Reporting allows for the collection of statistics that show how often disease occurs, which helps researchers identify disease trends and track disease outbreaks. U.S. Navy has a modified list of reportable medical events to accommodate for deployment limiting functions. Reports on all reportable events are submitted to the Naval Disease Reporting System (NDRS). Medical event surveillance is particularly important in the military populations where medical events can have mission-degrading implications and affect troop strength.

Objective

The purpose of the study was to determine whether, through the use of existing electronic laboratory and clinical care databases, it is possible to capture the majority of reportable disease cases, and remove the burden of case finding from the commands through NDRS. Establishment of a more efficient reporting system was proposed to provide more timely disease reporting and aid in active disease surveillance.