Development of a system for tracking coverage and timeliness in the Digital Disease Surveillance System

Authors

  • Supansa Suriya Division of Epidemiology, Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand
  • Jaruwan Malaikham Division of Epidemiology, Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand
  • Jiraporn Prommongkhol Division of Epidemiology, Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand
  • Suphanat Wongsanuphat

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.59096/wesr.v56i4.3775

Keywords:

disease surveillance system, data quality, dashboard

Abstract

Introduction: The Division of Epidemiology transitioned from the Report 506 (R506) system to the Digital Disease Surveillance (DDS) system, which used an API (Application Programming Interface) to enable direct transmission of data from healthcare facilities to the Department of Disease Control's database. This reported data was critical for monitoring disease trends and for surveillance, prevention, and control efforts. As such, monitoring the quality of data within the DDS system was essential. The aim of this study was to develop a database and create a dashboard that effectively monitored both the coverage and timeliness of disease reporting.

Methodology: This study employed the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) approach, which includes requirements gathering and analysis, system design and development, system testing, implementation, and maintenance. A prototype dashboard was tested by 24 users from various administrative levels, including regional, provincial, district, and sub-district health agencies.

Results: Key challenges in disease surveillance were data incompleteness and delayed reporting, which could impact policy decisions. System development began with designing a relational database and integrating data from multiple sources. Apache Airflow was used for automated data processing, updating Tableau Server dashboards hourly. The developed dashboard effectively tracks data completeness and timeliness. User testing revealed limitations such as data level adjustments, display filters, and font sizes, which were subsequently improved to enhance usability.

Conclusion: Tracking coverage and timeliness of the DSS dashboard improves disease reporting quality across all administrative levels, from national to healthcare facility levels, and includes a no-case notification system for accurate reporting. The dashboard is designed for user-friendly data visualization and real-time monitoring. Continuous user feedback is essential to refine the system, ensuring its effectiveness in disease surveillance and data quality improvement.

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Published

2025-04-29

How to Cite

Suriya, S., Malaikham, J., Prommongkhol, J., & Wongsanuphat, S. (2025). Development of a system for tracking coverage and timeliness in the Digital Disease Surveillance System. Weekly Epidemiological Surveillance Report, 56(4), e3775. https://doi.org/10.59096/wesr.v56i4.3775

Issue

Vol. 56 No. 4 (2025): April 2025

Section

Original article

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