Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) surveillance system: Development of COVID-19 minimum data set and interoperable reporting framework

INTRODUCTION: The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a major global health concern. Joint efforts for effective surveillance of COVID-19 require immediate transmission of reliable data. In this regard, a standardized and interoperable reporting framework is essential in a consistent and timely manner. Thus, this research aimed at to determine data requirements towards interoperability. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional and descriptive study, a combination of literature study and expert consensus approach was used to design COVID-19 Minimum Data Set (MDS). A MDS checklist was extracted and validated. The definitive data elements of the MDS were determined by applying the Delphi technique. Then, the existing messaging and data standard templates (Health Level Seven-Clinical Document Architecture [HL7-CDA] and SNOMED-CT) were used to design the surveillance interoperable framework. RESULTS: The proposed MDS was divided into administrative and clinical sections with three and eight data classes and 29 and 40 data fields, respectively. Then, for each data field, structured data values along with SNOMED-CT codes were defined and structured according HL7-CDA standard. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The absence of effective and integrated system for COVID-19 surveillance can delay critical public health measures, leading to increased disease prevalence and mortality. The heterogeneity of reporting templates and lack of uniform data sets hamper the optimal information exchange among multiple systems. Thus, developing a unified and interoperable reporting framework is more effective to prompt reaction to the COVID-19 outbreak.