Issue in surveillance or in health informatics

2 days ago William Payne RE: Discussion 2 – Week 11 COLLAPSE 01. Describe of a current issue in surveillance or in health informatics about which you might be interested in conducting further research for a possible dissertation topic. One current issue in syndromic surveillance (SS) that interests me is whether or not (or rather to what extent) SS works. Given that SS is a relatively young or recent practice (Stoto Schonlau & Mariano 2004a; Henning 2004) it has not had much time to get evaluated and/or refined. Considerable questions remain about whether SS is useful or cost-effective (Hope Durrheim DEspaignet & Dalton 2006; Stoto Schonlau & Mariano 2004b; Sosin & DeThomasis 2004). 02. Explain why that issue interests you. These core questions interest me because the promise of SS to allow for early detection of an outbreak aborning affords public health practitioners a powerful and relatively novel tool. If SS can be refined over time and used cost-effectively then it can do much good for communities. At the same time some important (and fascinating) questions remain which warrant consideration and investigation. It is after all worth bearing in mind that SS was first developed with response to bioterrorism much in mind (CDC 1998) and then spurred by the 2001 anthrax attacks (Henning 2004). The premium of timeliness (i.e. the imperative to respond to a threat prior to receipt of confirmation) seems perfectly suitable in the context of fighting bioterrorism but is it so necessary for infectious disease outbreaks? For non-infectious disease surges? Are the privacy concerns and the ineluctable possibility to generate false alarms more trouble than they are worth for at least some diseases within some budgetary constraints? Perhaps most importantly what questions need be raised and addressed in to ensure that SS runs cost-effectively? Given limited public health budgets it is worth wondering what SS’s contribution to the day-to-day operations of a health department can or should be (Lombardo & Buckeridge 2007 p. 400). It is unclear if SS works in detecting outbreaks and evaluations of SS systems for specific contexts are few (Lombardo & Buckeridge 2007 p. 399). As I learned during my final project while researching evaluation methods for SS systems thorough evaluations for SS systems are still fewer than would be satisfactory. Lombardo and Buckeridge have written that as electronic data becomes increasingly available in the future implementing (and therefore evaluating) SS shall become easier (2007 p. 400). They wrote that 14 years ago and I think that the time is nigh for us to be able to have the tools and the knowledge to investigate some core questions about SS’s usefulness and best-practices. We shall all be graduating at or around a fortuitous time I think for us to have the tools data and knowledge to be able to participate in that endeavor. 03. Describe two ways the information you gathered in this course can be applied to your future dissertation research or your role as a scholar-practitioner. Since my dissertation is meant to make be an original contribution to the scientific body of knowledge (dissertation n.d.; Walden University n.d.-a; Walden University n.d.-b) and since there is much to be done in the way of evaluating SS systems one possible project that I am entertaining is evaluating some particular SS system with regards to some particular function or application in mind. One way that this course has equipped me to be able to do that is by introducing to me some variety of ways to evaluate a SS system. In our textbook Lombardo & Buckeridge describe a few conventional ways including using a Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) curve using a Activity Monitoring Operating Characteristics (AMOC) curve using time-varying ensemble statistics and more (2007). Most helpfully though they have persuaded me that evaluation should be context-specific and they offer a step-wise way of deciding how to evaluate a SS system for some particular function. I will bear this information in mind and retain that chapter for future reference. In a more general sense this course has helped me regardless. Even in the off-chance that I never encounter biosurveillance of any sort ever again either during my dissertation or in my professional life this course has imparted some lessons that are generalizable and applicable to a wide range of public health endeavors. This course’s overview of HIPAA is the best example. Although previous classes have introduced the concept of HIPAA and its Privacy Rule’s exceptions this class marks by far the most in-depth exploration of HIPAA in legal and practical terms to date. Even in their cautionary two-sentence disclaimer “The overview in this section should not be considered a substitute for knowledgeable legal counsel. Parties who are considering disclosing receiving or using data for surveillance purposes are advised to obtain current legal advice before proceeding” Lombardo & Buckeridge (2007 p. 98) have conveyed (in what is truly my first time of registering it) that probably no clinic or health department can or even should try to possibly operate without legal counsel lest it even inadvertently run afoul of HIPAA. HIPAA is in reality more complex than the simplified summaries of it we that we usually get offered (Liller Corvin & Venkatachalam 2018). Telehealth (more pertinent now with COVID-19 than ever before) familiarizing myself with biosurveillance tools and methods being used locally and relevant public health differences between developed and developing countries are all a few other interesting and useful concepts that I consider generalizable and therefore helpful almost no matter what dissertation topic I choose going forward. References dissertation. Dictionary.com Unabridged.Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary Henning K. J. (2004). Overview of syndromic surveillance: What is syndromic surveillance? Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 53 5–11. Hope K. Durrheim D. DEspaignet E. T. & Dalton C. (2006). Syndromic surveillance: Is it a useful tool for local outbreak detection? Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 60(5) 374–375. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech.2005.035337 Liller K. D. Corvin J. A. & Venkatachalam H. H. (2018). Certified in public health: Exam review guide. American Public Health Association. Sosin D. M. & DeThomasis J. (2004). Evaluation challenges for syndromic surveillance: Making incremental progress. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) 53 125–129. Stoto M. A. Schonlau M. & Mariano L. T. (2004). Syndromic surveillance: An effective tool for detecting bioterrorism? RAND Corporation. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9042.html. Stoto M. Schonlau M. & Mariano L. T. (2004). Syndromic surveillance: Is it worth the effort? Chance 17 19–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/09332480.2004.10554882 United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC]. (1998). Preventing emerging infectious diseases: A strategy for the 21st Century. