title: Public Health Surveillance Systems: Recent Advances in Their Use and Evaluation.
abstract: Surveillance is critical for improving population health. Public health surveillance systems generate information that drives action, and the data must be of sufficient quality and with a resolution and timeliness that matches objectives. In the context of scientific advances in public health surveillance, changing health care and public health environments, and rapidly evolving technologies, the aim of this article is to review public health surveillance systems. We consider their current use to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the public health system, the role of system stakeholders, the analysis and interpretation of surveillance data, approaches to system monitoring and evaluation, and opportunities for future advances in terms of increased scientific rigor, outcomes-focused research, and health informatics.
authors.affiliation: Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30329; email: sgroseclose@cdc.gov.
authors.forename: Samuel L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Groseclose
authors.affiliation: Surveillance Lab, McGill Clinical and Health Informatics, Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 1A3; email: david.buckeridge@mcgill.ca.
authors.forename: David L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Buckeridge
mesh_terms: D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011634:Public Health
keywords: public health surveillance; public health surveillance systems; surveillance evaluation; surveillance indicators; surveillance objectives; surveillance system monitoring