scholarly journals Syndromic Surveillance – Reports of Successes from the Field

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Antheny Wilson ◽  
Teresa Hamby ◽  
Wei Hou ◽  
David J Swenson ◽  
Krystal Collier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Data Quality ◽  
Syndromic Surveillance ◽  
Surveillance Program ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Health Departments ◽  
Local Health Departments ◽  
Success Stories ◽  
Department Of Health ◽  
State And Local

Objective: This panel will:● Discuss the importance of identifying and developing success stories● Highlight successes from state and local health departments to show how syndromic surveillance activities enhance situational awareness and address public health concerns● Encourage discussion on how to further efforts for developing and disseminating success storiesIntroduction: Syndromic surveillance uses near-real-time emergency department and other health care data for enhancing public health situational awareness and informing public health activities. In recent years, continued progress has been made in developing and strengthening syndromic surveillance activities. At the national level, syndromic surveillance activities are facilitated by the National Syndromic Surveillance Program (NSSP), a collaboration among state and local health departments, the CDC, other federal organizations, and other organizations that enabled collection of syndromic surveillance data in a timely manner, application of advanced data monitoring and analysis techniques, and sharing of best practices. This panel will highlight the importance of success stories. Examples of successes from state and local health departments will be presented and the audience will be encouraged to provide feedback.Description: ●Success stories – acknowledging and informing syndromic surveillance practiceThis presentation will discuss the importance of success stories for NSSP focused on increasing syndromic surveillance representativeness, improving data quality, and strengthening syndromic surveillance practices among grant recipients and partners. From the beginning of the program, the identification of success stories has been an important part of the efforts to develop knowledge base that better guide syndromic surveillance program activities.●NJ and BioSense – Making The Connection The New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) uses Health Monitoring’s EpiCenter as its primary ED data for syndromic surveillance. This data is also submitted to CDC’s NSSP BioSense Platform. In April 2017, a spike in ED Visits of Interest was identified by a CDC NSSP subject matter expert and brought to the attention of NJDOH’s data analyst. Data showed an increase in “Exposure” and “School Exposure” chief complaints in two contiguous counties. News reports showed the visits resulted from a dormitory fire at a university in the area. The NSSP and NJDOH staff collaboration integrated data from both NJDOH’s EpiCenter and CDC’s BioSense Platform for further investigation. This activity shows BioSense Platform’s potential as an additional syndromic surveillance tool because of its different classifications and keyword groupings.●Evaluation and Performance Measures at the Utah Department of HealthSyndromic surveillance related evaluation activities at the Utah Department of Health requires collaboration between subject matter experts and system users from the UT-NSSP workgroup. The progress is examined quarterly and outcomes compared with the short-, mid-, and long-term outcomes listed in the NSSP logic model to ensure activities are in sync with the program’s overall goals. Throughout the budget year, a variety of tools were used to keep track of the progress. During this session, challenges and successes, lessons learned, and effective strategies will be discussed.●NSSP R tool Data Download Useful in NHThe New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (NH DHHS) uses the state-wide Automated Hospital Emergency Department Data (AHEDD) system as its primary syndromic surveillance system. A copy of this data is submitted to CDC’s NSSP BioSense Platform. In July of 2017, NH worked with the NSSP vendor, CDC staff, a jurisdictional expert, NH Division of Information Technology staff, and an external vendor to create an “R” software download in CSV format and home-based NSSP Cognos report. This allowed NH DHHS staff to compare these data to the home-based data and ultimately, it proved to be an important step in the NSSP data quality assessment process.●Achieving success to improve data quality through collaborative Community of Practice partnerships The Data Quality Committee is a forum to identify, discuss, and attempt to address syndromic surveillance data quality issues. Maintaining data quality for the chief complaint field is a priority as it can impact the creation and refinement in the successful application of a syndrome definition for one of the fundamental data elements. An issue was observed in the Arizona data in the BioSense Platform, where chief complaint was being truncated at 200 characters. Through efforts to build relationships from the committee in the Community of Practice, Arizona was able to discover the root causes for the issue, assess if it affected other jurisdictions, and work with the partners to find a feasible resolution. This talk will discuss how this collaborative approach helped improve data quality.How the Moderator Intends to Engage the Audience in Discussions on the Topic: The moderator will introduce the session and the panelists, and will invite questions and comments from the audience.

