How We Conduct Syndromic Surveillance

Syndromic surveillance is a collaborative effort between local and state health departments, CDC, and other partners. This page outlines how we conduct syndromic surveillance.

1. People seek treatment in a medical facility, such as emergency department or urgent care.

2. Medical facility sends de-identified data including chief complaint, diagnosis codes, patient characteristics, and location to state and local health departments or to data aggregators such as Health Information Exchanges.
3. Public health departments and Health Information Exchanges contribute data to the NSSP BioSense Platform.

4. Data gets sent to BioSense Platform.
5. From BioSense Platform, the NSSP Community of Practice:
   • Conduct syndromic surveillance to monitor public health
   • Share data via NSSP BioSense Platform
   • Build skills via webinars, trainings, and workgroup participation
   • Collaborate to develop methods and respond to emergencies

1. The CDC provides:
   • Analytic tools, services, and system infrastructure
   • Funding to health departments
   • Technical assistance and training
   • Data analysis support
   • Collaboration on specific projects

Download the How We Conduct Syndromic Surveillance Infographic [PDF – 837 KB]