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As the Zika virus spreads from South America to the United States, epidemiologist and public health expert Christine Hockett says disease surveillance technology is key to protecting against it. Keeping open lines of electronic communication between hospitals and their state and local health agencies is critical as those departments "collect and analyze disease counts and monitor how disease spreads throughout a community or geographic location," said Hockett, who works for Xerox-owned Consilience. [Also: Experts warn of Zika epidemic as hospitals, health departments prepare] Zika, spread to people through mosquito bites, is currently most prevalent in South America. In response, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a travel alert for U.S. citizens traveling to regions where virus transmission is ongoing. But Hockett says she expects the virus to increasingly move into the United States. She points to a recent article in The Lancet, which argued that, "with an estimated 440,000 – 1.3 million cases currently in Brazil alone, Zika virus could be following in the footsteps of dengue and chikungunya, which are also transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. "Given that an outbreak anywhere is potentially a threat everywhere," the authors argued, "now is the time to step up all efforts to prevent, detect, and respond to Zika virus." "I don't think 'scared' is the right word," said Hockett. "But we need to be aware of what's happening. And definitely, I think there are certain areas of the U.S. that are more vulnerable than others." Robust electronic surveillance – data collection and reporting – is essential to keeping that spread as limited as possible. Syndromic surveillance has been a key part of meaningful use since the very beginning, of course, with the government requiring providers to prove their ability to use "timely pre-diagnostic data and statistical tools to detect and characterize unusual activity for further public health investigation." The Maven Outbreak Management Software offers Web-based case management tools that can help local and state health systems do disease surveillance, enabling them to analyze the health data from specific diseases. Rather than a siloed database, the Maven tool is accessible across jurisdictions to local and state public health departments, and can integrate electronic reporting. Outbreaks can be assessed and triaged as confirmed cases emerge or patients at risk present themselves, with updates shared electronically or via its secure Web portal, according to the company. It can also be updated as new disease threats emerge. That happened in 2014 during the Ebola crisis, and it did again earlier this month as Zika started to spread. "With the configurability of Maven, you're able to adapt to these new emerging diseases," she said. "The CDC on Jan. 15 said, 'You need to be able to do this in your disease surveillance systems.' A couple weeks later, all of our deployments have this Zika-enabled data module." Here’s how it would work from hospital's perspective. "Say I recently just traveled to Brazil," she said. "And I come back to the U.S. I go and see my primary care provider and say, 'Please test me for the Zika virus, just to make sure I don't have it.'" (Zika symptoms are very mild, and could be easy to miss.) "So I get tested, that then gets entered into the EHR system. That lab report, once the lab processes that, not only does the doctor report it to the state health department, but the lab does too. That reporting is done through the connections into Maven, which is hosted within the local and state health departments – a case is created, the epidemiologist can see that I am a potential case of Zika. They would call me and do the necessary follow up and data collection needed, specific to the virus. Once that case is confirmed, the system is able to report it to CDC." If technology is critical in the fight against Zika, however, people and process are even more so. [Also: Questions raised about EHR workflow in Ebola case] As seen in the 2014 Ebola outbreak – when a patient at Dallas-based Texas Health Resources first appeared with Ebola symptoms, but the fact that he had recently traveled from Africa, while logged in his EHR, was still missed by subsequent members of his care team – the balance between IT and clinical workflow can be a challenge. "It's definitely a collaborative effort," said Hockett. She pointed to the One Health concept, which holds that the health of humans is inextricably connected to the health of animals and the environment. [Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook] That holistic approach means there's a deep need for collaboration, she said. "Use of effective surveillance systems is essential: knowing the symptoms of the diseases that are going on, talking with your provider community and epidemiologists and local and state health departments. The communications between hospitals and local and state health departments are critical." Twitter: @MikeMiliardHITN

Jeff Brown has been appointed senior vice president and chief information officer of Seattle Children's, the hospital announced today. He has filled the interim CIO position since April 2015. Brown joined Seattle Children's from Lawrence General Hospital in Massachusetts in April 2015. [Also: CIOs target population health, patient engagement in 2016] "We are thrilled Jeff has assumed the permanent role of CIO," said Lisa Brandenburg, president, Seattle Children's. "Jeff brings tremendous experience, and during his time as interim CIO, he has made key improvements within our Information Services Department and will be integral in supporting our next strategic plan with the technical elements necessary to excel in an increasingly competitive healthcare market," she added. While at Lawrence General, Brown served as CIO, focusing on mobile health IT within the integrated health system and accountable care organization. Population health and digital healthcare strategies were also his focus. He previously served in senior management positions in organizations that include Partners HealthCare and Steward Health Care Network. Twitter: @JessiefDavis

ACO quality measures were enhanced by pay-for-performance programs, according to the JAMA network, but providers also need advanced technologies, interventions, and close contact with patients. 

New rules are anticipated to allow organizations -- those approved as qualified entities -- to confidentially share or sell analyses of the data.

