173 Leveraging Syndromic Surveillance Data to Create Emergency Department COVID19 Data Visualization Tool

Abstract

Study ObjectiveThis program worked to identify and evaluate the utility of a rapidly deployed syndromic surveillance tool in improving awareness of public health crises within the emergency department.BackgroundEmergency departments saw a dramatic drop in the number of patients presenting for care in the early part of the pandemic. That decrease in volume led to a decrease in revenue. Directors and administrative personnel needed to match staffing to anticipated patient volume in order to be financial stewards. Additionally, as emergency departments are the frontline responders to public health emergencies, increased information around PHE risk in these areas allows for better and more efficient response efforts.MethodsDuring this time, the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) established a relationship with the National Syndromic Surveillance Program (NSSP) to acquire aggregate data on country regions. This project was established and funded in part by a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (grant number 1 NU50CK000570). This data was displayed for our members in a ‘data visualization’ program on our Web site. This data was free and open to anyone accessing the ACEP Web site.ResultsCOVID19 dashboard included visualizations of US emergency department (ED) data across three categories: total visits, COVID-like illness visits, and influenza-like illness visits. The data are available at both national and Health and Human Services (HHS) regional resolutions & across several timescales (eg, 7-day, 30-day, 90-day). Data are obtained from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through the National Syndromic Surveillance Program (01/01/2019-05/10/2022). Data and visualizations were updated weekly. Included below are images from the existing Web page showing the actual visualization for the country. Each visualization can be drilled down to the DHHS region. The data was accessed 6,165 times with 5,229 unique visits since it was placed on the Web site on January 1, 2021. This data has been beneficial during the recovery period, when visits stabilized, and more recently during the resurgence of cases, particularly the Delta variant. As seen in the figures, data was most frequently accessed during times of COVID19 surges. In addition, it is hoped that emergency physicians who utilize this data will be more supportive of the efforts of NSSP going forward. In late 2021, the data visualization page was expanded to include anecdotal self-reporting of observed breakthrough cases in a novel approach to identifying rates and risk factors for breakthrough cases. Since its launch in January 2022, has been viewed more than 250 times with 225 unique page views. Similar to the original COVID-19 data visualization page, this syndrome-based breakthrough data has been utilized most frequently during recent surges and outbreaks.ConclusionRapid utilization of surveillance data in data visualization efforts provides valuable tools for frontline providers to assess public health emergency risk and determine appropriate response actions and resource planning.View Large Image Figure ViewerDownload Hi-res image Download (PPT)No, authors do not have interests to disclose Study ObjectiveThis program worked to identify and evaluate the utility of a rapidly deployed syndromic surveillance tool in improving awareness of public health crises within the emergency department. This program worked to identify and evaluate the utility of a rapidly deployed syndromic surveillance tool in improving awareness of public health crises within the emergency department. BackgroundEmergency departments saw a dramatic drop in the number of patients presenting for care in the early part of the pandemic. That decrease in volume led to a decrease in revenue. Directors and administrative personnel needed to match staffing to anticipated patient volume in order to be financial stewards. Additionally, as emergency departments are the frontline responders to public health emergencies, increased information around PHE risk in these areas allows for better and more efficient response efforts. Emergency departments saw a dramatic drop in the number of patients presenting for care in the early part of the pandemic. That decrease in volume led to a decrease in revenue. Directors and administrative personnel needed to match staffing to anticipated patient volume in order to be financial stewards. Additionally, as emergency departments are the frontline responders to public health emergencies, increased information around PHE risk in these areas allows for better and more efficient response efforts. MethodsDuring this time, the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) established a relationship with the National Syndromic Surveillance Program (NSSP) to acquire aggregate data on country regions. This project was established and funded in part by a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (grant number 1 NU50CK000570). This data was displayed for our members in a ‘data visualization’ program on our Web site. This data was free and open to anyone accessing the ACEP Web site. During this time, the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) established a relationship with the National Syndromic Surveillance Program (NSSP) to acquire aggregate data on country regions. This project was established and funded in part by a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (grant number 1 NU50CK000570). This data was displayed for our members in a ‘data visualization’ program on our Web site. This data was free and open to anyone accessing the ACEP Web site. ResultsCOVID19 dashboard included visualizations of US emergency department (ED) data across three categories: total visits, COVID-like illness visits, and influenza-like illness visits. The data are available at both national and Health and Human Services (HHS) regional resolutions & across several timescales (eg, 7-day, 30-day, 90-day). Data are obtained from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through the National Syndromic Surveillance Program (01/01/2019-05/10/2022). Data and visualizations were updated weekly. Included below are images from the existing Web page showing the actual visualization for the country. Each visualization can be drilled down to the DHHS region. The data was accessed 6,165 times with 5,229 unique visits since it was placed on the Web site on January 1, 2021. This data has been beneficial during the recovery period, when visits stabilized, and more recently during the resurgence of cases, particularly the Delta variant. As seen in the figures, data was most frequently accessed during times of COVID19 surges. In addition, it is hoped that emergency physicians who utilize this data will be more supportive of the efforts of NSSP going forward. In late 2021, the data visualization page was expanded to include anecdotal self-reporting of observed breakthrough cases in a novel approach to identifying rates and risk factors for breakthrough cases. Since its launch in January 2022, has been viewed more than 250 times with 225 unique page views. Similar to the original COVID-19 data visualization page, this syndrome-based breakthrough data has been utilized most frequently during recent surges and outbreaks. COVID19 dashboard included visualizations of US emergency department (ED) data across three categories: total visits, COVID-like illness visits, and influenza-like illness visits. The data are available at both national and Health and Human Services (HHS) regional resolutions & across several timescales (eg, 7-day, 30-day, 90-day). Data are obtained from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through the National Syndromic Surveillance Program (01/01/2019-05/10/2022). Data and visualizations were updated weekly. Included below are images from the existing Web page showing the actual visualization for the country. Each visualization can be drilled down to the DHHS region. The data was accessed 6,165 times with 5,229 unique visits since it was placed on the Web site on January 1, 2021. This data has been beneficial during the recovery period, when visits stabilized, and more recently during the resurgence of cases, particularly the Delta variant. As seen in the figures, data was most frequently accessed during times of COVID19 surges. In addition, it is hoped that emergency physicians who utilize this data will be more supportive of the efforts of NSSP going forward. In late 2021, the data visualization page was expanded to include anecdotal self-reporting of observed breakthrough cases in a novel approach to identifying rates and risk factors for breakthrough cases. Since its launch in January 2022, has been viewed more than 250 times with 225 unique page views. Similar to the original COVID-19 data visualization page, this syndrome-based breakthrough data has been utilized most frequently during recent surges and outbreaks. ConclusionRapid utilization of surveillance data in data visualization efforts provides valuable tools for frontline providers to assess public health emergency risk and determine appropriate response actions and resource planning.No, authors do not have interests to disclose Rapid utilization of surveillance data in data visualization efforts provides valuable tools for frontline providers to assess public health emergency risk and determine appropriate response actions and resource planning.