The Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s Bureau of Epidemiology and Public Health Informatics maintains the Kansas Syndromic Surveillance Program (KSSP). KSSP collects near real-time information from hospital emergency departments (EDs) in order to detect syndromes affecting populations. Previous studies have shown that American Indians have high ED utilization rates. The Indian Health Service and tribal health facilities in Kansas do not have emergency departments, so Kansas tribes rely on state-level syndromic surveillance data. Race is a required field for emergency department reporting. The quality of the race variable, including American Indian race, found in KSSP has not previously been analyzed. This project aims to explore the accuracy and completeness of the American Indian race field compared to other races. Results will include the overall percentage of visits by race and a list of the major syndromes that are detected when stratified by American Indian race. KSSP data are limited by the number of reporting hospitals, as well as the timeliness and quality of hospital data submission. KSSP data may enhance collaboration between Kansas tribes and KDHE in order to identify preventable emergency room visits among American Indians.
Learning Objectives:

To learn an overview of the Kansas Syndromic Surveillance Program (KSSP)

To learn about the data quality of the American Indian race variable collected by KSSP

To identify the most prevalent syndromes affecting the AI/AN population