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

Published Joint Statistical Meetings Proceedings Papers

View two recently published 2011 JSM Proceedings papers about the Distribute project. 

Analytic Evaluation of a Standardization Effort for the DISTRIBUTE Emergency Department Surveillance Project

• Howard Burkom, Donald Olson, Atar Baer, Marc Paladini, Debra Revere, Anne McIntyre

Generation of Prediction Intervals to Assess Data Quality in the Distribute System Using Quantile Regression

• Ian Painter, Julie Eaton, Don Olson, Debra Revere, Bill Lober

Distribute Presentations at the 2011 Joint Statistical Meetings

The Distribute Project will be presented in a special session "Statistical Issues in Influenza Surveillance" at the Joint Statistical Meetings in Miami, FL on August 2, 2011:

336	Tue, 8/2/2011, 10:30 AM - 12:20 PM	CC-A107
Statistical Issues in Influenza Surveillance — Topic Contributed Papers
Section on Statistics in Defense and National Security , Section on Government Statistics , Scientific and Public Affairs Advisory Committee
Organizer(s): Howard Burkom, The Johns Hopkins University
Chair(s): Po-Yung Cheng, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
10:35 AM	Comparing Various Methods for Sentinel Surveillance Site Placement — Alberto Segre, University of Iowa ; Gerard Rushton, University of Iowa ; Philip Polgreen, University of Iowa ; Geoffrey Fairchild, University of Iowa
10:55 AM	The Distribute Project, Syndromic Surveillance, and the New Paradigm for Public Health Data Sharing and Analysis — Marc Paladini, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
11:15 AM	Generation of Prediction Intervals to Assess Data Quality in the Distribute System Using Quantile Regression — Ian Painter, University of Washington ; Julie Eaton, University of Puget Sound ; Debra Revere, University of Washington ; Bill Lober, University of Washington ; Donald Olson, International Society of Disease Surveillance
11:35 AM	Analytic Evaluation of a Standardization Effort for the Distribute Emergency Department Surveillance Project — Howard Burkom, The Johns Hopkins University ; Donald Olson, International Society of Disease Surveillance ; Marc Paladini, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene ; Atar Baer, Public Health-Seattle & King County ; Debra Revere, University of Washington
11:55 PM	Floor Discussion

Distribute Proof of Concept Report Published in PLoS Currents: Influenza

A report on the Distribute Project Proof of Concept phase has been published in PLoS Currents:  Influenza:

The ISDS DiSTRIBuTE project is a case example for a new paradigm in the collection and sharing of public health data. By connecting state and local jurisdictions that conducted electronic, emergency department (ED) syndromic surveillance, DiSTRIBuTE aimed to demonstrate the feasibility and utility of a fast, inexpensive, low burden model for population level respiratory, febrile and influenza-like morbidity surveillance. The effort emerged out of the unique collaborative environment of ISDS, where federal, state, and local public health agencies, academia, businesses, non-profit organizations, and other stakeholders leverage resources and technology to work together to advance the practice and research of public health disease surveillance.

The development and proof of concept phase of the ISDS DiSTRIBuTE project from 2006 to 2009 was supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through a cooperative agreement with the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) and the Markle Foundation. Implementation and expansion of DiSTRIBuTE into a nationwide system in 2009 and 2010 was supported by the Markle Foundation, and CDC through a cooperative agreement with the Public Health Informatics Institute.

 

Citation: Olson DR, Paladini M, Lober WB, Buckeridge DL; for the ISDS Distribute Working Group. Applying a New Model for Sharing Population Health Data to National Syndromic Influenza Surveillance: DiSTRIBuTE Project Proof of Concept, 2006 to 2009 [Internet]. Version 25. PLoS Currents: Influenza 2011 Jul 8 [revised 2011 Jul 21]. Available from: http://knol.google.com/k/don-olson/applying-a-new-model-for-sharing/261w1jjdm6zrb/5#

ISDS Presentations at the 2011 CSTE Annual Conference

ISDS is gearing-up for the 2011 Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) Annual Conference next week in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Members and staff will be leading breakout and roundtable sessions on BioSense, Distribute and Meaningful Use. We hope to see you there!

