Changes in BioSense email correspondence

On 4/25/2014 the CDC BioSense Program will begin using the following email address: BioSenseProgram@cdc.gov

This email address should be used for all correspondence with the BioSense program starting today 4/25/2014. Please update your address book and all distribution lists where the former address (info@biosen.se) existed.

CDC has explicit guidance indicating that all HHS business be conducted using government-provided resources to include “HHS-provided email or online storage….” and that no staff conduct official HHS business using personal email or personal online storage. 

These email address changes will bring the BioSense Program in compliance with this updated guidance.

Job Opening: BioSense Program Manager

The Department of Health and Human Services is announcing a job opening for a Health Scientist (Informatics) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) within the Office of Surveillance, Epidemiology and Laboratory Services (OSELS), Public Health Surveillance Program Office (PHSIPO), Division of Notifiable Diseases and Healthcare Information in Atlanta, Georgia. The Health Scientist hired for this position will serve as a senior advisor to the BioSense Program. Learn more about the duties and applicant qualifications below. For a full description and to learn how to apply, visit the full announcement here: http://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/324853400.

Please note the job announcement open period ends Friday, September 28, 2012. 

Duties: Develops and implements scientific policies and procedures on informatics practices and principles for the Division of Notifiable Diseases and Healthcare Information (DNDHI).  The BioSense Program is managed in DNDHI.  This position will serve as a senior advisor to the BioSense Program.  Provides leadership in designing, coordinating, and maintaining information technology (IT) project goals, objectives, and priorities within DNDHI/PSHPO and in the general public health community.  Serves as a nationally and internationally recognized expert, providing scientific advice and consultation on solutions to critical problems that require outstanding creativeness in generating new hypotheses, approaches, and standards to be used with the BioSense Program and other DNDHI programs and projects.  Provides leadership in the development, testing, implementation and evaluation of scientific information technology and information systems needs and applicable software systems relating to public health informatics within the area of responsibility. 

Qualifications Required: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience at the GS-13 level of difficulty and responsibility in the Federal service as defined in the next paragraph. 

Specialized experience is experience which is directly related to the position which has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) to successfully perform the duties of the position to include  experience in providing leadership, technical direction, scientific expertise and communication skills in the field of public health surveillance and informatics in a myriad of public health projects to include information technology projects, automated healthcare data collection, electronic health records and critical coordination with other public health officials.

Full Job Announcement

R Training for BioSense - 9/7

Date: Friday, September 7th at 1:00-2:30 PM EDT

 

The BioSense Redesign Team will host an R Training for BioSense 2.0 webinar on Sept. 7 at 1-2PM EDT.  The topics covered in the training will include an introduction to R, downloading and installation of R, data management including importing data-sets, generating data subsets, adding new variables, how to generate descriptive statistics, and basic box plots, histograms and scatter plots.  The training will also include a demonstration of using R with BioSense data in a real example of a public health issue.

Register now »

New Post for Comment on BioSense Collaboration Site

ISDS encourages you to provide your input on a new post available on the BioSense Collaboration Site.

The BioSense Redesign team requests your feedback on this most recent post to help the BioSense development team identify fresh and useful content for the BioSense Redesign. Your feedback is valuable to the redesign of the BioSense system and Program.

You may access the questions directly at Feedback Forum Post 15: BioSense Collaboration Website Updates or view the questions on the new Community Forum Post on the BioSense Collaboration Website.

Thank you!

Share Your Favorites: Statistical Analysis, Tools, and Packages

The BioSense Redesign Team is requesting feedback from BioSense stakeholders about commonly used statistical analysis, tools, software and commands for surveillance. Provide your feedback by answering survey questions posted on the BioSense Public Health Situation Awareness Feedback Forum. ISDS encourages you to take this opportunity to inform the BioSense development team of your favorite tools. 


You may find the original message from the BioSense Redesign Team below.
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Dear BioSense Redesign Stakeholder:

Our fourteenth post for the Public Health Situation Awareness topic has launched!  Please take a moment to visit the BioSense Redesign site and answer the new questions* to help the BioSense development team identify commonly used software, statistical analysis, and commands for routine surveillance. The CDC will use your feedback to better understand how to tailor the new BioSense application. Your feedback is valuable to the redesign of the BioSense system and Program.

