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NORSDirect

NORSDirect is a feature of the National Outbreak Reporting System (NORS) that launched in 2015. It enables state, local, and territorial public health staff to upload electronic outbreak data into NORS to reduce double data entry.

Four great reasons to try NORSDirect:

  1. Cuts down on manual data entry, saving time and effort.
  2. Checks your reports for errors and helps you to fix them.
  3. Makes it easy to create or update multiple reports at once.
  4. The CDC NORS Team will help you get started.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is NORSDirect?

NORSDirect is a NORS feature that launched in February 2015. It allows reporting sites to upload electronic outbreak data into NORS instead of entering it manually. NORSDirect has its own section within NORS where users can upload and manage electronic outbreak data.

Reporting sites can send data using the Public Health Information Networking Messaging System (PHINMS) or by logging into NORSDirect from the NORS home page. Outbreak reports are checked for errors, which are then flagged for correction within the NORSDirect site. Reports without errors are saved in NORS.

NORSDirect allows sites to upload multiple outbreak reports into NORS at once. Files uploaded to NORSDirect may contain multiple reports. The general flow of information into NORSDirect is as follows:

  1. Report data are downloaded or extracted from the reporting site’s outbreak database.
  2. Reports are combined into a single file.
  3. File is uploaded to NORSDirect.
  4. Individual reports are extracted from the file and validated.
  5. Reports without errors are successfully saved in the NORS database.

Who can use NORSDirect?

Reporting site administrators (RSAs) automatically have access to NORSDirect. RSAs can grant access to agency administrators in the User Management section of NORS.

Read-only and read-write users have read-only access to the NORSDirect Home, Variables & Mapping, and Help pages.

Sites that use PHINMS decide who can send information to NORSDirect on behalf of their sites.

Where do I go to get started?

To view NORSDirect, log in to NORS. On the NORS Home screen, you should see a link to NORSDirect on the right side of the screen. This will take you to the NORSDirect Home page.

What do I need to know before I upload data?

For detailed instructions on preparing and uploading a file to NORSDirect, please see the User Training Document for NORSDirect. [PDF - 22 pages] This training document is also posted on the Help page within NORSDirect.

Here are four important things you need to know:

  1. Outbreak reports uploaded via NORSDirect are saved into the live NORS database. These uploads may overwrite or delete data in existing NORS reports. Deleted/overwritten data CANNOT be retrieved.
  2. NORSDirect matches outbreak reports to existing NORS records for your reporting site based on the StateID variable alone. If you upload a report that has the same StateID as an existing NORS report, you will overwrite the NORS report.
  3. All new users are strongly encouraged to submit at least one test file before uploading real outbreak data. Each report in the file should have a StateID that begins with "Test", e.g. "Test_LTCF-155". The required field DateFirstIll should be set to "1/1/1950". After uploading the file, check that the outbreak reports saved as expected, then, delete the reports in NORS.
  4. The CDC NORS team is here to help! Contact us for assistance, questions, and comments.

What are the key things to remember about creating a file for upload?

For detailed instructions on preparing and uploading a file to NORSDirect, please see the User Training Document for NORSDirect. [PDF - 22 pages] This training document is also posted on the Help page within NORSDirect.

Here are five key things to remember:

  1. NORSDirect currently supports CSV and Excel files up to 4 megabytes in size if using the File Upload feature, and up to 10 megabytes if using PHINMS.
  2. Every file must have five required variables for every report: StateID, ReportingState, PrimaryMode, DateFirstIll, EstimatedPrimary.
  3. Every file should contain variable names in the first row, and data corresponding to each variable in columns.
  4. When splitting data across multiple worksheets in a single Excel workbook, only the State ID column should be repeated once on each worksheet.
  5. Use the 'Variables & Mapping' page to map any list values that do not match list values used by NORS. This should be done before files are imported.

What if I need more help?

For detailed instructions on preparing and uploading a file to NORSDirect, please see the User Training Document for NORSDirect. [PDF - 22 pages]  This training document is also posted on the Help page within NORSDirect.  

The NORS team can also provide technical support for sites interested in implementing NORSDirect.

For further assistance, questions, or comments, please contact the CDC NORS Team.  

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