Surveillance system integration to improve data collection and communication

Background: Public health surveillance and information systems have been in development prior to more recent formation of PHIN standards. System design should account for methods to improve the receipt of and dissemination of information. Florida has implemented several enhancements to integrate the notifiable disease surveillance system and health alert network. Methods: Merlin is the Florida Department of Health (DOH), Bureau of Epidemiology's secure web-based disease reporting and epidemiologic analysis system operating in all 67 counties. EpiCom serves as the state health alert network, accessible to users outside the DOH firewall. Following PHIN guidance, these systems now function with a seamless user interface. Results: Integration of Merlin and EpiCom has de-segregated the data collection and data dissemination through the creation of a single portal to report diseases and receive information. System enhancements include a seamless user interface for Merlin and EpiCom, single sign-on feature, email alerting features to notify state surveillance staff of case investigations of all associated case activities and rapid paperless case reporting from users beyond the DOH firewall. Conclusions: The intersection of “traditional PH surveillance” methods with new technological capabilities provides the opportunity to focus more clearly on the end user of the systems and not the flow of how data is captured. System integration enables the best features of each system to be effectively utilized in order to improve public health surveillance and information exchange.