PHDS Progress in 2023

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2023 Progress Summary
PHDS 2023 Milestones and Their Status

2023 Year-End Lookback Report

The Public Health Data Strategy (PHDS) was launched in 2023 with an ambitious set of 15 milestones. At the end of the year, 12 milestones had been met and work continues on the remaining three.

Meeting the 12 milestones represents tangible success and CDC continues to work towards milestones that are both ambitious and achievable. See the status of the milestones below.

The work done to meet those 2023 milestones has made a measurable difference in our nation’s ability to respond to existing health threats and to detect and respond to future public health threats. Progress made in 2023 includes:

Laboratory data representing more than 300 million Americans are made available by CDC, improving national situational awareness across conditions.¹
More than one million Americans have accessed the public Respiratory Virus Data Channel, enabling greater preparedness during the 2023-2024 respiratory threat season.
More than 30,900 healthcare facilities, including more than 380 critical access hospitals (CAHs), send electronic case reports (eCR), enabling faster detection of health anomalies across communities.²
More than 90 conditions are tracked in case data dashboards provided to state, tribal, local and territorial (STLT) public health departments and CDC programs, reducing time spent cleaning and visualizing data, making it easier to take public health action.
92% of state public health laboratories able to directly exchange standardized test orders and results with at least one healthcare partner for at least one laboratory program³, enabling faster exchange of critical laboratory data.
52% of jurisdictions ingest electronic case data directly into disease surveillance systems, reducing the burden on STLT public health departments to manually ingest case data.⁴

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PHDS 2023 Milestones and Their Status

Milestone

Status

Impact

STLTs enabled to submit a generic core case data feed that can be used for national disease notification.

Milestone

STLTs enabled to submit a generic core case data feed that can be used for national disease notification.

44 jurisdictions enabled to submit generic core case data and have been onboarded to the GenV2 Message Mapping Guide.

Status

44 jurisdictions enabled to submit generic core case data and have been onboarded to the GenV2 Message Mapping Guide.

Reduced reporting burden on STLTs as additional jurisdictions able to electronically report case data to CDC in a consistent format.

Impact

Reduced reporting burden on STLTs as additional jurisdictions able to electronically report case data to CDC in a consistent format.

32 jurisdictions are ingesting eCR data into disease surveillance systems.

Milestone

32 jurisdictions are ingesting eCR data into disease surveillance systems.

34 jurisdictions ingesting eCR data.

Status

34 jurisdictions ingesting eCR data.

10 additional jurisdictions reduced their manual burden to process case data into their systems and enabled near real-time disease surveillance, a 38% increase from the 2022 baseline.

Impact

10 additional jurisdictions reduced their manual burden to process case data into their systems and enabled near real-time disease surveillance, a 38% increase from the 2022 baseline.

90% of Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity (ELC) recipients are connected to one or multiple intermediaries such as APHL Informatics Messaging Services, ReportStream or Health Information Exchanges for laboratory data.

Milestone

95% of ELC recipients are connected to at least one intermediary.

Status

95% of ELC recipients are connected to at least one intermediary.

Six additional ELC recipients able to maintain timely situational awareness and respond faster in public health emergencies through interoperable and automated laboratory data exchange.

Impact

Six additional ELC recipients able to maintain timely situational awareness and respond faster in public health emergencies through interoperable and automated laboratory data exchange.

90% of state public health laboratories have implemented Electronic Test Orders and Results (ETOR) with at least one healthcare partner for at least one laboratory program.

Milestone

90% of state public health laboratories have implemented Electronic Test Orders and Results (ETOR) with at least one healthcare partner for at least one laboratory program.

92% of state public health laboratories have implemented ETOR.

Status

92% of state public health laboratories have implemented ETOR.

Nine additional state public health laboratories able to reduce manual entry of test orders from faxes sent by providers.

Impact

Nine additional state public health laboratories able to reduce manual entry of test orders from faxes sent by providers.

75% of CDC infectious disease laboratories send laboratory test results to external partners electronically such as using Electronic Laboratory Reporting, CDC Specimen Test Order and Reporting or an intermediary.

Milestone

More than 90% of CDC infectious disease laboratories send laboratory test results electronically.

Status

More than 90% of CDC infectious disease laboratories send laboratory test results electronically.

External partners able to quickly receive laboratory test results to enable rapid awareness of public health threats.

Impact

External partners able to quickly receive laboratory test results to enable rapid awareness of public health threats.

Reduced time to send mortality data to and receive coded cause of death data from CDC for 12–15 jurisdictions through use of Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR^®)-based exchange.

Milestone

Reduced time to send mortality data to and receive coded cause of death data from CDC for 12–15 jurisdictions through use of Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR^®)-based exchange.

One jurisdiction onboarded to FHIR-based exchange for mortality data. Milestone on track for completion in 2024.

Status

One jurisdiction onboarded to FHIR-based exchange for mortality data. Milestone on track for completion in 2024.

Technical foundation created and one jurisdiction onboarded to accelerate sending and receiving of death data, critical for public health analyses and decision making.

Impact

Technical foundation created and one jurisdiction onboarded to accelerate sending and receiving of death data, critical for public health analyses and decision making.

CDC receives and ensures access to commercial laboratory data from at least two major national commercial laboratories to enable situational awareness across multiple conditions.

Milestone

CDC receives and ensures access to commercial laboratory data from at least two major national commercial laboratories to enable situational awareness across multiple conditions.

CDC receives data from two major commercial laboratories.

Status

CDC receives data from two major commercial laboratories.

Improved national CDC situational awareness by increasing laboratory data coverage across geographies and conditions.

Impact

Improved national CDC situational awareness by increasing laboratory data coverage across geographies and conditions.