scholarly journals Investigating the Role of State and Local Health Departments in Addressing Public Health Concerns Related to Industrial Food Animal Production Sites

PLoS ONE ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. e54720 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jillian P. Fry ◽  
Linnea I. Laestadius ◽  
Clare Grechis ◽  
Keeve E. Nachman ◽  
Roni A. Neff
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Animal Production ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Health Departments ◽  
Local Health Departments ◽  
Health Concerns ◽  
Food Animal ◽  
State And Local

scholarly journals U.S. Medical Studentsʼ Rotations in Epidemiology and Public Health at State and Local Health Departments

2002 ◽  
Vol 77 (8) ◽  
pp. 799-809 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew L. Dannenberg ◽  
M. Patricia Quinlisk ◽  
Ellen Alkon ◽  
Nathalie Bera ◽  
Paul R. Cieslak ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Health Departments ◽  
Local Health Departments ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Epidemiology And Public Health

scholarly journals Regional Governance of Syndromic Surveillance for the Texas Gulf Coast

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wesley McNeely ◽  
Eunice R. Santos ◽  
Biru Yang ◽  
Kiley Allred ◽  
Raouf R. Arafat
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Syndromic Surveillance ◽  
Health Department ◽  
Regional Governance ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Health Departments ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Local Health Departments ◽  
Syndromic Surveillance System

ObjectiveDescribe and explain the transition of the syndromic surveillanceprogram at the Houston Health Department (HHD) from being alocally managed and aging system to an ESSENCE system governedby a regional Consortium of public health agencies and stakeholdersin the 13-county area of the southeast Texas.IntroductionSyndromic surveillance systems are large and complex technologyprojects that increasingly require large investments of financial andpolitical capital to be sustainable. What was once a minor surveillancetool in the mid-2000s has evolved into a program that is regardedas valuable to public health yet is increasingly difficult to maintainand operate for local health departments. The Houston HealthDepartment installed a syndromic surveillance system (SyS) sixyears before Meaning Use became known to healthcare communities.The system chosen at the time was the Real-time Outbreak DiseaseSurveillance System (RODS) which, at the time and for its purpose,was a suitable platform for syndromic surveillance. During the past13 years however, maintaining, operating, and growing a SyS by alocal health department has become increasingly difficult. Inclusionin Meaningful Use elevated the importance and profile of syndromicsurveillance such that network growth, transparency of operations,ease of data sharing, and cooperation with other state systems inTexas became program imperatives.MethodsWith support from the informatics group at Tarrant County PublicHealth (TCPH) in the form of mentoring, HHD devised a two prongstrategy to re-invigorate the syndromic program. The first was toreplace RODS with ESSENCE from Johns Hopkins Applied PhysicsLaboratory (JH/APL). The second was to strengthen the regionalnetwork by creating a governance structure that included outsideagencies and stakeholders. The product of this second effort wasthe creation of the Syndromic Surveillance Consortium of SoutheastTexas (SSCSeT) on the Communities of Practice model1usingparliamentary procedure2.ResultsAcquiring ESSENCE and forming SSCSeT were necessary stepsfor the continuing operation of the SyS. The Consortium includesmembers from local health jurisdictions, health care providers, healthpolicy advocates, academicians, and data aggregators. Created asa democratic society, SSCSeT wrote its constitution and by-laws,voted in officers, formed working groups and has begun developingpolicies. The Consortium is cooperating with the Texas Departmentof State Health Services (DSHS) as well as TCPH. Having ESSENCEwill ensure the HHD-SyS will conform to standards being developedin the state and provide a robust syndromic platform for the partnersof the Consortium.ConclusionsSyndromic systems operated by local health departments canadapt to regulatory changes by growing their networks and engagingregional stakeholders using the Communities of Practice model.