Please visit the BioSense Redesign Collaboration Web Site to access questions at the Requirements Gathering Work Center or link directly to the questions at PHSA Feedback Forum 14: Statistical Analysis, Tools and Packages.

Thank you,

The BioSense Redesign Team

*New questions are posted for comment on a weekly to biweekly basis.  Check back often for updates and summaries of feedback posted by stakeholders.

2012 ISDS Distribute Community of Practice Meeting

April 10 – 11, 2012

Atlanta, Georgia

 

Distribute was initially developed in 2006 as a proof of concept model funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s BioSense program, with additional funding from the Markle Foundation. During H1N1, Distribute saw expansion in both site participation and functionality. It has fostered new insights into syndromic surveillance practice and has initiated the formation a community of practice focused on supporting and developing the system as well as each other. Distribute participants have contributed greatly to the advancement of the field of syndromic surveillance.

The goal of the 2012 ISDS Distribute Community of Practice Meeting was to foster innovation, focus community interests, and strengthen professional relationships through peer-to-peer learning and information sharing about disease surveillance practice. The meeting did not disappoint! A relevant and stimulating agenda combined with a wonderful group of state and local Distribute data providers from across the country and stakeholders from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE), National Association of County & City Health Officials (NACCHO), Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), and Public Health Informatics Institute (PHII), was the perfect recipe for an energizing and thought-provoking environment.

Specific session topics included:

·       Distribute Update

·       A New Framework for the Surveillance Enterprise

·       Monitoring and Maintaining Data Quality

·       BioSense 2.0

·       Meaningful Use: Reports from the Field on Implementation

As a result of the meeting, most participants indicated that they would change their practice based on what they learned. Specifically, some participants mentioned that they will:

·       use the examples of data quality analysis presented to analyze data completeness and timeliness trends of syndromic surveillance data

·       consider the business matrix more in order to see how their health department can use that framework for doing surveillance

·       begin serious discussions regarding BioSense 2.0 participation and ESSENCE in the cloud

·       work to enhance their weekly surveillance reporting

·       incorporate ideas and suggestions from various states presented during the Meaningful Use implementation session

In addition, several action items were generated, including the development of:

·       A roadmap for best practices for syndromic surveillance business process development

·       Best practices for providing feedback/reports

·       Policy brief on the need for sustainable funding for public health surveillance

As the Distribute project draws to a close, the challenge that lies before us [the Distribute Community of Practice] is finding the next energizing topic(s) or project(s) that will advance the field of disease surveillance and continue to strengthen our community.

A full meeting report will be available shortly.

Written by Tera Reynolds, MPH, ISDS Program Manager

A Message from the BioSense Redesign Team

The following is a message from the BioSense Redesign team with a March update on the Redesign Project.

It’s Time to Retire, On-Board, and Award!

They say time flies when you’re having fun… well, it’s been four months since BioSense 2.0 opened for business! And as of Friday, March 30^th, we will retire BioSense 1.0. This milestone is the direct result of collaborative efforts between our stakeholders and the Redesign Team.  Your feedback and ongoing involvement with the redesign have made twenty first century surveillance a reality. And, if you haven’t already, please take a moment to register for access to BioSense 2.0.  There are two ways to establish a BioSense 2.0 account. Please visit the Community Forum to learn how you can gain access to the new environment.

For additional information or assistance with on-boarding, please take a moment to view our technical assistance (TA) resources in the “on-boarding information” section of the Library. Current TA resources provide pertinent recruitment and on-boarding information for BioSense 2.0. We anticipate the TA focus will shift once we move out of the recruitment phase and include sharing promising and best practices for using the BioSense 2.0 application for enhanced public health surveillance. 

Finally, in the next few weeks, the Redesign Team will announce the recipients of the BioSense 2.0 Challenge Grants. A total of 14 letters of intent were received and 12 organizations were invited to apply. The applications are currently under review and award decisions will be announced no later than March 30, 2012. The BioSense 2.0 Challenge Grant Opportunity was created to help sites and public health jurisdictions address challenges and overcome barriers to establishing or enhancing syndromic surveillance capabilities within the BioSense 2.0 community.  As part of CDC’s ongoing commitment to innovation and creativity, we are working to identify new funding opportunities for the public health community.  So stayed tuned for upcoming submission guidelines!

