I n 2005, the NJ Communi- CABLE included an article about the implementation of a new surveillance stream in the northeastern part of the state. At that time, local hospitals in the LINCS jurisdictions included in the Department of Homeland Secu- rity’s “Urban Area Security Initia- tive” (UASI) were connected to an electronic surveillance system. About the same time, Atlantic county separately contracted as well to connect the county’s four facili- ties to the same system. Initially, the system’s developers were a part of the Real-Time Outbreak and Disease Surveillance (RODS) Laboratory housed at the Univer- sity of Pittsburgh. In 2006, Health Monitoring Systems, Inc. (HMS) was launched as a private corpora- tion to provide public health de- partments with professional service and software development for bio- surveillance needs. The new sys- tem, known as EpiCenter™, is an online surveillance application. Thanks to new funding from the NJ Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, the Communi- cable Disease Service (CDS) is expanding this capability for elec- tronic emergency department (ED) chief complaint surveillance to ALL NJ acute care and satellite ED facili- ties. EpiCenter™ is currently in place for over half (41 of 78) of the state’s ED’s, but will be expanded to all facilities over the coming two funding years. EpiCenter™ collects anonymous chief complaint and registration data from existing ED computer systems in clinical and other set- tings and displays them for hospital staff as well as public health depart- ments. This surveillance applica- tion monitors EDs for abnormal incidences of select infectious dis- ease syndromes by examining these data. In addition, EpiCenter™ pro- vides downloadable reports that are utilized by CDS staff for submitting daily ED volume and influenza-like illness surveillance data, saving 24 facilities from the process of manual data entry into a survey each day. The system is flexible with anomaly detection, investigation logs, chart- ing and mapping capabilities. By expanding this system to include all of the ED’s in New Jersey, NJDHSS will be able to follow, in near real- CDS Receives Funding to Expand Electronic Emergency Department Surveillance April 2011 Communicable Disease Service Mission Statement Our mission is to prevent communicable disease among all citizens of New Jersey, and to promote the knowledge and use of healthy lifestyles to maximize the health and well-being of New Jerseyans. We will accomplish our mission through our leadership, collaborative partnerships, and advocacy for communicable disease surveillance, research, education, treatment, prevention and control. Chris Christie, Governor Kim Guadagno, Lt. Governor Mary E. O’Dowd, MPH Acting Commissioner COMMUNICABLE DISEASE SERVICE Christina Tan, MD, MPH State Epidemiologist/ Acting Deputy Commissioner Gary Ludwig, MS, Director Suzanne Miro, MPH, MCHES Editor, Research Scientist By Teresa Hamby, MSPH, Data Analyst, Communicable Disease Service (CDS) Continued on page 3 C1640
Transcript
The NJDHSS CommunicableDisease Service includes:
Infectious and Zoonotic Disease Program (IZDP): 609-826-5964
Vaccine Preventable Disease Program (VPDP): 609-826-4860
We’re on the Web!www.nj.gov/health/cd
Past issues of the NJ Communi-CABLEare available online at:http://www.nj.gov/health/cd/newsletter.htm.
Continued from/on page x
Caption is this
Subhead
PHOTO By: ANWAR WALKER, PUBLIC HEALTH REPRESENTATIVE
Funding to Expand continued from page 1
In 2005, the NJ Communi-CABLE included an articleabout the implementation of a
new surveillance stream in thenortheastern part of the state. Atthat time, local hospitals in theLINCS jurisdictions included in theDepartment of Homeland Secu-rity’s “Urban Area Security Initia-tive” (UASI) were connected to anelectronic surveillance system.About the same time, Atlanticcounty separately contracted as wellto connect the county’s four facili-ties to the same system. Initially,the system’s developers were a partof the Real-Time Outbreak and Disease Surveillance (RODS) Laboratory housed at the Univer-sity of Pittsburgh. In 2006, HealthMonitoring Systems, Inc. (HMS)was launched as a private corpora-tion to provide public health de-partments with professional serviceand software development for bio-surveillance needs. The new sys-tem, known as EpiCenter™, is anonline surveillance application.
Thanks to new funding from theNJ Office of Homeland Securityand Preparedness, the Communi-cable Disease Service (CDS) is expanding this capability for elec-
tronic emergency department (ED)chief complaint surveillance to ALLNJ acute care and satellite ED facili-ties. EpiCenter™ is currently inplace for over half (41 of 78) of thestate’s ED’s, but will be expanded toall facilities over the coming twofunding years.
