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ISDS 2018 Conference Abstracts

Evaluation Activities from the National Syndromic 
Surveillance Program
Sebastian Romano*1, Cassandra Davis1, Krystal Collier2, Sara Johnston2, 
Hana Tesfamichael1 and Hussain Yusuf1
1Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA; 2Arizona Department of Health Services, Phoenix, AZ, USA

Objective
The objective of this session is to discuss syndromic surveillance 

evaluation activities. Panel participants will describe contexts and 
importance of selected evaluation and performance measurement 
activities in NSSP. Discussions will explore ways to strengthen 
evaluation in syndromic surveillance activities in the future.

Introduction
Syndromic surveillance uses near-real-time Emergency Department 

healthcare and other data to improve situational awareness and inform 
activities implemented in response to public health concerns. The 
National Syndromic Surveillance Program (NSSP) is a collaboration 
among state and local health departments, the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention (CDC), other federal organizations, and other 
entities, to strengthen the means for and the practice of syndromic 
surveillance. NSSP thus strives to strengthen syndromic surveillance 
at the national and the state, and local levels through the coordinated 
activities of the involved partners and the development and use of 
advanced technologies, such as the BioSense platform. Evaluation 
and performance measurement are crucial to ensure that the various 
strategies and activities implemented to strengthen syndromic 
surveillance capacity and practice are effective. Evaluation activities 
will be discussed at this session and feedback from audience will be 
sought with the goal to further strengthen evaluation activities in the 
future.

Keywords
Syndromic surveillance; Public health practice; Evaluation; 
Performance measurement

*Sebastian Romano
E-mail: wwj5@cdc.gov

Online Journal of Public Health Informatics * ISSN 1947-2579 * http://ojphi.org * 10(1):e122, 2018