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Pre-Conference BioSense Workshop – Breakout Session, 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM

The ISDS Recommended Core Syndromic Surveillance Business Process Applied: Where can technology enhance your work?  

• Charlie Ishikawa & Lucia Roja-Smith

Syndromic surveillance involves a complex array of discrete task, processes and decisions. Business processes and workflows are a method for graphically depicting and articulating any complex activity.  In this session participants will learn how this methodology can be used to understand syndromic surveillance and work in small groups to identify how technology may enhance their work.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Concurrent Breakout Sessions

ASSESSING PERFORMANCE OF SYNDROMIC SURVEILLANCE:  10:30 AM - 11:30 AM

• Distribute surveillance system: View of the 2010-2011 flu season - Donald Olson, International Society for Disease Surveillance
• Data quality monitoring approaches in the Distribute system - Julie Eaton, University of Puget Sound 
• Using prediction intervals to determine the effect of timeliness on accuracy for ILI ratios - Ian Painter, University of Washington

Concurrent Roundtable Discussions: 12:30 PM - 1:15 PM

INFECTIOUS DISEASE

Adopting and assessing use of a common ILI syndrome for monitoring and estimating

impact from influenza across multiple sites in the Distribute Project

• Donald Olson, International Society for Disease
•  Blaine Reeder, University of Washington

SURVEILLANCE / INFORMATICS

Syndromic surveillance requirements and Meaningful Use

• Michael A Coletta, Virginia Department of Health
•  Taha Kass-Hout, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

ISDS/Distribute Presentations at CSTE Annual Conference

At the 2010 CSTE Annual Conference, running from June 6th to June 10th in Portland, Oregon, there will be two presentations by ISDS members on the Distribute Project:

Monday, June 7th, 2010 at 4:30 pm PST:
ISDS President David Buckeridge will be giving an oral presentation entitled, "Innovations in public health surveillance: Lessons learned from the rapid expansion of the Distribute project to support H1N1 surveillance." This presentation is a part of the Surveillance/Informatics I session on Innovations & Progress in Data Integration and Sharing.

Tuesday, June 8th, 10:00 am PST:
ISDS Board members Bill Lober and John Brownstein, along with Taha Kass-Hout, Acting Deputy Director at CDC, will be hosting a poster session entitled, "An innovative, distributed surveillance informatics infrastructure for H1N1 and beyond." This poster (Board #701) is a part of the Surveillance/Informatics session in Exhibit Hall A.

Full agenda available here.

ISDS and the Distribute Project Highlighted in "Ready or Not? 2009" Report

In a report entitled Ready or Not? 2009, released this December by Trust For America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), both the ISDS and the Distribute Project are highlighted for their work with novel surveillance methodologies.

This report is the seventh in an annual series entitled: Ready or Not? Protecting the Public's Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism, which evaluates America's public health preparedness. Through examination of the country's "ability to respond to health threats and help identify areas of vulnerability," TFAH then "offers a series of recommendations to further strengthen America's emergency preparedness." (See the TFAH's Initiative page on Bioterrorism and Public Health Preparedness for more information.)

On page 25 of the report, the ISDS is mentioned in the section, "Biosurveillance--Real-Time Syndromic Surveillance System," as having "a growing body of evidence" that syndromic surveillance can give earlier notice of an oncoming outbreak than laboratory data. Because syndromic surveillance can provide real-time data across geographic regions and age groups, the report suggests that this type of surveillance could become increasingly important in "delivering effective public health services" in response to an outbreak. There is also mention of the survey done by the ISDS in conjunction with the CDC, ASTHO, NACCHO and CSTE* in 2007 and 2008 to assess syndromic surveillance practices across the country.

Later on, the report mentions the Distribute Project in the context of federal preparedness and the increasing emphasis on real-time biosurveillance and health information technology. While there have been many efforts to enhance biosurveillance since its emergence during the anthrax attacks of 2001, our nation has yet to integrate information sources that, together, could provide a truly real-time picture of population health. In this past year, the work of the National Biosurveillance Advisory Subcommittee and the Office of the National Coordinator of Health IT have helped inform the federal approach to preparedness, especially with respect to current discrepancies in reporting structure and funding allocation.

