Analytical Challenges Emerging Public Health Surveillance

Question: Discuss about the Analytical Challenges for Emerging Public Health Surveillance. Answer: Introduction: The first challenges faced in implementing surveillance system was that it needs to collect data from electronic health information system from hospital, however supporting such interface in different hospital is difficult due to different data standards and unwillingness of staffs to manage such system. To address this problem, I will take steps to facilitate standard format for data storage and transmission. Giving the hospitals IT staff universal data processing standard will help in better integration of the system. It will facilitate better transmission of health information and detection of disease outbreak in clinical setting (Fricker, 2013). Second challenges faced in implementing surveillance system involve privacy and security issues. As the head of epidemiology section, I will ensure that the health information system is so designed that patients privacy is protected. Surveillance system relies on employing statistical data of patients to inspect changes in pre-diagnostic information and predict outbreak of a disease. To address this issue, it will be necessary to take approval from each patient and impose strict security policy to protect patients privacy and confidentiality. The information related to patient pre-diagnostic data should not disclose patients identity and even when it is disclosed, patients permission must be taken to protect privacy and confidentiality issues (Ozok et al., 2014). Another challenge related to getting funds for surveillance system can be addressed through strategies like ensuring financial sustainability of the system to convince investors and get better funding for implementing the system in the hospital. To facilitate dissemination of data, it will be necessary to impose security regulations and use effective software that can secure data as well as the surveillance system. Priority will be given on getting adequate resource to implement the system to facilitate funding and a cooperative agreement will help to attract funding agency (Public Health Surveillance Data: Legal, Policy, Ethical, Regulatory, and Practical Issues, 2016). Having adequate IT staffs and tools is necessary to appropriately analyze the data and identify true problem relating to disease outbreak instead of overreacting on small issues. Steps will be taken to recruit those staffs who have experience in managing syndromic disease surveillance by utilizing real time data from surveillance system. High level technical staffs are needed who have knowledge in epidemiology and public health analytic data management to enable management of complex statistical reports (Analytical Challenges for Emerging Public Health Surveillance, 2016). To effectively implement syndromic surveillance system and redirect IT resource of the hospital to identify bioterrorism issues and infectious disease outbreak in particular population, it is necessary to have the support of public health agency. As the CEO of the hospital, I would like better communication between public health agencies to redirect hospital resource according the requirement of resource for integrating syndromic surveillance system. This will help in analyzing the main infrastructural change required to introduce appropriate IT resource in the hospital (Grol et al., 2013). As public health agency plays a key role in detecting and responding to health emergencies, their support will be important to identify the relevant IT resource needed at the hospital. The collaboration with the public health agency with regard to the preparedness of the hospital for implementing surveillance system can help in bringing appropriate IT resource for the hospital. The main IT resource required for the system includes adequate software, user interface, automatic or manual data acquisition process and appropriate web based device to handle complex pre-diagnostic data of patients (Kellermann Jones, 2013). If the data acquisition process is manual, then no new infrastructure is needed, however for automated data acquisition process, an effective error free user interface is needed which health staffs can easily manage. The public health agency and hospital will also need to recruit IT leaders or skilled IT professional who can effectively identify relevant change needed in existing IT resource according to syndrome surveillance system. Introduction of web-based devices can also be useful to ease data entry of accurate patient information and rate of infection. Creating link public health Agency will help in getting support to bring this change and enable specific identification of patient with conflicting condition and infection cases (Tambo et al., 2014). In the field of epidemiology and for the purpose of biodefense, adequate support of public health agency is crucial to response to outbreak. As the CEO of the hospital, my role will to provide adequate reasons to public health agency regarding how redirecting resource can have impact on public health emergencies. Reference Analytical Challenges for Emerging Public Health Surveillance. (2016).Cdc.gov. 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