What to know
- The Minimal Data Necessary for Public Health Emergency Response (MDN) is a subset of data needed to inform decisions in the early stages of a public health emergency. By identifying these elements and ensuring they are incorporated into routine data exchange, we can be better prepared to address threats when they emerge.
Overview
The MDN Initiative was implemented as a result of a 2022 report from the Data and Surveillance Workgroup of the Advisory Committee to the Director of the CDC (ACD). In the report, the workgroup recommended proactively defining the minimal data necessary for six core public health data sources to:
- Promote efficient data sharing;
- Provide critical information for situational awareness; and
- Mobilize a timely, effective public health emergency response.
The MDN will continue to evolve over time. CDC will assess the data sets on a routine basis through data governance processes to ensure minimal data collections support public health emergency response goals and proactively communicate with jurisdictions about new needs and updates.
Advancing Interoperability using the MDN:
- MDN addresses CDC's Public Health Data Strategy Goal 4: Advance more open and interoperable public health data. There are milestones in the Public Health Data Strategy for establishing MDN for the six core data sets identified in the ACD report: "case data (including reporting from health care to public health and national case notification from state, local, tribal, and territorial partners to CDC); laboratory-based diagnostic testing data, syndromic surveillance/emergency department data; immunization/vaccine administration data; hospital capacity data; and death data/vital statistics."
- The United States Core Data for Interoperability (USCDI) provides a core set of data elements for exchange between healthcare and other entities, such as public health. USCDI+, an extension to USCDI, provides core data elements for exchange for specific use cases. For the USCDI+ Public Health domain, the MDN may serve as a starting point for use cases for the core public health data sources.
Table: MDN References and Implementation Resources
Core Public Health Data Set*
Description and Background
Recommended Implementation Standard and/or Supporting Materials
Case data exchange refers to critical information, including risk factors and outcomes for conditions of public health importance among individuals, transmitted from STLT health departments to CDC.
Laboratory data shared with CDC is used for early public health emergency response and can give an early indicator of cases and provide critical situational awareness of emerging trends and operational needs. The MDN is based on the most frequently used standards for laboratory data exchange with public health.
| In a public health emergency response, it is important to understand hospital resources available for critical patient care needs. Knowing how many beds are available in hospitals is one important indicator. The MDN is based on the National Healthcare Safety Network’s Hospital Bed Capacity Project, which provides a way to collect this data. |
Information about emergency department visits can be used to understand trends early in a public health emergency response. The MDN is based on prioritized data elements collected through the National Syndromic Surveillance Program (NSSP), which collects this data from emergency departments across the U.S.
Death/Vital Statistics
Data about deaths related to a condition of interest helps to understand severity of a condition. This information is critical to driving public health emergency response decisions, including interventions to prioritize. There is an existing robust standard in death certificate data, so this will serve as the basis for the MDN for mortality data.
Under Development
Immunization/Vaccine Administration
Immunizations are an important intervention in preventing the spread of disease for some conditions. Immunization administration information can help to identify areas for intervention in a public health emergency response.
Under Development
*The linked tables in this column provide a high-level, plain language overview of the data concepts captured by the MDN, as well as show how these data elements align across use cases and to the USCDI.