A health information interchange architecture (HIIA) defines the attributes of a data sharing relationship between two parties. In the context of electronic syndromic surveillance (ESS), this refers to the standards, tools, and means to securely transport an ESS message from a sender (typically an Electronic Health Record, or EHR, system from a healthcare provider) to a recipient (typically a public health agency). The HIIA must support the set of business processes defined for ESS in the 2011 ISDS Final Recommendation: Core Processes and EHR Requirements for Public Health Syndromic Surveillance Report 1 and function with the available infrastructures both within public health and the larger healthcare system.

Objective

In support of national efforts to modernize and enhance health information system interoperability for public health purposes, this report seeks to clarify electronic health information interchange requirements for public health syndromic surveillance by providing: • An assessment of various health information interchange architectures for their ability to meet syndromic surveillance business requirements (See Appendix); • A comparison of potential data transport mechanisms; and • Recommendations for data transport to support Meaningful Use implementation