About the Data
Data source
The data presented in the dashboard come from the Minnesota Department of Health’s syndromic surveillance system, which collects near real-time data from Minnesota health systems. This system uses a combination of free text and diagnosis codes to classify visits. The syndromic surveillance system allows for timely detection and monitoring of signs and symptoms related to health conditions or events of concern. More information and frequently asked questions about syndromic surveillance can be found at Injury and Violence Prevention: Syndromic Surveillance.
Syndrome definitions
Syndrome definitions were created by the National Syndromic Surveillance Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Division of Violence Prevention, and local and state health departments using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes (ICD-9-CM), International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification codes (ICD-10-CM), Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine (SNOMED) codes, and free text reason for visit (chief complaint terms). For more information on each syndrome definition, visit the following:
- Suspected child abuse and neglect: CDC Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect v1
- Sexual violence among children: CDC Sexual Violence v3 (this syndrome definition version is uploaded in ESSENCE but may not be reflected in the Knowledge Repository)
- Mental health conditions among adults: CDC Mental Health v1 (this syndrome definition version is uploaded in ESSENCE but may not be reflected in the Knowledge Repository)
- Acute alcohol misuse among adults: CDC Alcohol v1 (this syndrome definition version is uploaded in ESSENCE but may not be reflected in the Knowledge Repository)
- Suicide-related behaviors among adults: SDC Suicide Related v1
- Nonfatal drug overdose among adults: CDC All Drug Overdose Parsed v3
- Suspected suicide attempt among adults: CDC Suicide Attempt v2
- Intimate partner violence among adults: CDC Intimate Partner Violence v2 (this syndrome definition version is uploaded in ESSENCE but may not be reflected in the Knowledge Repository)
Measures
Rate per 10,000 emergency department (ED) visits: number of ED visits divided by the total number of ED visits during the time period of interest and for a defined geographic region. This metric provides a consistent rate calculation across time when the number of facilities reporting changes over time.
Geography
Regions are based on patient's residential zip code and are determined according to their respective health care coalition. To learn more about the eight health care coalitions, visit: Health Care Coalitions. Rates for regions in gray are suppressed due to visit counts less than 5.
Suppression
To maintain confidentiality and accuracy, rates are suppressed when visit counts or numerators are less than five. Quarterly rates are shown when visit counts or numerators are less than 10.
Limitations
Please refer to the data as “visits” instead of “cases." Data from syndromic surveillance cannot be used to make precise estimates. The chief complaint, often recorded as free text, can vary in detail and consistency, making it challenging to accurately assess public health trends. Delays in transmitting standardized diagnosis codes (ICD-9 and ICD-10) to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) further hinder real-time surveillance. The amount and quality of data reported to MDH also varies over time. To make sure the data stayed reliable over time, we only included visits from hospitals that regularly reported clear diagnosis information for most of their cases and had stable reporting from week to week.
Other limitations to consider include differences in provider training and awareness to identify conditions of interest as well as unconscious attitudes or views related to race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status or other demographic factors could lead to misidentification or missed cases.