Division of Informatics and Information Systems

technology patternA division of the VDH Office of Epidemiology

This division oversees the Virginia Electronic Disease Surveillance System (VEDSS) and other Office of Epidemiology informatics initiatives.

DIIS provides expertise, innovative informatics solutions, and trusted information, through data modernization, that facilitates efficiencies and decision making to improve the public's health.

This division oversees VDH’s primary surveillance and contact tracing systems, the onboarding and receipt of electronic messages from providers and laboratories for disease reporting, and the provision of data sets, analyses and visualizations; as well as spearheading and assisting with other Office of Epidemiology informatics initiatives.

Electronic Messaging

CMS Promoting Interoperability Program

Promoting Interoperability (PI), formerly known as “Meaningful Use”, focuses on increasing interoperability, patient data access, and system-wide health information exchange. This initiative helps reduce the burden on clinical care providers, improves timeliness and accuracy of clinical information provided to public health agencies, and facilitates the monitoring, surveillance and investigation of public health events to improve health outcomes.

The DIIS Messaging team works with Eligible Hospitals (EH) and Eligible Providers (EP) to onboard for the PI measures of Electronic Case Reporting (eCR) and Electronic Laboratory Reporting (ELR).

For information about the PI Program in Virginia, please visit the VDH Promoting Interoperability website. For general information on PI requirements, please refer to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) website.

Non-CMS Incentive Electronic Messaging

The DIIS Messaging team also manages all eCR, ELR and COVID-19 Point-of-Care (POC) Portal messaging. The team works with facilities and providers to successfully onboard them via any of the available reporting methods and ensures reporting and surveillance systems requirements are met.

Electronic Messaging Reporting Methods

  • Electronic Case Reporting is the automated process of generating and transmitting case reports from electronic health records.
  • Electronic Lab Reporting is the electronic transmission of reportable laboratory test results via HL7 messages or flat file records.
  • COVID-19 Point of Care Portal (POC) is a secure site for healthcare professionals to submit rapid COVID-19 POC Testing results. POC Testing is a medical diagnostic testing conducted outside of a traditional setting that occurs at the time and place of patient care (i.e., physician’s office, pharmacy, nursing home, etc.).
  • Clinical Confidential Morbidity Reporting Portal provides healthcare professionals the ability to submit patient-based case morbidity reports as an alternative to the paper-based EPI-1 reporting mechanism.

For any question regarding electronic disease reporting, please contact DIISMessaging@vdh.virginia.gov.

Data Analytics and Visualization

The Analytics and Visualization (A&V) team seeks to provide resources, assistance, and data products for all divisions within the Office of Epidemiology. This work is critical to making data-driven decisions.

Systems

DIIS oversees surveillance systems used to track diseases reportable in Virginia, and that help communicate numbers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  To learn more about surveillance systems for disease reporting, please visit the CDC link below.