NETSS/NEDSS Review Webpage




Varicella

Instructions:
CSTE has asked your State Epidemiologist to forward this review of the data elements between CDC’s legacy and NEDSS message. Below, CDC has provided an outline of the methodology and results in its variable comparison between NEDSS and legacy systems, such as NETSS and paper data collection forms. As the lead for Varicella surveillance in your state health agency, we would like you to review excel file below, which illustrates the comparison of old and new variables between the legacy systems and the new requirements for sending NEDSS data. When evaluating this, we would like you to determine how feasible these new data elements are for your state and whether you are requesting any changes to the content or required/optional attribute of the variables.. You can provide comments at the bottom of this page. This will help us ensure that both your needs and the needs of the CDC are being met.
Download file: http://www.cste.org/Assessment/NEDSS/files/Varicellav2-FINAL.xls


Methodology
• An Excel spreadsheet of the variables in the NEDSS Implementation Guide was created for the specified condition under surveillance. Note that NEDSS Implementation Guides are documents on the PHIN web site that provides the technical and business content needed to message data to CDC. For a given condition, the rows in the attached Excel spreadsheet represent NEDSS variables and most columns represent NEDSS variable attributes; • A variable-by-variable review was performed, comparing the variables in the NEDSS message to the CDC surveillance system legacy message for the given condition. To document the results of the comparison, one or more columns were inserted into the spreadsheet (and shaded in yellow) corresponding to the CDC legacy surveillance system(s) that existed for that condition. When there was a CDC legacy message variable that corresponded to a NEDSS variable, either a legacy system variable name or a "yes" was inserted into the legacy system column, to denote a "match," whether it is a perfect match or a close match between the variables. The results of the variable-by-variable comparison were shared with the relevant CDC program. And, the CDC program was asked to verify the accuracy of variable comparison and to make any necessary corrections. • CDC programs were asked to note if the NEDSS Implementation Guide message included all the variables they needed or whether there were any variables that did not need to be sent to CDC, for the condition under public health surveillance.; • The CDC programs were asked to review the required and optional field attributes for each NEDSS variable and, if needed, to identify changes to required or optional field designations; • Lastly, the CDC program was asked to provide a statement regarding how they reached consensus with their state partners, regarding which variables should be sent to CDC;

Results
The results of this assessment for varicella are contained in the attached spreadsheet. Note that the only CDC legacy surveillance system for varicella prior to NEDSS was the NETSS legacy message for the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System. Hence, for varicella, NEDSS Implementation Guide variables were compared only to the NETSS legacy message. Changes in the required and optional field designations are highlighted in green shading. All the variables in the NEDSS message are needed by the National Immunization Program. Variable statistics from this review indicate 20% of the NEDSS variables represented variables in the NETSS legacy message while 80% of the variables are new NEDSS variables. The high percentage of new NEDSS variables for varicella is primarily due to the fact that disease-specific information was included in NEDSS for varicella, but there was no disease-specific data included in NETSS for varicella.


General Comments:
Here is the statement NIP provided regarding how they reached consensus with their state partners: The goal for national varicella surveillance is to document impact of the varicella vaccination program. To determine the most useful information to document the impact while creating the least amount of burden to states, CDC held a meeting with key stakeholders from those states already conducting varicella surveillance to learn from and make decisions based on their experiences.

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