A simulation study comparing aberration detection algorithms for syndromic surveillance

BACKGROUND: The usefulness of syndromic surveillance for early outbreak detection depends in part on effective statistical aberration detection. However, few published studies have compared different detection algorithms on identical data. In the largest simulation study conducted to date, we compared the performance of six aberration detection algorithms on simulated outbreaks superimposed on authentic syndromic surveillance data. METHODS: We compared three control-chart-based statistics, two exponential weighted moving averages, and a generalized linear model. We simulated 310 unique outbreak signals, and added these to actual daily counts of four syndromes monitored by Public Health – Seattle and King County's syndromic surveillance system. We compared the sensitivity of the six algorithms at detecting these simulated outbreaks at a fixed alert rate of 0.01. RESULTS: Stratified by baseline or by outbreak distribution, duration, or size, the generalized linear model was more sensitive than the other algorithms and detected 54% (95% CI = 52%–56%) of the simulated epidemics when run at an alert rate of 0.01. However, all of the algorithms had poor sensitivity, particularly for outbreaks that did not begin with a surge of cases. CONCLUSION: When tested on county-level data aggregated across age groups, these algorithms often did not perform well in detecting signals other than large, rapid increases in case counts relative to baseline levels

Implications of ICD-9/10 CM Transition for Public Health Surveillance: Challenges, Opportunities, and Lessons Learned from Multiple Sectors of Public Health

OBJECTIVE: To provide a forum for local, state, federal, and international public health/health care sectors to share promising practices and lessons learned in transitioning their organizations in the use of ICD-9 to ICD-10 codes for their respective surveillance activities. INTRODUCTION: This roundtable will provide forum for a diverse set of representatives from the local, state, federal and international public health care sectors to share tools, resources, experiences, and promising practices regarding the potential impact of the transition on their surveillance activities. This forum will promote the sharing of lessons learned, foster collaborations, and facilitate the reuse of existing resources without having to “reinvent the wheel”. It is hope that this roundtable will lay the ground-work for a more formal, collaborative, and sustainable venue within ISDS to aid in preparing the public health surveillance community for the coming ICD-9/10 CM transition. METHODS: The moderators will engage the participants in the discussion through dialogue in how their programs are currently using ICD-9 CM codes for surveillance and how the transition will impact their respective programs

Implications of ICD-9/10 CM Transition for Public Health Surveillance: Challenges, Opportunities, and Lessons Learned from Multiple Sectors of Public Health

This roundtable provided a forum for a diverse set of representatives from the local, state, federal and international public health care sectors to share tools, resources, experiences, and promising practices regarding the potential impact of the transition on their surveillance activities. This forum will promote the sharing of lessons learned, foster collaborations, and facilitate the reuse of existing resources without having to 'reinvent the wheel.' It is hope that this roundtable will lay the ground-work for a more formal, collaborative, and sustainable venue within ISDS to aid in preparing the public health surveillance community for the coming ICD-9/10 CM transition

Evaluation of Electronic Ambulatory Care Data for Use in the Influenza-like Illness Surveillance Network (ILINet)

Washington State Department of Health and Public Health Seattle King County sought to evaluate the utility of electronic ambulatory data for monitoring influenza-like illness (ILI). A definition of ILI that was previously validated using emergency department data was applied to ambulatory care records. During August 2007 through August 2012, the proportion of ILI visits strongly correlated with the number and percentage of positive influenza tests reported by the network laboratory. The results will aid in formulating guidance for ambulatory care providers who wish to utilize electronic medical record systems for weekly ILINet reporting

Guidelines for Navigating Human Subjects Review and Preparing Data Sets for Sharing with the ISDS Technical Conventions Committee

The purpose of this panel is to facilitate the dissemination of surveillance-related use cases by public health practitioners with accompanying benchmark datasets to method developers. The panel will present their experiences with preparing patient-level emergency department data sets to accompany a use case submitted to the ISDS Technical Conventions Committee. We will review methods for cultivating a data set that is appropriate for sharing; experiences with and strategies for navigating the IRB human subjects review process; and legal and ethical issues related to sharing syndromic surveillance data with third parties

Guidelines for Navigating Human Subjects Review and Preparing Data Sets for Sharing with the ISDS Technical Conventions Committee

The purpose of this panel is to facilitate the dissemination of surveillance-related use cases by public health practitioners with accompanying benchmark datasets to method developers. The panel will present their experiences with preparing patient-level emergency department data sets to accompany a use case submitted to the ISDS Technical Conventions Committee. We will review methods for cultivating a data set that is appropriate for sharing; experiences with and strategies for navigating the IRB human subjects review process; and legal and ethical issues related to sharing syndromic surveillance data with third parties