# Presentation: 198399

## Facilitating electronic sharing of data needed for public health preparedness:  the National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS)

- Claire Broome, M.D.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- March 20, 2002
- Public Health Data Standards Consortium

## NEDSS “at-a-glance”

**NEDSS is a broad initiative using national data and information system standards for development of efficient, integrated, and interoperable surveillance systems at the state and local levels**
- Data standards- data models, _[http://www.cdc.gov/nedss](http://www.cdc.gov/nedss)_
- Harmonizing with HL7 Reference Information Model
- NEDSS System Architecture, _***http://www.cdc.gov/nedss***_
**Includes tools for electronic data transfer to health department  from health care system**:
- Eg from multi-jurisdictional clinical labs
**Architecture built on Integrated Data Repository; data from health care to health department sent via**
- single pipeline: single format, receiving point, security
**Security standards (HIPAA compliant) to maintain public health track record in protecting sensitive data**
**Starts with focus—infectious disease—but keeps big picture in mind**

## Security

- NEDSS Systems Architecture
- For State and local Public Health Departments

- CDC and Other
- Health Depts.

- XML
- Data
- Exchange

- Electronic
- Laboratory
- Messages

- HL7

- State Health
- Department

- Local Health
- Department
- Or
- Clinical
- Site

- Shareable
- Directory of
-  PH Personnel

- Reporting, GIS and Analysis

## Current Status of NEDSS

- 50 states, 6 cities, and 1 territory funded for NEDSS:  43 started with Assessment & Planning phase in 2000
- September 2001:  35 states and 1 city  receiving funds for development of NEDSS compatible systems
-   16 implementing NEDSS compatible state developed system
-   20 deploying NEDSS Base System (NBS)
- January 2002:  Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund provides major funding for state and local public health capacity, including surveillance and IT capacity

## IT Functions and Specifications for BT Guidance to states from CDC and HRSA

- Need
- - 	Public health emergency preparedness and response need IT to support programmatic capacities in the guidance; systems MUST be interoperable among partners and across states
- Industry Standards
- Involved industry standards (HL7, ebXML, SNOMED, LOINC...)
- Technical specifications
- Specifications derived from the standards as per the National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS) and Health Alert Network (HAN)
- Some additional specifications to be refined with partners in coming months

## IT Functions and Specifications for BT Guidance

- Automated Exchange of Data Between Public Health Partners
- Management of Possible Case and Contacts Data
- Specimen and Lab Result Information Management and Exchange
- Use of Electronic Clinical Data for Event Detection
- Manual Data Entry for Event Detection
- Analysis and Visualization
- Directories of Public Health and Clinical Personnel
- Public Health Information Dissemination and Alerting
- IT Security and Critical Infrastructure Protection

## How can NEDSS support state and local preparedness capacity?

- IT functions and specifications in Guidance extend and incorporate NEDSS standards
- Guidance explicitly proposes NEDSS compatible systems as basis for surveillance and response systems (focus area B) and exchange of electronic data (focus area E)
- All 50 states have NEDSS funding, and Points of Contact.  Forty three states have done NEDSS assessment and planning which may help with preparedness IT planning
- Bioterrorism coordinators are encouraged to work closely with NEDSS coordinators

## State “Base System” Option

-     **A NEDSS compatible system for state use developed by an experienced web software developer (Computer Sciences Corporation) **
**“****Base system”includes Core Demographics and National Notifiable Disease Module; person based Integrated Data repository; HL-7 messaging **
**Also useful as a specific implementation of NEDSS       e.g. standard messages, database model**
**Base System now pilot testing with state security, DBMS infrastructure in TN and NE**
**Base system is platform for other modules**
**States have option to use (or not) CDC modules**

## How does NEDSS support PHDSC objectives to encourage use of standards?

**NEDSS uses actual or de facto national standards for architecture; NOT specific to infectious disease**
**Need for broad interoperability emphasized by states at NEDSS stakeholders’ meeting, April 2001**
**Current discussions with vital registrars, NCHS to harmonize new birth and death records re-engineering**
**FY2001 intra-mural $’s to support NEDSS pilot projects beyond infectious diseases at CDC**
**Discussions with CMS about CMS-NEDSS harmonization to support interoperable data systems at state level**

## How can NEDSS help encourage use of standards?

- Understanding of need for preparedness high among providers, public
- Public private partnership with eHealth Initiative includes public health, Standards Development Organization, clinical systems vendors supporting 80% of US hospitals, providers
- practical solutions to implement standard messages
- early step en route to NHII
- Electronic data reporting complements alert clinicians, backstops the system, (and eases burden of public health reporting requirements)

