Distributed data processing for public health surveillance

Lazarus, Ross; Yih, Katherine; Platt, Richard

The distributed software optionally creates reports that show one line of detailed information about each of the patient encounters that was counted for the aggregate data for each day's processing. These reports are termed "line lists" and were designed to support detailed reporting of encounter level data, so that a data provider can quickly make this information available in response to a public health need. Two versions are available, one with and one without the most specific identifying details, such as patient name and address. These standard line lists are used most often to support requests by public health agencies for additional information about the individual cases that contribute to clusters identified in the aggregate data. These lists are never transmitted to the datacenter but may be used to support public health officials investigating a potential event.