Have questions about BioSense 2.0 or on-boarding?  View our new FAQs or simply visit the BioSense Redesign Collaboration Site where you can read our most recent community forum posts or e-mail info@biosen.se.

Curious about Cloud Computing?

Many public health professionals have cloud computing on their radar. Some people view cloud computing as a potential solution for public health surveillance, some view the cloud as a potential threat to health information privacy, while others are simply just curious to know more. 


In response to the growing curiosity about this new technology and its future role in public health surveillance, ISDS recently hosted a webinar entitled "Public Health Surveillance in the Internet Cloud: The BioSense 2.0 Experience" to shed some light on the topic. Presenters Jeff Barr, Amazon Web Services, and Mike Alletto, CDC BioSense 2.0 Redesign Team, introduced some basic information on cloud computing and discussed the government cloud services of the BioSense 2.0 environment.


If you missed this presentation and are curious to learn more, visit the webinar page to watch a recording of the webinar or download the presentation slides. 


You may also visit the ISDS cloud computing resource page for more useful information on the cloud and public health. 

Feedback Requested: Draft Charter of the BioSense Governance Group

ASTHO, in association with the  Interim BioSense Governance Group, created a DRAFT Charter of the BioSense Governance Group and is requesting comments and suggestions from ISDS members.

You may view the Draft Charter below or download the pdf document here. 

Please write your comments in the "Post a Comment" section at the end of this entry or email your comments to Amanda at aschulte@syndromic.org by February 6, 2012.

Thank you for your feedback.

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Draft Charter of the BioSense 2.0 Governance Group

BioSense 2.0

BioSense 2.0 is the web-accessible platform used to receive, store, maintain, process, analyze, and display data. It is a service for state, local, and territorial health agencies for data sharing and analysis. BioSense 2.0 can also be utilized as a tool for sharing data that it contains between public health agencies.

BioSense Program

The BioSense Program, run by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), facilitates recognition and tracking of health problems as they evolve, and provides public health officials with the data, information and tools they need to better prepare for and respond, in a coordinated way, to threats to the health of the American people.

Participating Jurisdiction

The term “participating jurisdiction” will be either a local or state health jurisdiction operating under either statutory or regulatory authority to provide data to BioSense 2.0 and has agreed to the terms and conditions of the BioSense 2.0 Data Use Agreement (DUA).   The formal designation of a participating jurisdiction in the BioSense 2.0 DUA is “Data Source”,

User

The term "User" is any authorized user of data available through BioSense 2.0. All users must be affiliated with a participating jurisdiction and be held to Terms and Conditions of Data Use and Security standards by the Data Source.

BioSense 2.0 Governance Group

The BioSense 2.0 Governance Group was created in accordance with a cooperative agreement between ASTHO and the CDC to ensure key stakeholder involvement in BioSense 2.0. The purpose of this group is to oversee the development and use of BioSense 2.0.

Roles of the BioSense 2.0 Governance Group:

·       To provide representation from a diverse set of public health stakeholders from state, local, and federal levels

·       To set strategic priorities, overall policy, and direction for BioSense 2.0

·       To assure that overall system development is responsive to data contributor and user input

·       To serve as a conduit for feedback and recommendations from the constituents that the Governance Group’s members represent

·       To identify and recommend new categories of data sources to be added to BioSense 2.0

·       To make recommendations for resolving disputes about or violations of data use agreements for BioSense 2.0

·       To form governance sub-committees and policy workgroups as needed.

Governance Group members are expected to represent their participating jurisdiction organizations and:

·       Solicit input from their respective constituencies

·       Act as a conduit of information among their organizations and constituencies and the Governance Group

·       Actively participate in conference calls and face to face meetings

Desired attributes of Governance Group members include:

·       Interest and commitment to improving national surveillance efforts

·       Ability to fairly represent the views of their constituencies

·       Familiarity with the assets and needs of their constituencies

·       Knowledge and experience in syndromic surveillance and policy

·       Skill in collaboration and consensus

·       Ability to attend face-to-face meetings and monthly teleconferences

Composition of the BioSense 2.0 Governance Group

The Governance Group shall be composed of 15 people, each with a single vote on all matters under the purview of the Governance Group:

