Syndromic Surveillance

Syndromic surveillance is the collection of health related data, that is received as early as possible when illness begins to provide overall population-based awareness of the spread of disease. ESSENCE (Electronic Surveillance System for the Early Notification of Community-Based Epidemics) tracks patient chief complaints and discharge diagnoses from 117 emergency departments and select urgent care locations across the State. We typically receive information from participating emergency departments within 24 hours of a patient encounter. Diagnosis codes received through syndromic surveillance may include working and preliminary diagnoses and may not indicate confirmed disease.