EpiCenter™ collects anonymouschief complaint and registrationdata from existing ED computersystems in clinical and other set-tings and displays them for hospitalstaff as well as public health depart-ments. This surveillance applica-tion monitors EDs for abnormalincidences of select infectious dis-ease syndromes by examining thesedata. In addition, EpiCenter™ pro-vides downloadable reports that areutilized by CDS staff for submittingdaily ED volume and influenza-likeillness surveillance data, saving 24facilities from the process of manualdata entry into a survey each day.The system is flexible with anomalydetection, investigation logs, chart-ing and mapping capabilities. Byexpanding this system to include allof the ED’s in New Jersey, NJDHSSwill be able to follow, in near real-
CDS Receives Funding to Expand Electronic Emergency Department Surveillance
April 2011
Communicable DiseaseService Mission Statement
Our mission is to prevent communicable disease amongall citizens of New Jersey, andto promote the knowledge anduse of healthy lifestyles to maximize the health and well-being of New Jerseyans.
We will accomplish our mission through our leadership,collaborative partnerships, andadvocacy for communicable disease surveillance, research,education, treatment, prevention and control.
Chris Christie, Governor
Kim Guadagno, Lt. Governor
Mary E. O’Dowd, MPHActing Commissioner
COMMUNICABLE DISEASE SERVICE
Christina Tan, MD, MPHState Epidemiologist/Acting Deputy Commissioner
Gary Ludwig, MS, Director
Suzanne Miro, MPH, MCHESEditor, Research Scientist
By Teresa Hamby, MSPH, Data Analyst,Communicable Disease Service (CDS)
Continued on page 3
C1640
April 2011
The NJDHSS CommunicableDisease Service includes:
Infectious and Zoonotic Disease Program (IZDP): 609-826-5964
Vaccine Preventable Disease Program (VPDP): 609-826-4860
We’re on the Web!www.nj.gov/health/cd
Past issues of the NJ Communi-CABLEare available online at:http://www.nj.gov/health/cd/newsletter.htm.
The Vaccines For Children(VFC) Program providesvaccines at no cost to chil-
dren who might not otherwise bevaccinated due to an inability topay. The VFC Program is fundedby the Centers for Medicare andMedicaid Services and imple-mented by the Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention (CDC).The New Jersey Department ofHealth and Senior Services(NJDHSS) enrolls providers in New Jersey who are willing to participate in the VFC Program.
Nationally the budget for fundingVFC exceeds $3.4 billion annually.In NJ, $70 million is the fundinglevel provided by the CDC in the Immunization grant to purchase vaccines for the VFC Program to distribute to its enrolled providers.Many providers who receive VFC-supplied vaccines are not compliantwith the VFC requirements for vac-cine storage and handling. Vaccinessupplied by the program are notbeing stored and managed accordingto CDC re-quirementsor accord-ing to thevaccinemanufac-turer guid-ance in thepackageinserts. In2010, NJ reported more than $2.1million in wasted vaccines.
Vaccine waste is considered as abuseof the VFC Program and providerswho consistently waste VFC vaccinescan be eliminated from the VFC Program. New Jersey’s VFC PublicHealth Representatives (PHR) areable to work with providers to helpthem reduce / eliminate vaccinewaste. Managing inventory so thatvaccines are used in the order theyare received, and benchmarking vac-cine administration to correctly re-flect patients who are enrolled in theprogram, are two steps providers cantake to greatly reduce or eliminatevaccine waste.
Vaccine accountability issues shouldbe directed to the VFC Program at609-826-4861. Valerie Kelly-Brown,is available to providers in thesouthern section of the state, Ramona Braddock serves thoseproviders in the central region andAnwar Walker is the PHR whoserves the northern region. Youmay also send an electronic mes-sage to the VFC Program [email protected] explaining
how we can assist your office.
Preventing Vaccine Waste
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By Sandra Bernard and Ramona Braddock,Public Health Representatives
PHOTOS By: ANWAR WALKER, PUBLIC HEALTH REPRESENTATIVE
April 2011
The NJDHSS CommunicableDisease Service includes:
Infectious and Zoonotic Disease Program (IZDP): 609-826-5964
Vaccine Preventable Disease Program (VPDP): 609-826-4860
We’re on the Web!www.nj.gov/health/cd
Past issues of the NJ Communi-CABLEare available online at:http://www.nj.gov/health/cd/newsletter.htm.