·       4 Individuals shall represent the various public health associations that will utilize BioSense 2.0.  Specifically, there shall be one representative each from:

o   The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO)

o   The Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE)

o   The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)

o   The International Society for Disease Surveillance (ISDS)

·       3 Individuals shall represent the following federal data submitting agencies:

o   The U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC)

o   The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

o   The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD)

·        8 Individuals shall represent the various groups which will be submitting data to the BioSense 2.0 system:

o   3 shall be from state or territorial public health agencies

o   3 shall be from county or city public health agencies

o   2 shall be from data contributors which are non-public health agencies (such as healthcare facilities, pharmacies, etc)

Selection of Governance Group Members:

Representatives of ASTHO, CSTE, NACCHO, ISDS, CDC, VA, and DOD shall be chosen by their respective groups using whatever means each group sees fit to use.

Representatives of the 8 non-federal data submitting groups shall be chosen by secret-ballot election, facilitated by ASTHO, among the population of BioSense 2.0 participating jurisdictions.  Elections shall be held separately for state/territorial, county/city, and non-public health representatives.

For state/territorial and county/city elections, each participating jurisdiction is permitted to nominate one representative as a candidate for election in their respective categories.

For non-public health agency representative elections, the participating jurisdictions may nominate one candidate from a data-contributing facility located within their jurisdiction. 

State and territorial data submitters may only vote in the state/territorial elections, city and county may only vote in city/county elections.  All participating jurisdictions can vote in elections for the non public health agency representatives. 

For all elections, each participating jurisdiction may cast one vote. 

The top 3 vote-receivers from the state/territorial and county/city elections, and the top 2 from non-public health elections, shall be the representatives on the Governance Group for the upcoming Term. 

Governance Group Terms of Service

Governance Group members will serve a term of two years to begin just following their elections. 

These terms will be staggered as follows:

1)     ST and CC agencies: 2 members shall serve in the same 2-year term while 1 member will serve an overlapping 2-year term, staggered by one year.

2)     NPH groups: each of the two members shall serve overlapping 2-year terms, staggered by one year.

The first Governance Group will hold elections for all 8 positions, with one each of ST, CC, and NPH groups to be designated with a term of only one year.  Upon expiration of the one-year terms, new elections will be held for these positions which will then have a normal term of two-years.

If any scheduling conflict prevents a member from attending any meeting, the member is permitted to designate a substitute, with voting rights, on a case-by-case basis.

Permanent vacancies created for any reason will be filled by selection of an interim member as chosen by the four public health associations and, if available, the member that has vacated the role. 

Governance Group Co-Chairs

To facilitate aspects of Governance Group function, a chair shall be elected.  The term of the Chair shall be one year, followed by one year as Past-Chair. The Past Chair shall serve as a backup when the chair is unable to participate for any period.

The Chair will be elected – by secret ballot of the Group membership – with the Chair-elect  having accumulated the most votes.  In the case of a tie between two members, a second vote will be held until one receives a majority.

Upon completion of a Chair’s term, the Group will hold elections for a new Chair.

The first Governance Group will hold elections for both a Chair and a Past-Chair, with the position of Past-Chair having a term of one year. 

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Special procedures for the initial launch of the Group: 

Representatives of the 8 non-federal data submitting groups shall be chosen by an interim group consisting of members from ASTHO, CSTE, NACCHO, and ISDS.  These shall be temporary memberships until elections can be held.  One of the first decisions of this Governance Group shall be to determine when there will be sufficient numbers of data submitters enrolled in BioSense 2.0 to make elections feasible.

The resulting Group will be a Transitional Governing Group.

The Transitional Group will elect Co-Chairs.  These will also be Transitional positions and will expire once Governance Group elections are held and the proper terms of office begin.

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Policy Formation by the Governance Group

The BioSense 2.0 Governance Group shall meet, in person or by conference call, on a periodic basis as determined by the Group in order to discuss policy issues surrounding use of and participation in BioSense 2.0.  Meeting frequency should be at least twice per year, but as many meetings may be held as necessary. 