The section, "The Distribute Project: A Novel Approach to Disease Surveillance," highlights how the federal government is supporting our distributed model in order to "enhance national and regional influenza situational awareness." CDC has funded Distribute to continue beyond its proof-of-concept phase, and has helped to increase the participation of state and local health departments by providing them with additional resources for syndromic surveillance. Distribute is featured alongside other already existing systems the federal government is using to monitor H1N1, such as BioSense and ILInet.

It is hoped that with recommendations like those which TFAH lists at the end of its report, such as the need to "modernize disease surveillance systems," the work of the Distribute Project will not only continue, but play an increasing role in both domestic and international biosurveillance.


*Expansion of Acronyms:
Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
Association of State and Territorial Health Officers (ASTHO)
National Association of City and County Health Officials (NACCHO)
Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE)

Obama Mentions Public Health Surveillance in his State of the Union Address

In his State of the Union address last night, President Obama included public health surveillance in his administration's agenda when he said, "we are launching a new initiative that will give us the capacity to respond faster and more efficiently to bioterrorism or an infectious disease - a plan that will counter threats at home and strengthen public health abroad." Thank you, Mr. Obama, for acknowledging the significance of the work done by the ISDS and many other public health institutions!

Previously, Obama's plan for national security was outlined by US Secretary of State Ellen Taucher at the Biological Weapons Convention in Geneva, Switzerland this past December. In her "Address to the Annual Meeting of the States Parties to the Biological Weapons Convention," one of the priorities highlighted was the plan to strengthen global disease surveillance.

Taucher mentioned that natural disease surveillance is a critical component of bio-security. In addition, as a part of the CDC's new collaboration with the WHO on implementing IHRs, a meeting will occur during the summer to "[look] at new technologies and new approaches to build the core capacities on disease surveillance needed under the IHRs."

ISDS Members and Distribute Participants Win 2009 Davies Awards

The ISDS is pleased to announce that one of its Board Directors, Julia Gunn, along with her team at the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC), recently received the 2009 Davies Public Health Award of Excellence for their work with syndromic surveillance. As one of its original participants, the Boston Syndromic Surveillance System (B-SYNSS) has made significant contributions to the ISDS Distribute collaborative.

The BPHC Infectious Disease Bureau was one of two institutions to win this award, along with active ISDS member Art Davidson for the Denver Public Health Information Service (DPH-IS). Both Julia and Art made presentations at a breakfast on September 2nd, 2009 as a part of the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions’ PHIN Conference in Atlanta. The Davies Award, managed by HIMSS, is meant to “[Recognize] public health achievement through health information management, specifically electronic health records(1).”

In a recent phone interview with Julia Gunn, she explained that the BPHC decided to apply for the award because syndromic surveillance has really changed how they look at information. For example, having a syndromic surveillance system enabled them to participate in Distribute and to compare data with other participating health departments. Comparing data between jurisdictions allows Distribute participants to see differences across regions and urban areas (rather than simply state to state), revealing new patterns in disease spread.

Not only did their use of syndromic surveillance allow the BPHC to see new patterns in disease spread, but it also increased situational awareness, especially with Boston’s H1N1 outbreak this past spring. With more information available on influenza-like illness (ILI), the BPHC could adjust both practice and response as necessary. Changes in practice, in turn, led to the continued evaluation and modification of their syndromic surveillance system. Over time, the BPHC has been able to tweak its system’s definitions for ILI based on population-specific descriptions, further improving disease monitoring.

When asked what part of the Distribute Project has been most valuable to her team, Gunn responded that it has been the active community of practice. When working with a moving target such as an epidemic, having more details readily available better equips a health department to respond appropriately. Having access to a support system where ideas and strategies can be shared--especially between similar jurisdictions--has been beneficial. It was particularly valuable for Boston to be able to compare data with New York City this past spring, whose outbreak of H1N1 was slightly ahead of Boston’s. Due to similarities that the two cities share, such as weather patterns and school systems, it was helpful to trade insight and experience between the respective health departments.

