MULTI-STATE EHR-BASED NETWORK FOR DISEASE SURVEILLANCE
About MENDS
Overview
In 2018, the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors funded by the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control, initiated the pilot of Multi-state EHR-based Network for Disease Surveillance (MENDS).
MENDS is a distributed network for surveillance that leverages EHR data to generate timely prevalence estimates of chronic disease risk measures at national and local levels. MENDS can be accessed by health departments and other authorized users for monitoring trends, informing policies, planning programs, and evaluating outcomes to improve the health of the population.
MENDS has an implementation focus on six key areas:
- Governance
- Partnerships
- Technical infrastructure and support
- Chronic disease algorithms and validation
- Weighting and modeling
- Workforce education for public health data users
Project Resources
- MENDS Overview infographic
- How MENDS Works
- MENDS Governance Principles, Policies and Processes (Governance document)
Funding Acknowledgement
The “Improving Chronic Disease Surveillance and Management Through the Use of Electronic Health Records/Health Information Systems” project is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $2,500,000 with 100 percent funded by CDC/HHS. Disclaimer: The contents are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CDC/HHS, or the U.S. Government.