Myalerts: User-Defined Detection in Disease Surveillance Systems

Real-time electronic disease surveillance systems allow users the ability to analyze different data types in order to detect disease outbreaks and understand the current health of their communities.  These systems continue to incorporate new data sources and with each new data stream that is added additional detection alerts are generated.  While efforts continue to provide algorithmic solutions to this issue, users are currently confronted with an increasing number of alerts.

Users of these systems are also finding increased value in searching for specific keywords for routine surveillance instead of just relying on the syndromic categories.  While this reinforces the utility of disease surveillance systems, it normally requires users to extract information from the system in a non-automated way.  A module called myAlerts was created and integrated into the ESSENCE system.  This module gives ESSENCE users the ability to associate user-defined automated detection parameters with any query the user creates in the system.  As a result, users can create a set of complex logical expressions to pinpoint the exact records of interest or narrow the focus from large syndromes to specific keywords or phrases.  The system will then monitor for these records of interest and report them on a daily basis without the need for additional user input.  Moreover, it can give the user the ability to perform detection algorithms on the newly defined filter with specific requirements for alerting such as thresholds, minimum counts, or consecutive alerts. This module has been installed in several ESSENCE nodes, including the Aggregate National Capital Region, Florida, Missouri, Maryland, and Virginia.  The functionality and utilization of this module will be presented along with lessons learned and user perceptions of its utility.