The ISDS would like to congratulate Julia and the BPHC for their receipt of the Davies Award, and for contributing to the awareness and improvement of syndromic surveillance.

References:
1. HIMSS News: Two Organizations Honored with 2009 Davies Public Health Award of Excellence

Additional Information:
BPHC Press Release

Job Opening: Senior Project Manager -- DiSTRIBuTE Project

Overview
The mission of the International Society for Disease Surveillance (ISDS) is to improve population health by advancing the field of disease surveillance. The Society provides an educational and scientific forum to explore and address population health monitoring across institutional and professional boundaries. The DiSTRIBuTE project was developed by ISDS members as a distributed, influenza surveillance system. DiSTRIBuTE uses aggregate, influenza like illness (ILI), emergency department data from existing syndromic surveillance systems developed by state and local public health departments.

ISDS is seeking an experienced Sr. Project Manager for a grant-funded project that could develop into a longer term opportunity, based on performance and future funding. The DiSTRIBuTE Sr. Project Manager, reporting directly to the President of the ISDS Board of Directors, will work with the Scientific Director and other members of the project team, including members of the Public Health Informatics Institute (PHII) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to recruit, enroll and coordinate the rapid expansion of the DiSTRIBuTE community of practice to improve the timeliness, availability and accessibility of syndromic surveillance information related to H1N1 influenza cases and outbreaks in the United States. The DiSTRIBuTE Sr. Project Manager will be accountable for the rapid expansion of a large scale, complex, national flu surveillance project in conjunction with ISDS, PHII and CDC, on time, on budget and across all national, state and local jurisdictions.

Job Description
The Sr. Project Manager will have excellent relationship-building skills, as well as strong leadership and team management capabilities, to lead a diverse and dynamic team in the successful delivery of this complex, integrated project. This role requires deep understanding of project management methodologies, tools and approaches to effectively manage a complex, multi-disciplinary project. The Sr. Project Manager will report directly to the President of the ISDS.

Duties
• Provide project management for a large-scale, national, multi-customer, multi-vendor and multi-partner project including:
• Develop project goals, timelines and deliverables, integrated project plans, key roles and responsibilities.
• Manage complete project development and implementation life-cycle and ensure that goals are met.
• Matrix manage/coordinate internal and external resources to meet objectives.
• Manage relationships with sites, subcontracts, partners and sponsors.
• Provide internal/external status reports and project dashboards.
• Manage, with the ISDS Board President, project governance including Advisory Committee, Project Committee, Community of Practice and stakeholder meetings.
• Facilitate goals/priorities/decision making and escalate to advisory board and sponsors as necessary.
• Communicate with and influence internal and external stakeholders regarding key project objectives and steps to ensure buy-in.
• Create and ratify project quality/performance standards and report relevant metrics.
• Supervisory responsibility for project staff including both direct reports and subcontracted staff.
• Provide guidance to subcontract sites and staff around achievement of goals and deliverables (matrix and direct reporting).
• Act as central coordinator for project team.
• Address/resolve interpersonal or team dynamic concerns.
• Manage staff hired by ISDS for the DiSTRIBuTE project.

Skills
Highly organized and self-directed with ability to work with minimal supervision; detail oriented with no loss of big-picture objectives; results oriented, a fast learner and accepting of change; ability to prioritize and multi-task effectively; excellent written/verbal communication skills, with exceptional presentation abilities to senior management and other key stakeholders; ability to work in a time-sensitive, deadline driven, political environment; expert knowledge of the key components of project management (e.g., scope, time, cost, quality, human resources, communication, risk, integration),

Experience
5-7 years experience in a project manager role leading complex, geographically distributed, technical/public health initiatives. Successful track record in completing projects on time and on budget working with senior level professionals from multiple disciplines and diverse stakeholder groups. Strong knowledge of MS tools including Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Visio and Project. Bachelor’s degree or equivalent, Master’s in Public Health, Healthcare or Public Administration or Business preferred. Project management certification (e.g. PMI, PMP) highly preferred. Healthcare or Public Health experience required.

