Regenstrief Influenza Study Aims to Boost Public Health with HIE Data

Regenstrief Institute and the Indiana Department of Health are collaborating on a public health surveillance pilot study to provide in-depth analysis of the spread of Influenza in Indiana using health information exchange (HIE) data.

The partnership is supported by a $100,000 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists.

The data will help state and local leaders identify patterns and hot spots throughout Indiana to enhance resources and patient care in specific areas accordingly.

Shaun Grannis, MD, MS, vice president for data and analytics for Regenstrief, said that the flu pilot project is a natural continuation of a long-term public-private partnership.

“The State Department of Health and Regenstrief have worked together on a number of high profile and impactful initiatives, including Indiana’s COVID response, the public health emergency surveillance system, electronic laboratory reporting, human papillomavirus (HPV) education, traumatic brain injury and a number of other consequential projects important to Indiana and beyond,” Grannis said in a public release.

"This project is important to the health of Hoosiers and is a testament to the quality of the work that these two teams are capable of, including compiling and analyzing large amounts of data to enhance public health in Indiana,” he added.

A team of Regenstrief and Indiana Department of Health officials is meeting on a regular basis to review, categorize, and analyze data and inform stakeholders.

Research scientists from Regenstrief Institute also recently received a CDC grant to detect trends linked to lingering symptoms of COVID-19, known as long COVID-19.

The five-year grant, expected to total $9 million, aims to help develop one of the country's first comprehensive, population-based surveillance systems for long COVID-19.

Research scientists will utilize the public health informatics and surveillance structure of the Indiana Network for Patient Care (INPC), one of the largest HIEs in the nation, and the Regenstrief Notifiable Condition Detector.

Researchers will mine data from EHRs statewide to better estimate the incidence and prevalence of persistent COVID-19 symptoms and help measure outcomes in populations affected by long COVID.