One of the strategies used byrisk communicators is “onevoice, one message.” This
means that during a public healthemergency, all agencies involvedshould communicate consistentmessages about the event to thepublic. Risk communication re-search has shown that high stressevents do not cause panic, butrather inconsistent messages dur-ing emergencies that unnerve andconfuse the public. To teach publichealth professionals and partnersto work with the media, New JerseyDepartment of Health and SeniorServices (NJDHSS) has developed athird media and spokespersontraining. The training uses a pressconference and town meeting for-mat, which is different from thefirst two media trainings. Thetrainings are for agency spokesper-sons to increase their skills to effec-tively relay messages and arescheduled from March through
August (by invitation only). TheCommunicable Disease Service isproviding technical assistance withthe exercise scenario and the dis-ease-specific education presenta-tion. The third training focusesaround a case of meningococcaldisease in a school setting.
Since 2008, the NJDHSS hastrained more than 300 publichealth professionals and local part-ners in the first two media andspokesperson trainings. Partici-pants practiced risk communicationstrategies to get their messagesacross to the media. TheNJDHSS’s earlier media andspokesperson training programswere recognized by the NationalPublic Health Information Coali-tion for its work with training pub-lic health professionals, partnersand other stakeholders to work withthe media.
“One Voice, One Message: Media & Spokesperson Training (Part 3)”
Funding to Expand continued from page 1
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time, disease patterns and trends tomonitor for unusual activity.
In the coming months, NJDHSSwill work with HMS staff and hospi-tals, as well as with the LINCS andlocal epidemiologists, to set up theconnections, train staff in the use ofthe system, and to update surveil-lance protocols to include this newdata resource.
For more information on this proj-ect or on emergency departmentsurveillance in general, please feelfree to contact either TeresaHamby, MSPH, or Stella Tsai, PhD,CIH at (609) 826-5964 or via email([email protected][email protected]).
By Laura Taylor, Health Educator
April 2011
The NJDHSS CommunicableDisease Service includes:
Infectious and Zoonotic Disease Program (IZDP): 609-826-5964
Vaccine Preventable Disease Program (VPDP): 609-826-4860
We’re on the Web!www.nj.gov/health/cd
Past issues of the NJ Communi-CABLEare available online at:http://www.nj.gov/health/cd/newsletter.htm.
On March 2, 2011, threeCenters for Disease Con-trol and Prevention (CDC)
staff presented a daylong trainingto the health educators/risk com-municators (HERCS) and invitedguests at the Mercer County FireTraining Academy. The one-dayworkshop entitled Mass AntibioticDispensing: Public Information andCommunication is a collection ofpresentations, group exercises, dis-cussions, and supporting materialsused to provide technical assistanceto health communicators who may
be involved in a mass antibiotic dispensing operation.
The training focused on the rolesand responsibilities of public infor-mation and communication in theevent of SNS deployment. This in-teractive scenario-based workshopfocused on the development ofmessages, methods, and materialsnecessary for disseminating infor-mation to specific audiences in thechanging situations that occur before, during, and after a publichealth emergency.
CDC Presents Mass Antibiotic Dispensing:Public Information and Communication Training toHealth Educators/Risk Communicators and Invited Guests
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PHOTOS By: LAURA TAyLOR, HEALTH EDUCATOR
By Laura Taylor, Health Educator
April 2011
The NJDHSS CommunicableDisease Service includes:
Infectious and Zoonotic Disease Program (IZDP): 609-826-5964
Vaccine Preventable Disease Program (VPDP): 609-826-4860
We’re on the Web!www.nj.gov/health/cd
Past issues of the NJ Communi-CABLEare available online at:http://www.nj.gov/health/cd/newsletter.htm.
In March, New Jersey welcomedAlan Franscicus from the Hepa-titis C Support Project in San
Francisco. Alan presented two in-tensive daylong hepatitis C train-ings to more than 100 public healthand healthcare professionals innorthern and southern NJ. Thetrainings included education aboutthe liver, transmission and preven-tion, diagnostic tools, hepatitis Csymptoms, disease progression andmanagement and treatment guide-lines, including complementarymedicine treatment options and co-infection with HIV. This type oftraining increases the knowledge ofhealth professionals and allows for
better understanding and responseto the hepatitis epidemic.
The Hepatitis C Support Project(HCSP) is a non-profit organizationbased in California that promoteseducation, advocacy and support toprofessionals who work with andprovide direct services to individu-als who are hepatitis C-positive.
Due to the overwhelming interestin the March hepatitis C trainings,we hope to offer another series inthe fall. Keep an eye on the NewJersey Learning Management Net-work (https://njlmn.rtugers.edu) formore information and to register.