How to Apply
Resumes should be sent to: Barbara Honthumb, Sr. Consultant Finance and Planning, Tufts Health Care Institute (THCI)

Job Opening: Community of Practice Coordinator -- DiSTRIBuTE Project

Overview
The mission of the International Society for Disease Surveillance (ISDS) is to improve population health by advancing the field of disease surveillance. The Society provides an educational and scientific forum to explore and address population health monitoring across institutional and professional boundaries. The DiSTRIBuTE project was developed by ISDS members as a distributed, influenza surveillance system. DiSTRIBuTE uses aggregate, influenza like illness (ILI) emergency department data from existing syndromic surveillance systems developed by state and local public health departments.

ISDS is seeking an experienced public health professional for a grant-funded project that could develop into a longer term opportunity, based on performance and future funding. The DiSTRIBuTE Community of Practice Coordinator (CoP Coordinator), working under the direction of the Sr. Project Manager and in collaboration with the Scientific Director and other members of the project team, will be responsible for recruiting, enrolling and facilitating the rapid expansion of the DiSTRIBuTE Community of Practice. Currently the DiSTRIBuTE Community of Practice is a 10 site proof-of-concept project which will expand nation-wide to improve the timeliness, availability and accessibility of syndromic surveillance information related to H1N1 influenza cases and outbreaks in the United States.

Job Description
The CoP Coordinator will have excellent group facilitation and meeting coordination skills, as well as strong communications and organizational capabilities, to coordinate the rapid expansion of a diverse and dynamic, geographically dispersed DiSTRIBuTE Community of Practice (CoP). This person will ideally have close working relationships within the public health surveillance community and will be highly motivated to ensure that the DiSTRIBuTE CoP succeeds in meeting project goals. The CoP Coordinator will champion the CoP’s success in developing a national, distributed influenza surveillance system and work with the Sr. Project Manager, Scientific Director and others to ensure that communications about the project flow to and from participating sites to the sponsors, stakeholders and other DiSTRIBuTE team members. Other duties may include: providing perspectives and resources to participating DiSTRIBuTE sites; periodically reviewing progress and developmental needs of current and future sites; ensuring that data submission and reporting needs of sites are met; troubleshooting data collection and submission problems in collaboration with the DiSTRIBuTE Technical Site Liaisons; and building collaborative relationships with officials and sponsors from other national, state and local agencies. The CoP Coordinator will report directly to the Sr. Project Manager with a matrix reporting relationship to the Scientific Director.

Duties
• Develop documents to be used to recruite new sites that communicate the Federal/State/Local plans for summarized ILI surveilance and the importance of participation in the DiSTRIBuTE CoP.
• Work the DiSTRIBuTE Public Health Site Liaisons to recruit sites into the DiSTRIBuTE CoP and facilitiate connection with DiSTRIBuTE Technical Site Liasions to establish and maintain the collection and submission of data to the DiSTRIBuTE website.
• Support new and existing DiSTRIBuTE CoP sites.
• Moderate CoP discussion web group, manage two-way social media conversations.
• Organize and run meetings weekly webinar/conference calls; ensure that meetings stay on track, and that meeting goals are accomplished.
• Organize community documents (charter, agendas, meeting minutes, etc.) and produce weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual reports and post to the DiSTRIBuTE website as appropriate.
• With the Sr. Project Manager, Scientific Director and others, manage effective distribution of the CoP’s messages and findings to users, working group members and stakeholders.

Skills
Highly organized and self-directed with ability to work with minimal supervision; excellent people and team building skills; detail- and results-oriented, a fast learner and flexible; ability to prioritize and multi-task effectively; excellent written/verbal communication skills, ability to work in a time-sensitive, deadline driven, political environment. Extensive travel may be required in early stages of the project.

Experience
A minimum of 5 years experience in public health ideally working within a local health department on planning or training projects. Strong knowledge of MS tools including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Familiarity with and experience managing virtual and face-to-face meetings and communitications including email, conference calling, webinars, bulletin boards and blogs. Bachelor’s degree or equivalent, Master’s in Public Health preferred.

How to Apply
Resumes should be sent to: Barbara Honthumb, Sr. Consultant Finance and Planning, Tufts Health Care Institute (THCI)