Progress in improving state and local disease surveillance--United States, 2000-2005

In September 2000, states began receiving federal funding to plan and implement integrated electronic systems for disease surveillance. CDC and state and local health departments had recognized the importance of such systems and of uniform standards to improve the usefulness of public health surveillance and the timeliness of response to outbreaks of disease. Previously, state health departments received most case-report forms by mail and then entered the data into computer systems, sometimes weeks after the cases of notifiable disease had occurred, including cases that warranted immediate public health investigation or intervention. In addition, depending on the disease, only 10%-85% of cases were reported, and more than 100 different systems were used to transmit these reports from the states to CDC (CDC, unpublished data, 2005). This report summarizes progress since the initial funding in 2000 in improving state and local disease surveillance through secure, Internet-based data entry and automated electronic laboratory results (ELR) reporting. Both are components of the National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS), the surveillance and monitoring component of the broader Public Health Information Network (PHIN) initiative. Local, state, and national public health officials should continue to improve the timeliness and completeness of disease surveillance.