Utilizing Data from a Regional Health Information Organization (RHIO) to Support Gonorrhea Surveillance — Bronx, 2015

Background: Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIOs) aggregate data from healthcare providers to facilitate information exchange between providers, clinical facilities, and public health agencies. We evaluated whether gonorrhea cases reported to the New York City Health Department could be found in a local RHIO database (RHIO-db) and whether the RHIO-db provided data not reported to the Health Department. 

Methods: We identified gonorrhea cases diagnosed during October 2015 and subsequently reported to the Health Department STD database for which the diagnosing and/or reporting facility was a Bronx RHIO participant. We then searched for the corresponding record in RHIO-db. If the record was located, we collected demographics, symptoms, treatment, sexual history, and pregnancy status, and compared completeness of variables between the two systems.

Results: Bronx RHIO participants diagnosed 75 gonorrhea cases in October 2015. In the Health Department STD database, 91% (68/75) had patient address, 87% (65/75) phone number, 55% (41/75) race, 52% (39/75) ethnicity, 35% (26/75) treatment date, and 47% (35/75) medication. Pregnancy status was available for 44% of 25 female cases. Sixty-four (85%) cases were found in RHIO-db in March 2016. All cases found in RHIO-db had patient address, 91% (58/64) phone number, 83% (53/64) race, 63% (40/64) ethnicity, 41% (26/64) symptoms, 39% (25/64) treatment date, 34% (22/64) medication, and 25% (16/64) sexual history. Pregnancy status was available in RHIO-db for 55% of 22 female cases. We did not compare symptoms or sexual history, because those data are usually missing from gonorrhea reports to the Health Department.

Conclusions: Most cases reported from Bronx RHIO participants to the Health Department were found in RHIO-db. Although treatment information was not available in RHIO-db as often as expected, race and ethnicity data were more commonly available, suggesting that RHIOs are a promising source for improving completeness of gonorrhea surveillance.