), North Carolina’s and CDC’s National syndromic surveillance systems (NC DETECT and NSSP ESSENCE), Public Health Epidemiologists from Atrium Health and Mission Hospital, and reports from the on-site medical facility (MED-1) at the Tryon Equestrian Center. The data were reviewed and summarized in internal and external situation reports.

Objective: To describe surveillance activities and use of existing state (NC DETECT) and national (NSSP) syndromic surveillance systems during the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI) World Equestrian Games (WEG), in Mill Spring, NC from September 11 to September 23, 2018

Submitted by elamb on

Suicide is a leading cause of mortality in the United States, causing about 45,000 deaths annually. Research suggests that universal screening in health care settings may be beneficial for prevention, but few studies have combined detailed suicide circumstances with ED encounter data to better understand care-seeking behavior prior to death.

Objective: To identify potential emergency department (ED) visits prior to suicide deaths in North Carolina (NC) and describe pre-suicide care-seeking in EDs.

Submitted by elamb on

Over the last few decades, the United States has made considerable progress in decreasing the incidence of motor vehicle occupants injured and killed in traffic collisions.1 However, there is still a need for continued motor vehicle crash (MVC) injury surveillance, particularly for vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians and bicyclists. In NC, the average annual number of pedestrian-motor vehicle crashes increased by 13.5 percent during the period 2011-2015, as compared to 2006-2010.2 Therefore, the Carolina Center for Health Informatics (CCHI), as part of a NC Governor's Highway Safety Program-funded project to improve statewide MVC injury surveillance, developed and evaluated four ICD-10-CM based case definitions for use with NC DETECT, NC's statewide syndromic surveillance system.

Objective: To evaluate four ICD-10-CM based case definitions designed to capture pedestrian and bicycle crash-related emergency department (ED) visits in North Carolina's statewide syndromic surveillance system, NC DETECT.

Submitted by elamb on

The UNC Department of Emergency Medicine (UNC DEM) conducted an online survey to better understand the surveillance needs of Infection Control Practitioners (ICPs) in North Carolina and solicit feedback on the utility of the North Carolina Disease Event Tracking and Epidemiologic Collection Tool (NC DETECT).

Referenced File
Submitted by elamb on

Concern over oral health-related ED visits stems from the increasing number of unemployed and uninsured, the cost burden of these visits, and the unavailability of indicated dental care in EDs [1]. Of particular interest to NC state public health planners are Medicaid-covered visits. Syndromic data in biosurveillance systems offer a means to quantify these visits overall and by county and age group.

Objective

The objective was to use syndromic surveillance data from the North Carolina Disease Event Tracking and Epidemiologic Collection Tool NCDETECT and from BioSense to quantify the burden on North Carolina (NC) emergency departments of oral health-related visits more appropriate for care in a dental office (ED). Calculations were sought in terms of the Medicaid-covered visit rate relative to the Medicaid-eligible population by age group and by county.

Submitted by uysz on
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