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Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Training By Laura Taylor, Health Educator
April 2011
The NJDHSS CommunicableDisease Service includes:
Infectious and Zoonotic Disease Program (IZDP): 609-826-5964
Vaccine Preventable Disease Program (VPDP): 609-826-4860
We’re on the Web!www.nj.gov/health/cd
Past issues of the NJ Communi-CABLEare available online at:http://www.nj.gov/health/cd/newsletter.htm.
The Safe Injection PracticesCoalition (SIPC), a initiativefunded by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention(CDC), is pleased to announce thatthe New Jersey Department ofHealth & Senior Services(NJDHSS) has joined the SIPC tohelp disseminate the messages andmaterials of the One & Only Cam-paign. The Campaign’s goal is toraise awareness among patients andhealthcare providers about safe in-jection practices.
Since 1999, more than 125,000 pa-tients in the United States havebeen notified of potential exposureto hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitisC virus (HCV), and HIV due tolapses in basic infection controlpractices. Many of these lapses in-volved healthcare providers reusingsyringes, resulting in contaminationof medication vials or containerswhich were thenused on subsequentpatients. By practic-ing the Campaign'sslogan, “One Nee-dle, One Syringe,Only One Time” foreach and every injec-tion, the risk of con-tracting hepatitisand other infectionsthrough medical in-jection will be greatlyreduced.
"New Jersey has had a long‐stand-ing commitment to promoting
patient safety and improving healthcare quality," said Barbara Montana,MD, MPH, FACP, Medical Director,Communicable Disease Service."This important national initiative isone more way the NJDHSS can educate providers and patients onthe importance of preventinghealthcare‐associated infections,particularly those caused by unsafeinjection practices. We look forwardto collaborating with our SIPC part-ners to raise awareness of this vitalpublic health issue."
New Jersey will join the Nevada Department of Health and HumanServices and the New York State Department of Health in dissemi-nating key messages for the One &Only Campaign. This is the secondyear of state health department involvement in the Campaign.(www.oneandonlycampaign.org)
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NJDHSS Communicable Disease Service staff presented two posters at the American College ofPhysician’s Scientific Meeting in February.
“Taking the Infection out of the Injection” By Laura Taylor,
Health Educator
April 2011
The NJDHSS CommunicableDisease Service includes:
Infectious and Zoonotic Disease Program (IZDP): 609-826-5964
Vaccine Preventable Disease Program (VPDP): 609-826-4860
We’re on the Web!www.nj.gov/health/cd
Past issues of the NJ Communi-CABLEare available online at:http://www.nj.gov/health/cd/newsletter.htm.
Antibiotic re-sistance hasbeen identi-
fied by the Centersfor Disease Controland Prevention(CDC) as one ofthe key microbialthreats to health inthe United States.In response to thisproblem, the CDChas developed anational awarenesscampaign entitled“Get Smart: KnowWhen AntibioticsWork,” to bringawareness and un-derstanding of theglobal problem of antibiotic resist-ance, as well as the consequencesof inappropriate antibiotic use.
As part of this initiative, the Uni-versity of Medicine and Dentistryof New Jersey, Center for Continu-ing and Outreach Education(CCOE) and New Jersey MedicalSchool have sponsored a new in-teractive program entitled, “GetSmart New Jersey About AntibioticResistance.” This online CME activity was developed in collabo-ration with the New Jersey Department of Health and SeniorServices and is intended for primary care clinician audiences.
The program’s goal is to raiseawareness and minimize the prob-
lem of antibiotic-resistant bacteriain New Jersey, by providing educa-tion about the appropriate use ofantibiotics in patient diagnosis andtreatment. This free CME programincludes adult and pediatric ver-sions with interactive case scenariosthat illustrate common issues asso-ciated with treating respiratory infections. Clinicians are invited totake one or both – credit will beawarded for successful completionof each program individually. Visithttp://ccoe.umdnj.edu/online/activi-ties/11MN04/adult_accred.htm forthe adult module andhttp://ccoe.umdnj.edu/online/activi-ties/11MN04/peds_accred.htm forthe pediatric module.
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by Suzanne MiroNJ Gets Smart...and Interactive!
This is a one-day conference for hospitallaboratorians, infectionpreventionists, and pharmacists to learn moreabout the growing problemof antibiotic resistanceand applying a team approach as part of the solution. It is scheduledfor June 22, 2011 at Mercer County CommunityCollege. Hope to see youthere!
Save the Date!“Fighting Bad Bugs – A Team Approach”
