![[ Visit Client Website ]](images/banner.jpg)
Case reporting is a cornerstone of public health surveillance. With the adoption of electronic health records (EHRs), it is expected that case reports will increasingly be sent directly from the EHR to public health. Data and content standards support the exchange of many types of information states need to complete case reports (e.g., identifiers, demographics, diagnostic narratives and codes, etc.). Patient work information is required for many types of case reports, however these data have rarely been exchanged electronically directly from the EHR. Efforts to support the exchange of work information are underway.
METHODS:
The Standard and Interoperability (S&I) Framework’s Public Health Reporting Initiative (PHRI) is a community-led initiative to develop interoperability standards and the tools that support those standards, with the goal of facilitating reporting from EHRs to public health. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) participates in PHRI efforts to ensure that EHRs will support reports of work information [(i.e., patient Industry and Occupation (I/O) and other information about patient work (e.g., exposures, occupational history, injury information[) for both occupational and non-occupational conditions.
RESULTS:
This session will present progress in developing and supporting standards for the exchange of I/O and describe the implications for various public health reporting scenarios, e.g., state-based reporting of occupational conditions, reporting of infectious (non-occupational) conditions, and cancer registry reporting. Initiatives discussed will include the PHRI-developed Public Health Reporting Specifications and Implementation Guides.
CONCLUSIONS:
Harmonization of standards for electronic data exchange will support public health needs for work information. This presentation will encourage discussion of state needs for exchange of work information in public health reporting.