scholarly journals Evaluation Activities from the National Syndromic Surveillance Program

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Romano ◽  
Cassandra Davis ◽  
Krystal Collier ◽  
Sara Johnston ◽  
Hana Tesfamichael ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Syndromic Surveillance ◽  
Situational Awareness ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Surveillance Data ◽  
Acceptance Testing ◽  
Surveillance Program ◽  
Local Health ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Surveillance Practice

ObjectiveThe objective of this session is to discuss syndromic surveillance evaluation activities. Panel participants will describe contexts and importance of selected evaluation and performance measurement activities in NSSP. Discussions will explore ways to strengthen evaluation in syndromic surveillance activities in the future.IntroductionSyndromic surveillance uses near-real-time Emergency Department healthcare and other data to improve situational awareness and inform activities implemented in response to public health concerns. The National Syndromic Surveillance Program (NSSP) is a collaboration among state and local health departments, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), other federal organizations, and other entities, to strengthen the means for and the practice of syndromic surveillance. NSSP thus strives to strengthen syndromic surveillance at the national and the state, and local levels through the coordinated activities of the involved partners and the development and use of advanced technologies, such as the BioSense platform. Evaluation and performance measurement are crucial to ensure that the various strategies and activities implemented to strengthen syndromic surveillance capacity and practice are effective. Evaluation activities will be discussed at this session and feedback from audience will be sought with the goal to further strengthen evaluation activities in the future.DescriptionSyndromic surveillance practice among NSSP grant recipients: findings from a telephone based survey – S. Romano This presentation will highlight the development and implementation of a survey among the NSSP grant recipients about their syndromic surveillance practice. The objectives of the survey was to develop knowledge and understanding about: a) characteristics of syndromic surveillance practice at the state and local level among jurisdictions that are NSSP grant recipients; b) challenges encountered by these jurisdictions in conducting syndromic surveillance; and c) strategies that may help address these challenges. The objectives and methods of the survey will be described in detail. The survey is expected to be implemented before the end of this year. Preliminary findings will be presented if available. Lessons learned and strategies to consider for strengthening syndromic surveillance practice will be discussed.Defining a sustainable approach to syndromic surveillance through the AZ BioSense Workgroup Charter – K. Collier, S. Johnston The Arizona BioSense Workgroup has developed a five year charter outlining the method and measures used for implementation and adoption of syndromic surveillance in Arizona. Membership consists of clinicians, IT and public health. The mission and vision help to establish a foundation for building capacity and quality of the syndromic surveillance data, improved population health and emergency response through timely and effective use of the data. Cross-cutting topics resulted in a process for assessing training needs, establishing protocols and evaluation of use cases, shared plans for situational awareness and making public health decisions. This talk will discuss the collaborative approach and how lessons learned will inform future activities.User Acceptance Testing to inform development and enhancement of the BioSense Platform – C. Davis Between June, 2016 and January, 2017, NSSP operationalized an updated BioSense Platform for conducting syndromic surveillance. The platform included ESSENCE, a software that enables analysis and visualization of syndromic surveillance data and the Access Management Center, a tool that enables jurisdictions to manage access to data. The development of and transition to the updated platform was informed by a User Acceptance Testing (UAT) that examined the functionality and usability of the platform and associated tools After webinar based orientation UAT, participants were requested to carry out specific tasks using the updated platform and tools in development. This presentation will discuss the objectives and methods of implementation of the UAT, findings from the UAT, and how these guided transition activities and the refinement of the platform applications.A quantitative and qualitative assessment of user support provided by the NSSP Service Desk – H. Tesfamichael, S. Romano A principal component of NSSP is the BioSense platform that includes health care visits related information, particularly related to emergency department visits, from across the U.S. BioSense and its associated tools, including ESSENCE, the Access Management Center, and Adminer, enable state and local health departments, and other, as appropriate, to use syndromic surveillance data to implement surveillance and assessment activities. The NSSP Service Desk provides technical support to BioSense users to assist with the use of the BioSense platform and its tools Users submit support request tickets through an online application. An analysis of information related to these tickets, including the context of the requests and their resolution status, was conducted to better understand the support needs of users and how well these were being addressed. This presentation will discuss the assessment, findings, and conclusions.How the Moderator Intends to Engage the Audience in Discussions on the TopicThe moderator will introduce the session and the panelists. The moderator will also invite questions and comments from the audience, and will facilitate the discussions. 