Policies under the purview of the Group include development of the roles and responsibilities for participants in BioSense 2.0.  Policy proposals to be considered by the Governance Group may be suggested by a member of the Group or by other BioSense participants.. If an issue is to be considered by the Governance Group, documents outlining policy proposals will be drafted (facilitated by ASTHO) and supplied to the Group for comment, revision, and, votes for approval, if warranted. 

Voting on Policy

Votes will be held at arranged meetings of the Governance Group (in person or via teleconference). 

In order to assure a voting member of the Governance Group receives sufficient informed input from those they represent, any issues for which a vote is required shall be presented to the Group at least two weeks in advance of any scheduled vote.  

A vote may only proceed when a quorum of at least 60% of the governance group participates.   

Sufficient time will be given to discuss each issue scheduled for a vote prior to the vote itself.   The vote itself will be an open-ballot vote (ie, by show of hands or verbal assent), but will not be recorded unless specifically requested.

Passage of an issue shall require a majority of at least 60% (sixty) percent of votes in the affirmative, however the goal shall always be to strive for consensus. 

Changes to the BioSense 2.0 Governance Charter

Changes to this charter document shall be proposed to the Governance Group by providing the written amendments for the Group to consider.  After sufficient time for discussion and debate, the Group shall vote on the written amendments. 

Participation of all Governance Group members, or appointed substitutes, shall be required for a vote on charter amendments to proceed. 

 Passage of an amendment shall require a vote of 2/3 of the complete membership of the Governance Group in the affirmative. 

Changes to the charter will be reflected in a new draft of this document, with a recording of the date of revision.  An archive will be kept of all official previous versions of this charter.

BioSense Program Challenge Grant LOI Due 1/13/12

The deadline to submit letters of intent (LOI) for the BioSense Program Challenge Grant is this Friday, January 13th. You may find more information about this project, eligibility, and specific requirements for the LOI by reading the information below taken form the BioSense Community Forum or by reading the pdf document BioSense 2.0: Challenge Grant Opportunity Announcement and Call for Letters of Intent.

The announcement and call for LOI outlines the instructions for the letters of intent as well as the letter template. Using the template provided, the letters should be 1 to 2 pages and include the following information:

1. Barrier or challenge being addressed; 

2. Desired outcomes; 

3. Project approach; 

4. Estimated amount of funding requested; and

5. Period of time required to complete project.

Take advantage of this opportunity to enhance your syndromic surveillance capabilities!

The following is the December 22, 2011 BioSense Community Forum posting found here. 

Last week, the BioSense Redesign team announced a new Challenge Grant opportunity for the public health community.  In this section, we will share information about the application and review process, and provide updates on an ongoing basis.  

Letter of Intent review and evaluation

The first step in the application process is to submit a Letter of Intent.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)will evaluate the letters of intent to ensure alignment with BioSense Program priorities.  Notification will be provided to all sites and jurisdictions that submit letters of intent. 

Applicants will receive 1 of 3 types of notification:

1)      Invitation to submit a full grant application

2)      Invitation to submit a full grant application with additional guidance to refine project

3)      Rejection notice

Full grant application review and evaluation

Only those applicants who receive an invitation to submit a full grant application are eligible to apply.  Each grant application will be reviewed by 2 independent reviewers and scored against the evaluation criteria provided in the grant application instructions.

Significant differences between scores will be discussed and reconciled at a review meeting.

Final adjusted scores will be produced and award decisions will be made.

TIMELINE

• Challenge Grant Opportunity Announcement and Call for Letters of Intent posted: December 14, 2011
• Letters of Intent due: January 13, 2012
• Letter of Intent review period: January 13, 2012 - February 3, 2012
• Notifications sent to all sites and jurisdictions submitting Letters of Intent: February 6, 2012
• Period for full Grant Applications closes: March 2, 2012
• Grant award decisions: March 30, 2012
• Grant project period ends: no later than March 30, 2013.

More Information

More information about the BioSense Program and BioSense 2.0 is available at: www.biosenseredesign.org or submit questions to info@biosen.se

BioSense 2.0: Challenge Grant Opportunity

On behalf of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), RTI has released an announcement detailing the BioSense Challenge Grant Opportunity. 

The BioSense Program plans to award 10 grants ranging in value from $5,000 to $25,000 through RTI International. RTI has a contract with CDC (contract number GS10F0097L) to facilitate the redesign of the BioSense application and will administer the Challenge Grant award process.

