Official Site of The State of New Jersey

Data is one of New Jersey’s most powerful tools in protecting public health. During the COVID-19 pandemic, timely, accurate, and actionable data played a significant role in enabling the State to respond quickly, allocate resources effectively, and make decisions based on real-time conditions. Recognizing the critical importance of modern data systems, New Jersey has since made substantial investments to strengthen its digital infrastructure, expand analytic capabilities, and enhance interoperability across agencies. Looking ahead, the State is committed to building on these improvements to ensure that data, technology, and digital infrastructure continue to support evidence-based decisions and equitable service delivery in future emergencies.

Enhancing Surveillance for Early Detections and Targeted Interventions

• The Department of Health (NJDOH) enhanced the Communicable Disease Service (CDS) syndromic surveillance system, EpiCenter, with additional data sources and continues to expand enrollment of urgent care facilities.
• Wastewater surveillance provides statewide, population-level insight into disease transmission trends. NJDOH expanded wastewater surveillance from 8 sites pre-pandemic to 23 sites currently. The Department also continues to increase the number of organisms that are tested, including SARS-CoV-2, influenza A and B (including avian influenza), and RSV.
• In partnership between NJDOH and the Department of Education, NJDOH expanded and formalized reporting from K-12 schools into the Surveillance for Infectious Conditions (SIC) module of the Communicable Disease Reporting and Surveillance System (CDRSS). These reports allow NJDOH to monitor illness activity levels in K-12 schools and to provide state and local public health professionals valuable information about disease activity in the community. Deidentified information is also shared via a public dashboard. 

Gathering and Sharing Data Strategically

• NJDOH invested in building out its cloud infrastructure and centralized data lake, which integrates over twenty-five public health data sources across thirteen agencies, including the New Jersey State Police, New Jersey Hospital Association (NJHA), and federal partners. Data visualization tools have supported the analysis of hospitalization trends, emergency department visits, mortality, vaccine uptake, and disparities in real time, enabling more data-informed decision-making throughout the COVID-19 response and beyond.
• The Department of Health participates in the CDC’s Epidemic Information Exchange (Epi-X), a secure national network for health departments to rapidly share outbreak alerts and intelligence. Through Epi-X and the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, New Jersey exchanges surveillance findings with federal partners and neighboring states in real time, helping to spot regional trends and to learn from other jurisdictions’ experiences.  
• The Department of Health linked Electronic Death Registration System (EDRS) records with communicable disease data, offering real-time insight into mortality trends. Hospital data on admissions, ICU stays, and ventilator use have expanded to include influenza and RSV cases. 
• New Jersey expanded the New Jersey Health Information Network (NJHIN), which now serves as the State’s centralized data exchange platform between healthcare organizations and public health authorities. Long-term care facilities, which had no digital connectivity before COVID-19, are now fully connected to NJHIN and capable of sending and receiving both critical medical record information. Today, NJHIN connects over 21,000 healthcare providers, including more than 960 long-term care and assisted living facilities, enabling the secure sharing of clinical summaries across hospitals and other settings.
• To further streamline data access, the State implemented a Master Person Index (MPI), a unique patient identifier that links disparate datasets across public and private systems, including CDRSS (New Jersey’s communicable disease registry), NJIIS (the immunization system), EMS, and hospital systems. This innovation allows NJDOH and health care providers to construct more complete patient histories, especially during outbreaks or investigations of disease clusters. Work is underway to ensure this functionality can also be used for limited cross-jurisdictional data exchange. 

Dashboarding Data for Action

• NJDOH continues to display interactive dashboards related to communicable diseases to help detect elevated activity levels that may warrant public health response​.  
• NJDOH internal early warning dashboards to ensure situational awareness at the local level. State epidemiologists compile multi-source indicators from multiple sources—from emergency department visits to school absenteeism to wastewater signals—into weekly reports and live dashboards that are shared with New Jersey’s local health departments. These tools give local officials an alert about nascent issues in their communities so they can mobilize quickly. 

Automating Processes and Upgrading Technology to Accelerate Insights

• NJDOH implemented Electronic Case Reporting (eCR), an automated system that transmits case information directly from healthcare providers’ electronic health records to public health databases. By eliminating paper forms and manual data entry, eCR makes disease reporting from healthcare providers “faster and easier,” improves outbreak detection, and reduces the burden on front-line providers​.
• New Jersey’s main disease registry, the Communicable Disease Reporting and Surveillance System (CDRSS), was upgraded to a new cloud-based platform (“CDRSS 2.0”) that operates 24/7 and seamlessly integrates electronic lab reports in real-time. This web-enabled system allows public health partners across New Jersey to instantly report and track communicable diseases, facilitating the “immediate sharing of pertinent data” needed for swift public health response.
• The Office of Information Technology (OIT) leads weekly Change Advisory Board meetings to coordinate IT changes across the Executive Branch, providing a structured forum for communication on system upgrades, installations, and shared concerns.
• Microsoft Teams and Zoom were adopted Government-wide to support seamless communication and collaboration across agencies and vendors. These platforms have improved project coordination, virtual engagement, and responsiveness during both routine and emergency operations. The Office of Information Technology (OIT) uses Teams enterprise services to provide real-time emergency communication and updates to the executive branch and state agencies.

• Explore new use cases for healthcare data integration, such as the connection of the forthcoming substance use treatment referral platforms (MATTERS) to hospital discharge data, to improve follow-up and care coordination for vulnerable populations.  
• Evaluate the pilot integrating some EMS data into the NJHIN ecosystem to determine potential for statewide connectivity.
• Investigate feasibility of a statewide “bed-board” platform to support emergency planning across acute care, psychiatric hospitals, long-term care, and rehabilitation settings. 
• Identify ways to strengthen bidirectional data sharing between local health departments and community-based providers, with the goal of embedding public health insights directly into clinical workflows.