Onboarding Resources

What to know

CDC's NSSP provides the syndromic surveillance community with the BioSense Platform. This secure, cloud-based system detects and monitors health threats. Successfully onboarding health care facilities, vendors, and public health sites into the platform is vital. High-quality live data feeds power the system. These data, paired with standardized tools and processes, enable effective investigation and rapid response. Our onboarding work is an investment in a modernized public health data infrastructure.

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Key roles in the process

Facilities transmit de-identified patient information to the BioSense Platform in near real-time. Our partners in this process who help ensure high-quality data feeds include:

  • The facility that will submit data. In addition to the organizations that deliver care, this could also include electronic health record vendors or health information exchanges.
  • The site, our term for the public health authority that serves as an administrative hub for groupings of facilities that transmit data.
  • The site administrator, the primary public health authority contact at each site. Site admins will build relationships with facility staff and oversee all aspects of onboarding. Site admins serve as liaisons between facilities and NSSP.

Identifying your site administrator‎

If you are associated with a facility and you're not sure who your site administrator is, contact your state or local health department. You can also reach out to NSSP by emailing nssp@cdc.gov, or create an NSSP Service Desk ticket (account access required).

Onboarding job aids

These resources will help site administrators walk through onboarding step-by-step, from planning to the key phases of engaging, connecting, validating and operating.

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Syndromic Data Element Prioritization

Setting priority levels help guarantee data quality in the production environment.

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New Facility Onboarding Overview

Onboarding is a collaborate process that involves setting up a live BioSense Platform data feed.
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Pre-Onboarding: New Facility Planning

Preparation is important to ensure success when onboarding facilities to the BioSense Platform. 
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Phase 1: New Facility Steps to Engage

During the engage phase of onboarding, sites will manage the list of onboarding facilities. 
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Phase 2: New Facility Steps to Connect

Connect is the second of four onboarding phases for the NSSP BioSense Platform. 
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Phase 3: New Facility Steps to Validate

Validate is the third of four NSSP phases to onboard facilities into the BioSense Platform.
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Phase 4: New Facility Steps to Operate

Operate is the last onboarding phase for the NSSP BioSense Platform.

New Facility Onboarding — The Complete Guide

Facility BOPA
Electronic fillable PDF to acknowledge having read about the BioSense Platform onboarding process. For facility use only.

Feed Profile Template
Form for submitting contact information. Automated system alerts will be emailed to contacts if an issue needs to be investigated.

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Choose a Site Support Model Prior to Onboarding

This guide can help site administrators choose a Site Support Model prior to onboarding. 
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Pre-Onboarding: New Site Planning

Preparation can ensure successful BioSense Platform onboarding for sites.
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Phase 1: New Site Steps to Engage

Engage is the first of four BioSense Platform onboarding phases for sites. 
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Phase 2: New Site Steps to Connect

Connect is the second of four onboarding phases for the NSSP BioSense Platform. 
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Phase 3: New Site Steps to Validate

Validate is the third of four onboarding phases for NSSP BioSense Platform.
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Phase 4: New Site Steps to Operate

Operate is the fourth and final onboarding phase for the NSSP BioSense Program.

New Site Onboarding — The Complete Guide

Site BOPA
Electronic fillable PDF to acknowledge having read about the BioSense Platform onboarding process. For site use only.

Guides and manuals

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Implementation Guides

CDC has collaborated to develop syndromic surveillance HL7® messaging guides.

BioSense Platform resources

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Access & Management Center

The Access & Management Center (AMC) launches NSSP apps. It also supports administrative functions.
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ESSENCE

ESSENCE is the key tool that allows public health professionals to analyze BioSense Platform data.
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Posit Workbench and SAS Studio

Posit Workbench and SAS Studio help public health professionals analyze BioSense Platform data.
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Master Facility Table

The Master Facility Table (MFT) ensures data map correctly and are easily identifiable when queried.
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Data Quality Tools

The NSSP BioSense Platform hosts several tools for monitoring production-level data. 

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Mortality Data

Public health sites are encouraged to share mortality data with NSSP through the BioSense Platform.
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Electronic Laboratory Data

Laboratory data shared with NSSP support officials in monitoring public health threats.

Onboarding articles

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Advantages of Designating Associated Facilities

The associated facilities designation can streamline data monitoring and alerts for site admins.
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Onboarding Outreach: Moving Data Into Production

The NSSP onboarding team helps move facilities from Staging to Production in the BioSense Platform.
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Onboarding Outreach: Production Exceptions

A guide for how to correct issues with data submission prior to BioSense Platform validation review.
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Six Reasons to Onboard New Facilities

Onboarding new facilities contributes to improved disease detection and faster emergency response.
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Facility Deactivation Alert Response

Facilities that fail to send data for visits that occurred in the past 90 days can be deactivated.
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Understanding How Facility Status Changes Affect Processing

Learn how changes in facility status can affect how data are processed in the BioSense Platform.
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Identifying Duplicate Messages in BioSense Platform

This guide helps BioSense Platform users troubleshoot and resolve issues with duplicate messages.
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Replication and the DataMart

A replication process ensures that analytics and validation activities do not impact data flow.

Resources

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Onboarding FAQs

Frequently asked questions about timelines and other issues related to onboarding facilities and sit...
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Helpful Articles

Our library of articles offers guidance and tips for syndromic surveillance practitioners.
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Technical Resources

These tools and tips help syndromic surveillance practitioners protect our communities.
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Content Source:
Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology