Disease Surveillance

Building the next generation technology in disease surveillance

How can states ensure they are prepared for the next pandemic or public health crisis? A scalable disease surveillance system with robust reporting capabilities is key.

Altarum’s surveillance systems can withstand exponential increases in reported cases, are easily configurable to address changing dynamics, and are fully interoperable so data flows from all local points to the state health department.

We integrate monitoring capabilities that enable public health officials to quickly and accurately identify outbreaks, emerging variants, and other threats. Our reporting features and dashboards provide immediate insight into population health trends, such as how groups are impacted based on race or pre-existing conditions.

As states recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, we’re helping them build the next generation of disease surveillance technology.

Here's our approach:

We combine expertise in public health, technology and interoperability.

We’re a cross-functional team of software engineers, data scientists, and public health analysts who work together to create a holistic public health solution.

We’re more than an IT vendor; we’re a partner in public health.

Unlike typical IT vendors, we’re a nonprofit, mission-driven organization dedicated to helping state governments advance health through technology.

We draw from decades of experience in disease surveillance.

Our team draws on 20 years of experience advancing public health technology for states, from building surveillance and syndromic systems to enhancing interoperability.

We build systems for the next generation, not just the next crisis.

Our systems remain on the cutting edge through an innovative architecture that allows updates to be made seamlessly when and where they are needed.

See examples of our work

Michigan Disease Surveillance System

To prepare Michigan for tomorrow’s public health challenges, Altarum is modernizing the state’s disease surveillance system with an innovative architecture and expanded monitoring and reporting capabilities.

Michigan Syndromic Surveillance System (MSSS)

Syndromic surveillance detects unusual or sudden increases in patients reporting symptoms that could signal public health threats—providing states with an early warning before diagnoses are available.

Building Washington State’s Capacity to Process Covid-19 Test Results

Faced with an unprecedented volume of test results, we assisted the Department of Health by increasing staffing bandwidth and providing architectural guidance on complex system issues.

Contact Us

Jim Kamp - MBA, MA

Director, Strategic Partnerships, Public Health Systems

Areas of Expertise

Public Health Interoperability
Health IT Project Management
Stakeholder Engagement and Outreach

Jim Kamp has more than 30 years of combined experience in IT program management, including for government health care agencies. He leads projects for the Vital Records and Health Statistics Division of the state of Michigan to improve electronic birth reporting and for Washington state to improve ELR processing of Covid-19 data. He builds partnerships needed to advance interoperability at all levels of government and serves in leadership roles in the Michigan and Midwest chapters of HIMSS. Jim holds an MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.