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ISDS 2018 Conference Abstracts

The Myths and Truths About Comparing Syndromic 
Data Across Sites
Michael Coletta* and Aaron Kite-Powell
CSELS/DHIS, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA

Objective
As the BioSense Platform matures and more sites submit 

surveillance data, many in the community have voiced concerns 
about comparing data across sites. Recently, a number of jurisdictions 
from across the country were asked to provide opioid overdose data 
to a news agency highlighting the epidemic. Many jurisdictions 
requested information on how to present syndromic surveillance data 
from across sites and shared concern about how the data would be 
interpreted. This round table will address those concerns and explore 
options for comparing data across sites.

Introduction
One of the more recent successes of NSSP has been the introduction 

of more robust data quality monitoring and reporting. However, 
despite the increased insight into data quality, there are still concerns 
about data sharing and comparisons across sites. For NSSP to be most 
effective, users need to feel confident in sharing data and making 
comparisons across sites.

Keywords
NSSP; Sharing Data; Comparing Data Across sites; National 
Surveillance; Regional Surveillance

*Michael Coletta
E-mail: mac0@cdc.gov

Online Journal of Public Health Informatics * ISSN 1947-2579 * http://ojphi.org * 10(1):e187, 2018