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Syndromic Surveillance & Meaningful Use
The National Syndromic Surveillance Program (NSSP) promotes and advances the development of a syndromic surveillance (SyS) system for the timely exchange of syndromic surveillance data. SyS data is used to improve situational awareness and enhance responsiveness to hazardous events and disease outbreaks to protect community’s health, safety and security.
Mandated in the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002, the NSSP was launched in 2003 to establish an integrated national public health surveillance system for early detection and rapid assessment of potential bioterrorism-related illness. NSSP includes collaboration among local, state and federal public health partners (including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention); other federal agencies including the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; hospitals and health professionals; and other key stakeholders.
In 2016, the Electronic Syndromic System for the Early Notification of Community-Based Epidemics (ESSENCE), developed by Johns Hopkins University (JHU), became the NSSP's primary syndromic surveillance tool. NSSP's version of ESSENCE allows epidemiologists to collaborate with others across geopolitical boundaries to share data which provides a broader surveillance view.
Key values of the NSSP:
- Enhancing health monitoring infrastructure and workforce capacity at the state, local and territorial levels
- Expanding the utility of NSSP data to use in all-hazards incidents and to contribute information for public health situational awareness, routine public health practice and improved health outcomes
- Improving the ability to detect emergency health-related threats by supporting the enhancement of systems to signal alerts for potential problems and improving the ability to understand the severity of health issues
- Increasing local and state jurisdictions participation in NSSP
Colorado Syndromic Surveillance Partnership Enhances Public Health Response
In the summer of 2016, Jefferson County Public Health and Boulder County Public Health [external link] joined the NSSP effort started by Tri-County Health Department and Denver Public Health (DPH) [external link]. TCHD and DPH co-jointly began participating in the NSSP in 2013, collecting the timely syndromic surveillance data for situational awareness and enhanced response to hazardous events and disease outbreaks. The syndromic surveillance partnership in the NSSP Colorado North Central Region (NSSP CO-NCR) includes public health agencies and facilities from Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson Counties.
Colorado North Central Region (CO-NCR) Hospitals Contributing data for Syndromic Surveillance, 2017
Adams County | Arapahoe County |
Platte Valley Medical Center | Swedish Medical Center |
North Suburban Medical Center | The Medical Center of Aurora |
University of Colorado Hospital | Littleton Parent Hospital |
St. Anthony North Parent Hospital | SCL Health Community Hospital - Aurora |
St. Anthony Neighborhood Health Center Parent Hospital | |
| |
Boulder County | Denver County |
Avista Parent Hospital | Rose Medical Center |
Good Samaritan Medical Center | Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center |
Longmont United Parent Hospital | Porter Parent Hospital |
Boulder Community Hospital | Denver Health and Hospital Authority |
| Saint Joseph Hospital |
| SCL Health Community Hospital - Northglenn |
| |
Douglas County | Jefferson County |
Parker Parent Hospital | St. Anthony Parent Hospital |
Sky Ridge Medical Center | Lutheran Medical Center |
Castle Rock Parent Hospital | SCL Health Community Hospital - South West |