## Background information

## National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS)

- NEDSS Use of National Data Standards
- HL7 2.3 public health lab message
- HL7 Reference Information Model and supplement of Public Health Conceptual Data Model
- data storage
- messaging
- HL7 Version 3.0 Public Health Notification messages
- Commitment to participate with PH partners in SDO’s
- LOINC, SNOMED, ICD and others (North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), the Bureau of Labor Statistics Standard Occupational Class (SOC) codes, and various ISO codes)

## How does standards based approach support state health department ?

**Single, consistent approach to health sector partners to obtain public health data, and use of data in electronic format, when available—ie decreased respondent burden, decreased health department burden**
**Provides ability for public health to accept electronic information from e.g.  eHealth Initiative members **
**Efficient use of infra-structure at state level**
**Skilled IT personnel**
**Software, hardware**

## Automated Exchange of Data Between Public Health Partners

- Need:
- To have a “live” network for the secure exchange of appropriate data between partners in public health without manual intervention
- Standards:
- ebXML over SOAP over HTTPS with standard messages
- Specifications:
- A variety of message content formats including (with associated vocabularies):
- HL7 3.0 Public Health Notification messages (NEDSS)
- HL7 2.3 lab result message
- X12 messages
- LDIF directory information messages

## Management of Caseand Contact Data

- Need:
- To manage and trace possible cases from detection, through lab testing and confirmation, possible prophylaxis and/or vaccination,  adverse events monitoring and then follow-up
- Standards:
- HL7, SNOMED, LOINC, ISO
- Specifications:
- NEDSS logical data model, vocabularies, and extensions for possible case reports, contacts, and other data

## Specimen and Lab ResultInformation Management and Exchange

- Need:
- 	To have participating laboratories electronically receive laboratory requests, accept specimen and sample data, manage these data and immediately report electronic results to public health partners
- Standards:
- 	HL7, SNOMED, LOINC
- Specifications:
- HL7 2.3 public health lab result message
- HL7 2.3 lab request message

## Use of Electronic Clinical Datafor Event Detection

- Need:
- 	To send appropriate primary use clinical data, in a timely fashion, to public health for the purpose of surveillance for the identification of possible bioterrorism or chemical attack.
- Standards:
- 	 HL7, ebXML, X12, CPT, ICD
- Specifications:
- Existing HL7 2.x, order and result messages with vocabularies
- Extensions to the NEDSS Logical Data Model for storage and messaging in the areas of presenting complaint and syndromic data, laboratory order and diagnostic study requests and results, admission and discharge data, utilization data, other clinical data

## Manual Data Entryfor Event Detection 

- Need:
- 	To accumulate for public health purposes, manually entered syndromic and other data (utilization, clinical census, aggregate diagnoses), entered at clinical points of care that may provide surveillance for the identification of a possible bioterrorism or chemical attack.
- Standards:
- 	PKI, strong authentication, WWW – N-Tiered Architecture, HL7
- Specifications:
- 	Extensions to the NEDSS Logical Data Model for storage in the areas of presenting complaint and syndromic data, laboratory order and diagnostic study requests and results, admission and discharge data, utilization data, other clinical data

## Analysis and Visualization

- Need:
- To analyze, display, report and map data accumulated and stored according to the specifications in the other functions including outbreak detection algorithms, statistical analysis, Geographic Information Systems (GIS). To be able to share analytic, reporting and display capabilities.
- Standards:
- HL7 RIM
- Specified Vocabularies
- Specifications:
- Use of a variety of Commercial Off the Shelf Software platforms
- NEDSS logical data model and extensions

## Directories of Public Healthand Clinical Personnel

- Need:
- 	To support directories of public health participants (including primary clinical personnel), their roles and contact information for public health jurisdictions
- Standards:
- 	LDAP
- Specifications:
- 	LDAP schema for public health directories*
- 	Public health LDIF data exchange specification*
- * In draft form

## Public Health InformationDissemination and Alerting

- Need:
- To receive, manage and disseminate alerts, protocols, procedures and other information for dissemination to public health workers, primary care physicians, public health laboratorians, and public health partners in emergency response.
- Standards:
- SMTP, XML
- Specifications:
- Messages specifications to include criticality, target audience, etc. to match public health LDAP schema