You may find more information about this opportunity by viewing the BioSense 2.0: Challenge Grant Opportunity and Call for Letters of Intent PDF document. 

Estimated Key Dates

·         Challenge Grant Opportunity Announcement and Call for Letters of Intent posted: December 14, 2011

·         Period for submitting Letters of Intent: December 14, 2011 - January 13, 2012

·         Letter of Intent review period: January 13, 2012 - February 3, 2012

·         Period for full Grant Applications closes: March 2, 2012

·         Grant award decisions: March 30, 2012

·         Grant project period ends: no later than March 30, 2013.

More Information

More information about the BioSense Program and BioSense 2.0 is available at: www.biosenseredesign.org or submit questions to info@biosen.se

BioSense 2.0 Rollout

The following is a brief message from the BioSense 2.0 redesign team: 


BioSense 2.0 is open for business! For more info on how to join, please e-mail info@biosen.se. Click here for ongoing BioSense 2.0 developments and news updates. Twenty-first century surveillance is here!

BioSense 2.0--21st Century Surveillance is Days Away

The following is an important message from the BioSense 2.0 Team:

In just a few days, BioSense 2.0 will be open for business! The new environment is the result of your feedback on design features, specifications, and data needs…and one thing is for sure… we’ve heard you loud and clear during our requirements gathering activities.  The newly designed and developed BioSense 2.0 has many features suggested by users. We also know that our users need technical assistance (TA) that is robust and efficient.  We’ve not only heard you, but we’ve built a comprehensive technical assistance framework for easy TA access and navigation. 

The TA framework features a web-based tool to track and manage TA requests ensuring that all requests are resolved in a timely manner. Technical assistance questions and requests can be submitted through a variety of channels, including info@biosen.se. Since the rollout is just days away, we’re finalizing TA tools and resources to assist with the launch and any on-boarding needs (including DUA completion and data sharing links) users may have. As the system matures, we anticipate that TA needs will shift to a more traditional form of direct support for users and creative uses of the system (i.e., Challenge Grants).

For additional information, please take a moment to view our new FAQs or simply visit the BioSense Redesign Collaboration Site where you can contribute to Requirements Gathering Posts; sign up to be an editor for the coverage map, read our most recent community forum posts, or subscribe to our RSS feed for updates. Please send comments to info@biosen.se.

Data Use Agreement Update from BioSense 2.0 Redesign

The BioSense 2.0 Program Redesign is well under way thanks to the hard work and commitment of several individuals and public health associations. The Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE), the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), and the International Society for Disease Surveillance (ISDS), have been working in close collaboration to prepare BioSense 2.0 for the November 15, 2011 roll out. For new information on the model Data Use Agreement for health jurisdictions with regard to data submission and data sharing, please read the latest posting from October 14th from Taha Kass-Hout. 

The body of the post can be found below or at this link to the BioSense community forum: https://sites.google.com/site/biosenseredesign/community-forum/checkinginwiththecommunityonbiosense20. 

Checking in with the community on BioSense 2.0

posted Oct 14, 2011 9:13 AM by Taha Kass-Hout   [ updated Oct 14, 2011 11:44 AM ]

As we get closer to the roll out of BioSense 2.0 on November 15, 2011, I wanted to address some of the concerns and questions that are floating around the community.  The Redesign team and I are very aware of many of the issues jurisdictions are facing and I wanted to bring the community back in the loop on all our efforts to make BioSense 2.0 the most effective system for the user, state and local health jurisdictions.

One of the pieces many jurisdictions are awaiting is the model Data Use Agreement (DUA).  In order to come up with a model DUA, the Redesign team continued to stick with the user centered approach. The Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE), Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), and International Society for Disease Surveillance (ISDS) were instrumental in collecting input from their membership, reflecting on similar experiences in Distribute and BioSense 1.0, and contributing and commenting on other data sharing models.  After this information collection, all input and advice were shared with a group of lawyers, who not only utilized that information but also spent time having conversations with the various association partners in order to accommodate all concerns and issues.  The lawyers then generated a draft which was vetted by CDC and the associations, and then generated a final draft, which has been vetted with ASTHO and CSTE and is set to be finalized for distribution to jurisdictions next week as part of the recruitment effort.  Jurisdictions will be able to customize the DUA based on their jurisdictions laws and preferences for 1) data submission, and 2) data sharing.  This week, CSTE started reaching out to jurisdictions in an effort to help them join the new environment by facilitating the forthcoming DUA adoption and manage ongoing agreements. This DUA will be signed between the jurisdiction and ASTHO, who is leading the task of procuring and overseeing the BioSense 2.0 environment in the Internet cloud, as well as ensuring it meets strict security, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance regulations and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) requirement for moderate impact information.  They also oversee the governance body, which is comprised of state and local health stakeholders that represent all BioSense 2.0 users.

