EMI Advisors Contributes to ASTHO Report on Strengthening Health Agencies' NAS Surveillance through Consensus-driven Data Standards and Practices

The rise of the opioid epidemic marked an increase in the incidence of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS). This prompted a nationwide effort to uncover what data elements are currently being collected by health agencies and their partners as part of NAS surveillance. The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) conducted an environmental scan and convened a series of multi-state focus groups with health agencies to identify the consistency of key NAS data elements, case definitions, and standards in the field.

From these findings, ASTHO determined a need for standard data elements, noting inconsistencies in NAS case definitions across states, the extent to which stakeholders were using NAS data, and how NAS data was being used. To address these challenges, ASTHO, with partners at Briljent and EMI Advisors, created a NAS data element submission tool to collect a master list of NAS data elements, published a data dictionary, and issued a template request for proposals to support health agencies in building a NAS registry. These findings are summarized within the report: Strengthening Health Agencies’ Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Surveillance Through Consensus-Driven Data Standards and Practices.

The report was prepared by ASTHO in partnership with EMI Advisors for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) as part of an awarded state technical assistance contract opportunity through Briljent.