## IT Security and CriticalInfrastructure Protection

- Need:
- To assuring that access to sensitive or critical information is not lost, destroyed, misappropriated or corrupted and to assure that continuity of operations can be maintained subsequent to a deliberate or natural catastrophic event.
- Standards:
- HIPAA, PKI, HTTPS
- Specifications:
- Independent validation and verification security and continuity of operations

## State and local health department  participation in NEDSS

- Partner organization “point of contact” & co-ordination, IT Committees (ASTHO, NACCHO, CSTE, APHL, NAPHSIS, NAHDO)
- Working groups on cross-cutting topics
- Participation in developing  NEDSS Base System
- JAD sessions
- Ongoing review of requirements drafts, prototypes
- Integration testing, pilot testing Nebraska, Tennessee
- Stakeholders meetings
- Representation on CDC Information Council
- Web Board conferences, postings

## NEDSS Systems Architecture Elements

**COTS**
**Application**

**COTS**
**Application**

**Systems**
**Element**

**Systems**
**Element**

**Standards**

**Standards**

- The NEDSS architecture is currently built around 8 elements that are functionally and technically defined.
- The elements encourage highly modular systems implementations.
- They are delineated by industry standards and the *de facto* standards of existing commercial product niches.
- They facilitate the use of commercial software as elements, but minimize proprietary commercial applications that cross element boundaries.
- They try to facilitate exit strategies to take advantage of new commercial development.

## Implement an integrated data repository

- able to be patient centered, non-categorical
- support “thick” client and web applications
- (ODBC, JDBC and ANSI SQL)

## Security

## Security

- Conduct and support web browser-based data entry and data management.
- Internet presentable, but not necessary
- Multi-tiered including an application server to run web “forms” from others

- State Health
- Department

- Local Health
- Department
- Or
- Clinical
- Site

## Security

- Accept, route and process electronic HL7 messages containing laboratory and clinical content (LOINC, SNOMED).

- Electronic
- Laboratory
- Messages

- HL7

- State Health
- Department

- Local Health
- Department
- Or
- Clinical
- Site

## Security

- Develop active data translation and exchange (integration broker) functionality (XML, DTD’s HTTPS).

- CDC and Other
- Health Depts.

- XML
- Data
- Exchange

- Electronic
- Laboratory
- Messages

- HL7

- State Health
- Department

- Local Health
- Department
- Or
- Clinical
- Site

## Security

- Develop data reporting and visualization capability (messaging and import/export ODBC, JDBC, ANSI SQL).

- CDC and Other
- Health Depts.

- XML
- Data
- Exchange

- Electronic
- Laboratory
- Messages

- HL7

- Reporting, GIS and Analysis

- State Health
- Department

- Local Health
- Department
- Or
- Clinical
- Site

## Security

- Implement a shareable directory of public health personnel (LDAP).

- Shareable
- Directory of
-  PH Personnel

- CDC and Other
- Health Depts.

- XML
- Data
- Exchange

- Electronic
- Laboratory
- Messages

- HL7

- State Health
- Department

- Local Health
- Department
- Or
- Clinical
- Site

- Reporting, GIS and Analysis

## Security

- Develop transportable business logic capability (COM, CORBA, EJB).

- CDC and Other
- Health Depts.

- XML
- Data
- Exchange

- Electronic
- Laboratory
- Messages

- HL7

- State Health
- Department

- Local Health
- Department
- Or
- Clinical
- Site

- Shareable
- Directory of
-  PH Personnel

- Reporting, GIS and Analysis

## Will support and run CDC developed applications and web based “case reports” that interoperate with this environment.

- CDC Forms and Applications

- CDC and Other
- Health Depts.

- XML
- Data
- Exchange

## What does NEDSS have to do with HIPAA?

**HIPAA mandates national health care data standards and policies in four areas:**
- Transaction content; unique identifiers for providers, health plans; security; privacy
**NEDSS architecture standards are HIPAA compliant: **
- supports “dual use” for security, messaging elements
**Approach to NEDSS data standards is HIPAA compliant: **
- Adopting HIPAA standards where relevant eg electronic laboratory reporting in NEDSS uses standards in HIPAA  NPRM for laboratory claims attachment
- Advocating inclusion of data elements relevant to public health with SDO’s

## What does NEDSS have to do with HIPAA Privacy Rule?

- Privacy Rule allows current practice of sharing data with public health
- Rule permits health care providers to share individually identifiable information with legally authorized public health entities for public health activities
- Public health activities include surveillance (NEDSS), investigation, intervention