scholarly journals The Financial Burden of Public Health Responses to Hepatitis A Cases Among Food Handlers, 2012-2014

2017 ◽  
Vol 132 (4) ◽  
pp. 443-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca J. Morey ◽  
Melissa G. Collier ◽  
Noele P. Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Hepatitis A ◽  
Health Department ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Health Departments ◽  
Local Health Departments ◽  
Food Handlers ◽  
The Mean ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Mean Cost

When food handlers become ill with hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection, state and local health departments must assess the risk of HAV transmission through prepared food and recommend or provide postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) for those at risk for HAV infection. Providing PEP (eg, hepatitis A [HepA] vaccine or immunoglobulin), however, is costly. To describe the burden of these responses on state and local health departments, we determined the number of public health responses to HAV infections among food handlers by reviewing public internet sources of media articles. We then contacted each health department to collect data on whether PEP was recommended to food handlers or restaurant patrons, the number of PEP doses given, the number of HepA vaccine or immunoglobulin doses given as PEP, and the mean number of health department person-hours required for the response. Of 32 public health responses identified from Twitter, HealthMap, and Google alerts from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2014, a total of 27 (84%) recommended PEP for other food handlers or restaurant patrons or both. Per public health response, the mean cost per dose of the HepA vaccine or immunoglobulin was $34 139; the mean personnel cost per response was $7329; and the total mean cost of each response was $41 468. PEP is expensive. Less aggressive approaches to PEP, such as limiting PEP to fellow food handlers in nonoutbreak situations, should be considered in the postvaccination era. HepA vaccine for PEP provides long-term immunity and can be used when immunoglobulin is unavailable or cannot be administered within 14 days of exposure to HAV.

TRENDS

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1952 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 130-134
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Medical Care ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Federal Aid ◽  
Health Departments ◽  
Local Health Departments ◽  
Public Health Services ◽  
Active Attention ◽  
State And Local

ONE of the pending medical bills which will undoubtedly receive active attention in the second session of the 82d Congress is the Local Health Units Bill (S.445). This bill, to which we have referred in this column (March 1951 ), proposes an increase in Federal aid to the States to help establish and maintain a Nation-wide network of full-time local health departments. The stimulating effect of a tie-in with the defense program was given to the measure when the President urged Congress to approve such legislation in order that communities in defense areas may be provided with the means of meeting the increased burdens of sanitation, protection of food and water supplies, services for preschool and school children and other services to prevent disease and promote health. S.445 was passed by the Senate. The House Interstate Commerce Committee is now considering this and similar bills. Several points at issue are whether this measure should be limited to the defense emergency period ; how public health services should be defined; and the kind of minimum standards to be required. While this legislation is currently under discussion, new light has been thrown upon many of the important questions involved. A highly significant report, recently published by the American Public Health Association, describes the changing concepts of the functions of local health departments and the extent to which they are now operating general medical care programs. in the first place, this report calls attention to the trend to place responsibility for medical care of the indigent and the needy in state and local departments of health.

scholarly journals Evaluation of Syndromic Surveillance Systems in 6 US State and Local Health Departments

2017 ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathew J. Thomas ◽  
Paula W. Yoon ◽  
James M. Collins ◽  
Arthur J. Davidson ◽  
William R. Mac Kenzie
Keyword(s):  
Syndromic Surveillance ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Health Departments ◽  
Local Health Departments ◽  
State And Local
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