Sending Syndromic Now? Common Issues and Challenges in Onboarding Syndromic Data

Key Objectives:
Defining syndromic onboarding as the successful fulfillment of these steps: 1) establishing contact with syndromic submitters; 2) setting and following a roadmap for testing and go-live; 3) establishing baseline content and validity standards for core data elements; and 4) instituting ongoing data transmission, we intend to have a roundtable discussion with syndromic onboarders and practitioners to identify common issues in each of these categories and share strategies or best practices for resolution of these issues. 

Brief Summary:
Meaningful Use, the federal electronic health record incentive program for providers and healthcare facilities, has facilitated the availability of HL7-compliant syndromic surveillance data in public health jurisdictions across the nation. However, processing and storing these data can be challenging for several reasons: public health is often new to HL7-compliant messages; these messages require an integration engine to parse; whereas there is a technical guide for syndromic submitters, there is no partner guide for syndromic receivers, nor toolkit of testing or onboarding tools; and syndromic submitters may submit to Public Health Authorities, health information exchanges and/or to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s BioSense program. Findings from this roundtable will be compiled and posted on a public-facing website for use by professionals engaged in syndromic onboarding (e.g., epidemiologists, informaticians and others). This session will seek to highlight success stories, particularly with large electronic health record vendors, to share solutions for nation- or region-wide issues. Where gaps are identified, this group can discuss how best to work with syndromic partners (e.g., healthcare facilities, electronic health record vendors, federal entities) to support resolution. Several years into Meaningful Use, infrastructure for public health syndromic onboarders remains poorly developed. There is a need for discussions on national platforms to identify common sets of issues, best practices and gaps in resources for syndromic onboarders. As pressure mounts for healthcare facilities to begin or maintain syndromic submission, Public Health Authorities well-versed in syndromic onboarding will be best placed to take advantage of these data streams.