title: Event communication in a regional disease surveillance system.
abstract: When real-time disease surveillance is practiced in neighboring states within a region, public health users may benefit from easily sharing their concerns and findings regarding potential health threats. To better understand the need for this capability, an event communications component (ECC) was added to the National Capital Region Disease Surveillance System, an operational biosurveillance system employed in the District of Columbia and in surrounding Maryland and Virginia counties. Through usage analysis and user survey methods, we assessed the value of the enhanced system in daily operational use and during two simulated exercises. Results suggest that the system has utility for regular users of the system as well as suggesting several refinements for future implementations.
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Wayne
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Loschen
authors.forename: Jacqueline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Coberly
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sniegoski
authors.forename: Rekha
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Holtry
authors.forename: Marvin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sikes
authors.forename: Sheryl
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Happel Lewis
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003142:Communication; D003625:Data Collection; D004219:District of Columbia; D006801:Humans; D008396:Maryland; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D012041:Regional Medical Programs; D017010:Reminder Systems; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D014768:Virginia