Stories: Surveillance and Data in Action

Because of data modernization, we are already in a very different place than we were before the pandemic. The gains made during the COVID-19 pandemic are now building a bridge to a new kind of surveillance and better approaches to public health data. Read examples that demonstrate the power and value of CDC’s Data Modernization Initiative for public health.

Data modernization improvements are strengthening public health action in communities. Read a few selected stories of modernization in jurisdictions, and learn how modernizing case surveillance, syndromic surveillance, and public health interoperability is leading to meaningful impacts for health.

In the United States, there have been hundreds of thousands of deaths attributed to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. But CDC scientists suspect there may be more people who died, either from undiagnosed COVID-19 or from other causes related to the pandemic.

The scientists who designed the Research and Development Survey (RANDS) could never have foreseen the current global pandemic. But when COVID-19 struck, they recognized the tool was uniquely ready to meet the needs of the response.

The effects of COVID-19 go beyond numbers of cases and deaths. How many people are struggling under the stresses of the pandemic? The experimental Household Pulse Survey is helping to measure these other costs – and get answers before it’s too late to act.

In Maryland, we’ve made our death reporting systems more electronic, connected, and responsive. But if you want change to be meaningful and lasting, you also have to give people on the ground what they need to make it work.

Information from death certificates can lead us toward more effective disease prevention, better cures, and healthier lives. When crisis strikes, timely and high-quality death information becomes even more critical.

In June 2023, more than 100 experts in data, technology, epidemiology, and more gathered in Salt Lake City to tackle big modernization challenges and brainstorm solutions to improve health outcomes and preparedness for people living in Utah.

Working with industry partners can help focus public health efforts and speed our response. As we improve public health data and technology through major national efforts like CDC’s Data Modernization Initiative, we’re seeking to make public-private connections more open and equitable.

The National Center for Health Statistics links health-related data from multiple sources so that scientists and policymakers can answer complex health questions relevant to all Americans. State-of-the-art data science techniques are helping us meet the information needs of the nation.

When plans don’t go as expected, the best resource you’ll ever have is the right people. Here at the vital records office in Indiana, we encountered some unexpected twists and turns in trying to speed up our death reporting, but we always kept moving in the right direction through the sheer ingenuity of our team.

Do you know what life expectancy is where you live? A new, first-of-its-kind map from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) lets you explore detailed life expectancy estimates across the United States, down to the census tract level.

When a team of four scientists at the National Center for Health Statistics—working in different divisions and offering different expertise—came together to examine suicide data, they made a leap in data analysis so innovative it earned them CDC’s highest honor for scientific work.

When it comes to making data interoperable, we think about making better connections between systems. But in focusing on the technology, we sometimes undervalue the connections we need to make between people.

Each year, about 100,000 people die in the state of New York, not including deaths that occur within New York City. The momentous task of reporting these deaths falls to the state’s 3,000 funeral directors, 57 county coroner and medical examiners’ offices, 1,400+ local registrars, and approximately 70,000 licensed medical certifiers.

At the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), we are using research to help turn the tide. As a research agency, we often uncover clues – and new questions – by examining mortality data from the National Vital Statistics System. The equation is simple: the more complete death record information we have, and the faster we have it, the better the research we can do to save lives.

As the opioid overdose crisis looms large over our country, there is no doubt that improving data on how, when, and where people are losing their lives to drug overdoses will help prevent additional overdose deaths. But as we improve our ability to collect and share drug overdose death data, we also have an impact that reaches far beyond this epidemic.

Information from death certificates was one of the earliest sources of surveillance data, and mortality data still supports public health decision-making today in a host of ways. Finding tools and methods to better collect this information and exchange it more easily is a priority, especially when it comes to addressing the latest public health emergency: the epidemic of drug overdose deaths.

CDC’s surveillance systems serve critical public health functions, but many of our systems use aging technologies that have been patched together over time and need to be rebuilt or replaced. We are exploring technologies such as application programming interfaces (APIs) and micro-services that are used successfully by many other organizations to deliver timely, high-quality data when and where it is needed.

Thanks to advancements in technology and national incentives, physical health records largely have become digitized, and their roles have evolved beyond just documenting care. Data captured in electronic health records is used to create a deeper understanding of wellness and diseases, identify threats to public health, and guide policy changes. Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR), or “fire” as it’s pronounced, is critical to this paradigm shift.

All information captured on death certificates—such as race, gender, and marital status—matters. Capturing the information in a timely and accurate way is more than just an administrative requirement with public health benefits. It’s an opportunity to provide a sense of closure, maintain dignity, and respect the wishes of those who have departed.