title: Public health emergency preparedness and response communications with health care providers: a literature review.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Health care providers (HCPs) play an important role in public health emergency preparedness and response (PHEPR) so need to be aware of public health threats and emergencies. To inform HCPs, public health issues PHEPR messages that provide guidelines and updates, and facilitate surveillance so HCPs will recognize and control communicable diseases, prevent excess deaths and mitigate suffering. Public health agencies need to know that the PHEPR messages sent to HCPs reach their target audience and are effective and informative. Public health agencies need to know that the PHEPR messages sent to HCPs reach their target audience and are effective and informative. We conducted a literature review to investigate the systems and tools used by public health to generate PHEPR communications to HCPs, and to identify specific characteristics of message delivery mechanisms and formats that may be associated with effective PHEPR communications.
  
  
  METHODS
  A systematic review of peer- and non-peer-reviewed literature focused on the following questions: 1) What public health systems exist for communicating PHEPR messages from public health agencies to HCPs? 2) Have these systems been evaluated and, if yes, what criteria were used to evaluate these systems? 3) What have these evaluations discovered about characterizations of the most effective ways for public health agencies to communicate PHEPR messages to HCPs?
  
  
  RESULTS
  We identified 25 systems or tools for communicating PHEPR messages from public health agencies to HCPs. Few articles assessed PHEPR communication systems or messaging methods or outcomes. Only one study compared the effectiveness of the delivery format, device or message itself. We also discovered that the potential is high for HCPs to experience "message overload" given redundancy of PHEPR messaging in multiple formats and/or through different delivery systems.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found that detailed descriptions of PHEPR messaging from public health to HCPs are scarce in the literature and, even when available are rarely evaluated in any systematic fashion. To meet present-day and future information needs for emergency preparedness, more attention needs to be given to evaluating the effectiveness of these systems in a scientifically rigorous manner.
authors: Department of Health Services, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. drevere@uw.edu
authors: Debra
authors: D
authors: Revere
authors: Kailey
authors: K
authors: Nelson
authors: Hanne
authors: H
authors: Thiede
authors: Jeffrey
authors: J
authors: Duchin
authors: Andy
authors: A
authors: Stergachis
authors: Janet
authors: J
authors: Baseman
references: MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2001 Sep 28;50(38):821-2
references: 11594721
references: J Urban Health. 2003 Jun;80(2 Suppl 1):i89-96
references: 12791783
references: J Public Health Manag Pract. 2011 Jan-Feb;17(1):45-51
references: 21135660
references: J Public Health Manag Pract. 2003 Sep-Oct;9(5):384-93
references: 15503603
references: MMWR Suppl. 2005 Aug 26;54:163-7
references: 16177709
references: Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2001 Dec;951:161-71
references: 11797774
references: Arch Med Res. 2005 Nov-Dec;36(6):724-30
references: 16216654
references: J Med Libr Assoc. 2005 Jan;93(1):97-103
references: 15685281
references: MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2003 Apr 11;52(14):297-302
references: 12731699
references: Emerg Infect Dis. 2001 Nov-Dec;7(6):933-44
references: 11747719
references: J Clin Epidemiol. 2009 Oct;62(10):1006-12
references: 19631508
references: JAMA. 2002 Feb 20;287(7):898-900
references: 11851584
references: MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2009 May 8;58(17):467-70
references: 19444150
references: Health Commun. 2006;20(2):141-8
references: 16965251
references: AMIA Annu Symp Proc. 2007 Oct 11;:274-8
references: 18693841
references: JAMA. 2001 Nov 28;286(20):2554-9
references: 11722269
references: NHPF Issue Brief. 2002 Jun 12;(776):1-19
references: 12083160
references: J Public Health Manag Pract. 2005 Nov-Dec;11(6):574-6
references: 16224296
references: J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2006 Oct 1;229(7):1090-9
references: 17014355
references: J Public Health Manag Pract. 2011 Jan-Feb;17(1):36-44
references: 21135659
references: J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2010 Mar-Apr;17(2):217-9
references: 20190067
references: Public Health Nurs. 2003 Nov-Dec;20(6):422-31
references: 14629673
references: J Urban Health. 2008 May;85(3):402-10
references: 18347991
references: Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1990 Oct;78(4):358-63
references: 2224298
references: MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2009 Jun 12;58(22):609-15
references: 19521332
references: J Urban Health. 2003 Jun;80(2 Suppl 1):i25-31
references: 12791776
references: BMC Public Health. 2004 Jul 26;4:29
references: 15274746
references: Epidemiol Infect. 2007 Jul;135(5):798-801
references: 17064456
references: J Trauma. 2006 Mar;60(3):566-71; discussion 571-72
references: 16531855