Public Health Promoting Interoperability

New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) is currently capable of receiving Syndromic Surveillance data from visits to emergency departments (ED) only and encourages real-time submission. At this time, syndromic surveillance data is NOT being accepted from visits to Eligible Professionals (EP) or non-ED visits to Eligible Hospitals (EH).

Syndromic surveillance is a strategy used by public health for early event detection and monitoring of the health of a community.  It uses “pre diagnostic” information, such as chief complaints from people seeking acute care, to identify emerging trends.  NJDOH uses syndromic surveillance to monitor the level of influenza-like illness during flu season, illnesses and injuries associated with a bioterrorism event, infectious disease symptoms, and emerging outbreaks and issues of public health concern in the community. 

Real-time emergency department data are currently collected from New Jersey acute care hospitals and satellite EDs by Health Monitoring Systems Inc.’s (HMS) EpiCenter system.  EpiCenter collects, manages and analyzes the ED data for syndromic surveillance, and provides access to public health and hospital users via a desktop application in a secure browser. 

Meaningful Use

The New Jersey Department of Health accepts HL7 v 2.3.1 and 2.5.1 for syndromic surveillance via the connection between facilities and the EpiCenter system.

To meet Meaningful Use, submissions must be sent from a Certified EHR Technology (CEHRT) in the HL7 2.5.1 format for Stage 2 and HL7 2.3.1 or 2.5.1 for Stage 1.

NOTE: If your CEHRT system is set up to send batch files versus real-time data to meet these criteria, please use the “Contact Us” link below to request further guidance and instructions. While batch file data meets the CMS Meaningful Use criteria, it is does not fulfill the NJDOH need for ongoing syndromic surveillance. Therefore, it is requested that existing real-time connections continue to be maintained.

If you are an emergency department in New Jersey, you are already sending syndromic surveillance data to NJDOH. If you have any questions or need additional information, please fill out the Contact Us form and we will get back to you.

NOTE: Eligible providers seeking to attest for meaningful use may print this page to support exclusions/exemptions where applicable.  NJDOH does not provide any additional documentation for attestation.

FAQs

1. Are all health care providers and hospitals asked to submit Syndromic surveillance data?
   No. In New Jersey, Syndromic Surveillance data are being accepted from hospitals for emergency room visits only.