Forming Collaborations through the Data Quality Committee to Address Urgent Incidents

Abstract

ObjectiveThe National Syndromic Surveillance Program (NSSP) Community of Practice (CoP) works to support syndromic surveillance by providing guidance and assistance to help resolve data issues and foster relationships between jurisdictions, stakeholders, and vendors. During this presentation, we will highlight the value of collaboration through the International Society for Disease Surveillance (ISDS) Data Quality Committee (DQC) between jurisdictional sites conducting syndromic surveillance, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) NSSP, and electronic health record (EHR) vendors when vendor-specific errors are identified, using a recent incident to illustrate and discuss how this collaboration can work to address suspected data anomalies.IntroductionOn 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.DescriptionOn 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.How the Moderator Intends to Engage the Audience in Discussions on the TopicFollowing presentation of this information, the presenters will lead a discussion on how to improve the response, provide resolution, communicate expectations, and decrease the time required to resolve issues should a similar event happen in the future. Participants from all three stakeholder groups, sites conducting syndromic surveillance, the NSSP, and vendor representatives, will be invited to share their experiences, successes, and concerns.