ESET researcher Stephen Cobb will explain at HIMSS16 why CIOs and CISOs should think of their organization like a patient and address the most urgent problems first.

New offering on Welltok platform aimed at some of largest employers, including IBM.

 Terry Fairbanks will outline advances, challenges to more effectively tuning systems and software for patients and caregivers.

Rockford Health System in Rockford, Illinois is using the Health Level 7 data exchange standard to see both the real-time fetal monitoring strip and the patient’s electronic record on the same computer screen. In the past, clinicians had a computer-based patient record in one location and a fetal monitor elsewhere. Using the HL7-based GE Healthcare Centricity Perinatal Connect technology enables Rockford to combine and save documentation from both the EHR and the perinatal systems into its Epic patient record. The most important benefit of the vendor interoperability is increased patient safety, because nurses now can view fetal strips as part of the overall medical record, said Angie Asche-Willoughby, RN, Centricity perinatal system manager at Rockford Health System. [Also: HL7 and ONC launch challenge seeking C-CDA rendering tools for clinicians] “While admitting a patient in the computer system, the fetal monitor is on the other side of the bed; but now, I can visualize the fetal strip on my screen as I am doing a patient assessment, so if a baby is having any sort of distress on their monitor, I literally see it,” Asche-Willoughby said. “But the integration also decreases my time working with technology and charting, and thus increases the time I can spend with my patient. It’s so seamless because anything you document goes into Epic." And that means nurses being able to see both the real-time fetal monitoring strip and the patient’s electronic record on the same computer screen, as opposed to having a computer-based patient record in one location and a fetal monitor elsewhere. Further, the HL7-based Connect technology enables the organization to combine and save documentation from both the EHR and the perinatal systems into the Epic patient record. The No. 1 benefit of the vendor interoperability is increased patient safety, because nurses now can view fetal strips as part of the overall medical record, said Angie Asche-Willoughby, RN, Centricity perinatal system manager at Rockford Health System. “While admitting a patient in the computer system, the fetal monitor is on the other side of the bed; but now, I can visualize the fetal strip on my screen as I am doing a patient assessment, so if a baby is having any sort of distress on their monitor, I literally see it,” Asche-Willoughby said. “But the integration also decreases my time working with technology and charting, and thus increases the time I can spend with my patient. It’s so seamless because anything you document goes into Epic.” In addition to reducing the anxiety for nurses who no longer have to worry about what is going on between two different screens, the interoperability actually can reduce the anxiety of mothers during childbirth, Asche-Willoughby said. “This set-up gives a nurse more time with her patient, so the patient isn’t thinking that all the nurse is doing is computer work,” she explained. “It provides a patient with a greater sense of comfort because a nurse is not as worried about her documentation. As a nurse, you don’t want a patient feeling like the only thing a nurse is doing is working on a computer; you want your patient to know you are taking care of her.” The GE Healthcare Centricity Perinatal Connect systems integration module uses the HL7 2.x protocol, with ORU-type message specification exchanges. It can translate between HL7 2.3, 2.4 and 2.5, back and forth. And it can work with any EHR system, GE Healthcare said. GE Healthcare and Rockford Health System declined to reveal the cost of the interoperability module. However, the vendor said a provider organization can measure return on investment through increased productivity, among other improvements. Twitter: @SiwickiHealthIT

Healthcare IT News and HIMSS are accepting topic and speaker proposals for the Pop Health Forum 2016, May 19-20, in Boston. While population health management is key to bending healthcare’s cost curve and improving the quality of care, achieving those goals is easier said than done. With that in mind, the Pop Health Forum’s goal is to give attendees, 250-plus healthcare providers and payers, solid information on how to improve their population health initiatives. Click here to submit a proposal and for more information. Attendees prefer case studies and are eager to learn how their peers are addressing common challenges and pain points. As such, we place a high value on proposals from payer and provider organizations that offer practical, actionable information and real-life solutions. Proposals should focus on one or more of the forum’s three key areas, the cornerstones of population health: data analytics, care coordination and patient engagement. The deadline to submit a proposal is 5 p.m., Feb. 12.

Only a few days remain to submit a speaking proposal for the HIMSS and Healthcare IT News Privacy & Security Forum in Los Angeles, May 11-12. The deadline for submitting a proposal is Thursday, Feb. 4 at 5 p.m. Speaking opportunities are limited to security professionals and experts from healthcare provider and payer organizations, government agencies and academic institutions. Presentations should be practical, actionable, and solutions-based. Click here for additional information and to submit a proposal. The two-day Privacy & Security Forum will bring together more than 200 leading providers, payers, researchers and government officials. The forum's goal is to provide healthcare security professionals with tools, solutions, best practices and expert insights into how they can better manage risk and protect their organization’s data assets. Presentations will address, among others, the following topics: BYOD, cybersecurity, incidence response, cloud security, data-loss prevention, HIPAA compliance, security frameworks, medical device security and third-party management.