Notes from the Field: Surveillance of Silicosis Using Electronic Case Reporting – California, December 2022–July 2023

Details

• Journal Article:
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Personal Author:
  Blackley, David J. ; Cummings, Kristin J. ; Epstein-Corbin, M. ; Flattery, Jennifer ; Harrison, Robert J. ; Woolsey, Chelsea
• Description:
  Electronic case reporting (eCR) is a promising rapid reporting mechanism, whereby electronic health records (EHRs) automatically generate and transmit a disease report to jurisdictional public health agencies in real time using previously established criteria. All 50 U.S. states and other jurisdictions are connected to the eCR infrastructure. The Reportable Conditions Knowledge Management System (RCKMS), a component of the eCR infrastructure, is a real-time decision support service that processes reports according to jurisdictional reporting requirements with criteria defined by Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists' position statements. Health care organizations automatically generate and send an initial case report to the eCR infrastructure when trigger criteria, such as diagnosis codes or laboratory results, are met within their EHRs. Therefore, for all participating California health care organizations, if a health care encounter involves COVID-19 or mpox, an initial case report is generated and sent to the eCR infrastructure for processing. When there is a match between the initial case report triggered by an EHR, and a reportable condition rule is entered into RCKMS by a jurisdictional public health agency, the initial case report is routed by the eCR infrastructure to the public health agency. Other conditions can be added to public health agency reporting rules. Silicosis is a progressive, incurable, fibrotic lung disease caused by inhalation of respirable crystalline silica dust produced in industries such as construction, quarrying, and coal mining. A resurgence of silicosis among young workers fabricating engineered stone (quartz) countertops in California and in countries including Australia, Israel, and Spain has focused attention on the need for timely case identification for primary and secondary prevention. In December 2022, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) added reporting rules for silicosis to RCKMS, so that any initial case report received by the eCR infrastructure from health care provider EHRs that includes a silicosis diagnosis in the patient's problem list is sent to CDPH for silicosis surveillance. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the utility of eCR for identifying cases of silicosis in California. This study was reviewed and approved by the California Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects institutional review board. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Dust Occupational Health Public Health Quartz Safety Silicon Dioxide
• Keywords:
  Electronic Health Records Public Health Quartz Dust Silicosis Stone Products Surveillance
• Series:
  Weekly Report: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• ISSN:
  0149-2195 (print) ; 1545-861X (digital)
• Publisher:
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (U.S.)
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant ; Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  RHD - Respiratory Health Division
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  2 pdf pages
• Volume:
  72
• Issue:
  46
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20068791
• Citation:
  MMWR 2023 Nov; 72(46):1275-1276
• Email:
  Jennifer.flattery@cdph.ca.gov
• CAS Registry Number:
  Quartz (SiO2) (CAS RN 14808-60-7)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2024
• Performing Organization:
  University of California, Berkeley
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:290cd24b2e5a4e648db9b7f82731ea84db1589094805a05086d1b051fcf28c2ced326f8df5bbb76900f40fb0d3fac288f26a518b5fbbfd3efad440773f89f036
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/183207/cdc_183207_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 129.35 KB ]