Syndromic Surveillance:

Syndromic Surveillance messaging allows both outpatient and inpatient facilities to report chief complaint data of a patient to the Division of Disease Control in an automated and secure process for early detection of potential disease events.

Frequently Asked Questions (pdf)

How do I get started?

First, your facility will need to determine if the facilities Electronic Health Record (EHR) can send an electronic file in Health Level 7 (HL7) format. Disease Control will accept either HL7 version 2.3.1 or HL7 version 2.5.1, with preference given to 2.5.1 if it is a possible mechanism.

• If sending either HL7 2.5.1 or HL7 version 2.3.1, consult the North Dakota Department of Health Syndromic Surveillance Messaging Guide for details on message structure: Messaging Guide
• This first phase of Syndromic Surveillance Messaging consists of information exchange between Disease Control and the facility. Disease Control will need to know which EHR the facility is using and their ability to send an HL7 message.

During the testing phase, traditional syndromic surveillance from facilities currently doing so will need to continue until both the facility and Disease Control have verified that the new electronic reporting is working correctly. Transmissions will be via secure message exchange. Currently, North Dakota is utilizing a secure ftp transport.

While Disease Control will be available to provide some assistance with mapping, the hospital IT personnel and software vendors will be responsible for most of the coding and implementation.

If you have questions, please contact Lindsey VanderBusch at lvanderbusch@nd.gov. In the subject line, please put Syndromic Surveillance Implementation Questions, or call 701.328.2378.

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