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Pennsylvania Department of Health Uses Data Integration to Help Detect and Track Disease Outbreaks

Software replaces paper-based system to improve information-tracking program.

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- The Pennsylvania Department of Health has successfully implemented a data integration platform to help public health personnel more effectively detect, track and respond to disease outbreaks.

Aiming to address the difficulty of containing disease outbreaks within geographical boundaries and the possibility of bioterrorism, the department has implemented a statewide electronic disease-surveillance system called the Pennsylvania - National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (PA-NEDSS). The system promotes the use of information-system standards to help ensure automated, integrated and interoperable surveillance systems at federal, state and local levels. More specifically, PA-NEDSS improves the timeliness and accuracy of disease reporting and expands the public healthcare infrastructure to speed response to possible bioterrorism attacks.

Informatica's PA-NEDSS replaces a mostly manual, paper-based legacy system, enabling the electronic submission of disease data via the Internet. The data integration platform helps the department to collect, normalize and integrate data from its operational database, as well as third-party hospital, laboratory and physician disease reports for use through the PA-NEDSS data warehouse.
Miriam Jones is a former chief copy editor of Government Technology, Governing, Public CIO and Emergency Management magazines.