One common misconception has arisen about data, both submission and sharing:

1. Data Submission: Jurisdictions can use the BioSense 2.0 environment to “catch” data submitted from hospitals and store it in secure space that is owned and controlled solely by the jurisdiction.  The system has the capability to transform it from line level de-identified data submitted from hospitals (for example, ISDS and CDC Meaningful Use Recommended HL7 data elements) to any format that a jurisdiction wants to use.  All of this is encompassed under data submission and is a set of actions that is restricted within the confines of a jurisdictions space.  Using this service also allows hospitals to take advantage of MUse incentives started to going out in November 2011, in correlation with the roll out of BioSense 2.0.  While this does not provide direct money to the health departments, it allows them to create an opportunity for hospitals to share syndromic surveillance data as one of the three public health options in MUse. Though a priority for the November 2011 roll out, the data submission will not be limited to MUse as users have expressed interest in various types of health-related data (even beyond healthcare).  The roll out for November 2011 will only address line listing submission of data from providers or health departments, in the future we hope to accommodate submissions of aggregate level data from health departments upon time when the community and the governance body see this as a priority for the Redesign team to implement.

2. Data Sharing: Outside of these activities is the shared space, where jurisdictions can elect to share views of de-identified data with other jurisdictions at the level they so choose (facility, city, county, or state).  The system is built to aggregate line listing data and make them available for jurisdictions to share in the shared space area at the level of aggregation where a jurisdiction is comfortable sharing it information. Further, CDC can only view data in the environment when invited as a collaborator, and cannot remove data from the environment or publish on any data without the express consent and notification of the jurisdiction and as outlined explicitly in the terms and conditions in the DUA. At a minimum, aggregated level-data for the level a jurisdiction allows to can be shared with CDC. As opposed to BioSense 1.0, CDC will not suck out any data from BioSense 2.0, nor will it have the control of any data; that control is delegated only to the jurisdiction and data can only be viewed by CDC at the level a jurisdiction authorizes it to see.

The Redesign team, working with the associations, has put together a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document designed to address your most common questions and concerns about BioSense 2.0, I hope you take advantage of this rich resource.  Additionally, CSTE held a webinar on August 17, 2011 to introduce its members to BioSense 2.0. The webinar included an overview of the BioSense Program, an explanation of CSTE’s involvement, roles and responsibilities of the various associations and ISDS, and a preview of the latest BioSense application. I encourage you to view the recording of this webinar as it may help you further understand the significant changes underway with the redesign effort, what BioSense 2.0 entails, and how we arrived here with the help of state and local public health communities.

I want to continue the dialogue about BioSense 2.0, its services, governance, policies, and issues.  It is so crucial for all partners in this effort to remain engaged in order to ensure that the users, whom this redesign is centered around, are continually heard and responded to.  BioSense 2.0 is, at its core, intended to be a public health situation awareness program that state and local jurisdictions can actually use and find useful.  Our goal in the BioSense Program is to co-create a system that is simple to access and easy to maintain for the state and local public health communities.  Please continue to provide feedback, challenges, and ideas for BioSense 2.0.  I am looking forward to November 15, 2011, when BioSense 2.0 opens for business, and even more so, to seeing state and local health jurisdictions finally have a space to share, collaborate, and learn from each other.

PS: Please check back for information from ASTHO on their role in BioSEnse 2.0 soon!

Cheers, -Taha

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This post was taken from the BioSense Community Forum and can be found in the original text here: https://sites.google.com/site/biosenseredesign/community-forum/checkinginwiththecommunityonbiosense20.

Thank you!