FHIR^® is the registered trademark of Health Level Seven International and use of this trademark does not constitute an endorsement by HL7^®.

Milestone

Status

Impact

CAHs in production with eCR increased to 25%, up from 20% in 2022.

Milestone

CAHs in production with eCR increased to 25%, up from 20% in 2022.

28% of CAHs in production with eCR.

Status

28% of CAHs in production with eCR.

76 additional CAHs able to provide awareness of emerging health threats in all parts of the nation, including rural communities.

Impact

76 additional CAHs able to provide awareness of emerging health threats in all parts of the nation, including rural communities.

Reusable technologies to link multiple data streams such as case and laboratory made available to all jurisdictions and deployed by at least one STLT.

Milestone

Reusable technologies to link multiple data streams such as case and laboratory made available to all jurisdictions and deployed by at least one STLT.

Reusable technologies made available, deployed in L.A. County.

Status

Reusable technologies made available, deployed in L.A. County.

STLTs and CDC programs able to conduct robust disease surveillance by having access to timely data on more than 90 notifiable conditions.

Impact

STLTs and CDC programs able to conduct robust disease surveillance by having access to timely data on more than 90 notifiable conditions.

Milestone

Status

Impact

Minimum viable product for centralized data dissemination platform developed in partnership with CDC’s Office of Readiness and Response to share timely and actionable data publicly.

Milestone

Minimum viable product for centralized data dissemination platform developed in partnership with CDC’s Office of Readiness and Response to share timely and actionable data publicly.

Respiratory Viral Data Channel released.

Status

Respiratory Viral Data Channel released.

General public able to access timely public health information for critical public health threats such as COVID-19, influenza and RSV and enable more educated actions/responses.

Impact

General public able to access timely public health information for critical public health threats such as COVID-19, influenza and RSV and enable more educated actions/responses.

Data and visualizations available within 2–3 days instead of from 5 to 90 days or more for CDC programs and STLTs since time of receiving case data at CDC for at least one nationally notifiable condition such as viral hepatitis.

Milestone

Dashboards for nationally notifiable conditions refreshed daily and made available to STLTs and all CDC programs.

Status

Dashboards for nationally notifiable conditions refreshed daily and made available to STLTs and all CDC programs.

STLTs and CDC programs able to conduct robust disease surveillance by having access to timely data on more than 90 notifiable conditions.

Impact

STLTs and CDC programs able to conduct robust disease surveillance by having access to timely data on more than 90 notifiable conditions.

Milestone

Status

Impact

CDC selects a Qualified Health Information Network and has identified at least two public health use cases for Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement, establishing a pathway for data exchange with healthcare systems and providers.

Milestone

Two use cases identified (case and laboratory data). Milestone on track for completion in 2024.

Status

Two use cases identified (case and laboratory data). Milestone on track for completion in 2024.

CDC has begun building foundations to enable faster exchange of more interoperable data between public health and health care.

Impact

CDC has begun building foundations to enable faster exchange of more interoperable data between public health and health care.

Standard language and terms for data protection and use agreed upon with public health partners for core data sources, consistent with CDC Advisory Committee to the Director Data and Surveillance Workgroup recommendations.

Milestone

Standard language drafted. Milestone on track for completion in 2024.

Status

Standard language drafted. Milestone on track for completion in 2024.

CDC will be able to provide national data standards for core data sources through collaboration with public health partners, enabling easier public health data use and access.

Impact

CDC will be able to provide national data standards for core data sources through collaboration with public health partners, enabling easier public health data use and access.

New data access agreement established to enable easier sharing of emergency department data from National Syndromic Surveillance Program across STLTs and CDC programs.

Milestone

New data access agreement established to enable easier sharing of emergency department data from National Syndromic Surveillance Program across STLTs and CDC programs.

Data use agreement to enable sharing of ED data established.

Status

Data use agreement to enable sharing of ED data established.

CDC programs will be able to better use emergency department data already collected by CDC to make it easier to create public health insights and reduce duplicative data collection.

Impact

CDC programs will be able to better use emergency department data already collected by CDC to make it easier to create public health insights and reduce duplicative data collection.

Minimal data elements necessary for public health response defined for at least case and laboratory data, in collaboration with STLT partners and CDC programs.

Milestone

Minimal data elements necessary for public health response defined for at least case and laboratory data, in collaboration with STLT partners and CDC programs.

Minimal data elements for case and laboratory data are under review.

Status

Minimal data elements for case and laboratory data are under review.

CDC programs will be able to syndicate and collect a standardized set of data elements for two core data sources, reducing reporting burden for external partners.

Impact

CDC programs will be able to syndicate and collect a standardized set of data elements for two core data sources, reducing reporting burden for external partners.

2023 Year-End Lookback Report: From Insights to Impact

OPHDST 2023 PHDS Year-End LookBack Report

Read the OPHDST Public Health Data Strategy 2023 Year-End Lookback Report: From Insights to Impact [419 KB, 3 Pages] to learn more about 2023 PHDS milestones and our path to data modernization.

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1. Compared to more than 285 million Americans covered by laboratory data collected and made available by CDC in early 2023 (Source: CDC estimates)
2. Compared to approximately 300 CAHs, and more than 25,000 healthcare facilities using eCR in early 2023 (Source: eCR factsheet, CDC estimates)
3. Increase of 18 percentage points compared to 74% of state public health laboratories in early 2023; includes ETOR implementation through web portal, direct integration and intermediaries (Source: CDC estimates)
4. Increase of 14 percentage points compared to 38% of STLTs in early 2023 that were ingesting eCR data into disease surveillance systems (Source: CDC estimates)

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