Driving Public Health Forward: The Role of Interoperability in Syndromic Surveillance, ELR, and eCR
- DevScripts Solutions
- Jul 14
- 2 min read
Public health agencies rely on timely, accurate data to track disease outbreaks, monitor health trends, and protect communities. As the world saw during the COVID-19 pandemic, public health reporting systems are critical to early detection and rapid response. However, achieving that level of responsiveness depends heavily on interoperability—the ability of different healthcare systems to communicate and share data seamlessly.
Three essential pillars of public health reporting—Syndromic Surveillance, Electronic Laboratory Reporting (ELR), and Electronic Case Reporting (eCR)—all depend on robust, real-time interoperability between clinical providers, laboratories, and public health agencies.
1️⃣ Syndromic Surveillance (SS): Early Detection at Scale
Syndromic surveillance involves collecting de-identified patient data from emergency departments and urgent care centers to monitor for unusual patterns that could signal an outbreak. These feeds often focus on symptoms (rather than confirmed diagnoses) to provide early warnings for:
Influenza-like illness (ILI)
Gastrointestinal illness
COVID-19
Emerging infectious diseases
Without interoperable systems, data delays or gaps can prevent public health from acting quickly.
2️⃣ Electronic Laboratory Reporting (ELR): Real-Time Lab Results
ELR automates the reporting of positive lab results for reportable conditions (e.g., STIs, TB, hepatitis) to public health agencies. ELR interoperability ensures:
Timely submission of lab-confirmed cases
Standardized use of LOINC and SNOMED codes
Reduction in manual reporting errors
With integrated lab reporting, public health surveillance improves dramatically in both accuracy and speed.
3️⃣ Electronic Case Reporting (eCR): Closing the Loop on Reporting
eCR goes a step further by sending full clinical case information from EHRs to public health systems when a reportable condition is detected. eCR:
Pulls relevant patient demographics, clinical notes, and encounter details
Uses standardized CDA or FHIR formats
Helps automate compliance with mandatory reporting laws
Interoperability between EHRs, labs, and public health registries is critical to make eCR automatic and reliable.
🖥️ Challenges in Achieving Interoperability
Despite federal incentives and mandates, many providers still face challenges:
Fragmented data systems
Incomplete or incorrect code mappings
Limited technical expertise at smaller organizations
Without expert integration and monitoring, gaps in reporting can leave communities vulnerable.
🚀 How DevScripts Solutions Helps Public Health Partners
At DevScripts Solutions, we specialize in creating affordable, scalable integration solutions that connect providers with local and state public health systems. We assist with:
Building HL7 2.x and FHIR-based interfaces
Connecting to National Syndromic Surveillance Program (NSSP) feeds
Managing ELR submissions for regulatory compliance
Implementing eCR workflows for seamless reporting
With our expertise, community clinics, hospitals, and labs can become trusted data partners in improving public health outcomes.
🔔 Ready to strengthen your public health data reporting?
Contact DevScripts Solutions to learn how we can help you streamline your public health interoperability efforts.
DevScripts Solutions is an IT Consultant Firm Specializing in Interoperability within the Healthcare Arena.
We are a small team solving big interoperability challenges on a daily basis. With our vast knowledge of interoperability we can integrate ourselves as part of your organization just like we are part of your full-time team. We develop a variety of custom interfaces for healthcare organizations such as Healthcare Vendors, HIEs, Health Systems, Hospitals, Medical Practices, Payors and ACOs using Mirth Connect.
We work with businesses in California, Georgia, New York, Florida, Texas and throughout the wider United States.
For more information on our services or to arrange a consultation call please contact us today.
T: 678-861-4682 E: info@devscriptssolutions.com