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 47(15). Walden University. (n.d.-a). Dissertation guidebook. https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/ld.php?content_id=42353287. Walden University. (n.d.-b). Dissertation quality rubric. https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/ld.php?content_id=34221239. Nyoka Rogers RE: Discussion 2 – Week 11 COLLAPSE Post a brief description of a current public health disease surveillance or health informatics issue about which you might be interested in conducting further research for a possible dissertation topic. The public health disease surveillance that I would be interested in conducting further research for a possible dissertation topic would be the oral heath of kids 4 to 16 years old from low socioeconomic status compared to those who have a higher socioeconomic status. Oral diseases from cavities to oral cancer causes significant pain and disability for many Americans. Research shows that those grouped in a low socioeconomic status have better oral health due to being offered medical assistance and go to routine dental checks compared to those who are more financially stable. Also research suggest that those from low socioeconomic statuses have poor oral health due to only consuming things high in sugar. Results suggest that beverage consumption patterns are a key difference between high and low socioeconomic status families and could in part explain differences in caries experience between subjects in different socioeconomic status (Hamasha et. al. 2006). Then explain why that issue interests you. I am interested in oral health as a public health professional because oral health is the leading causes of other diseases in the United States. I am also interested in the socioeconomic status differences of those who can afford dental care versus those who are offered free dental care. I am also interested in the oral health care amongst different ethnicities and why some have better oral health care than others. Describe two ways the information you gathered in this course can be applied to your future dissertation research or your role as a scholar-practitioner. Be specific and use examples to illustrate your points. In this course we learned investigating methods of identifying the necessary data to monitor specific diseases and conditions. In using this I can investigate oral health data by making sure the data is of quality and beneficial when surveilling oral health. We also learned how to analyze the ethical considerations when sharing data. In disease surveillance of oral health amongst the different socioeconomic statuses it is important to remember all ethical issues that may arise when sharing data as it will challenging not to identify the specific people involved in the study. Lastly we learned about electronic health records. Electronic health records (EHRs) provide the opportunity to improve both clinical care and public health through advances in evidence-based medicine and evidenced-based public health (Lombardo & Buckeridge 2007). Electronic health records will be a vital part of how data will be collected in this particular study of oral health disease surveillance. References Hamasha AA;Warren JJ;Levy SM;Broffitt B;Kanellis MJ;. (2006). Oral health behaviors of children in low and high socioeconomic status families. Retrieved February 11 2021 from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16903438/ Lombardo J. S. & Buckeridge D. L. (2007). Disease surveillance: A public health informatics approach. Hoboken NJ: Wiley-Interscience 22 hours ago thomas burphy RE: Discussion 2 – Week 11 COLLAPSE Post a brief description of a current public health disease surveillance or health informatics issue about which you might be interested in conducting further research for a possible dissertation topic. SOLUTIONS TO THE CHALLENGES FACING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF DISEASE SURVEILLANCE SYSTEMS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES I would like to carry out research on solutions to the challenges facing implementation of disease surveillance systems in developing countries. Developing countries have been faced by a challenge of poor disease surveillance which generally results to poor health among the people living in these countries because of their inability to control the diseases. These challenges are mostly caused by factors such as lack of adequately trained health care personnel and lack of integrated health care systems that allow effective flow of data (Frerichs 1991). These countries do not have adequate infrastructure to allow for the establishment of the disease surveillance systems in these countries. Generally the implementation of the disease surveillance systems is hard in these countries because they do not have enough resources like the developed nations that have already succeeded in implementation of proper systems of health therefore being able to control the spread of diseases allowing people to enjoy good health services (Jayatilleke 2020). Explain why that issue interests you I am interested in the issue of finding solutions for the challenges that face implementation of disease surveillance systems in developing countries because health of the public is very important. Disease surveillance is very important because it helps in preventing and managing various diseases that are on outbreak. Due to the compromised position the developing nations are at with lack of education and poor standards of living among the people there is need to come up with solutions to these problems to secure the future of the generations to come. The health of the people can only be improved if it becomes possible to implement proper surveillance systems of diseases in the developing countries (Phalkey 2013). I want to explore this topic to know the extent to which different developing countries have been able to implement the health surveillance systems and how they are helpful to these countries. I will look at the internal factors that hinder the implementation of the disease surveillance systems and the external factors. When there is outbreak of communicable and infectious diseases the low-income countries suffer the most. While the developed countries have programs and enough facilities to keep them safe in such times the developing countries have none and most of the people end up dying. This research will lead me to getting possible solutions to help the developing nations overcome this challenge (Frerichs 1991). Describe two ways the information you gathered in this course can be applied to your future dissertation research or your role as a scholar practitioner The information from various topics in this course will give me a direction when practicing as a scholar. The knowledge on different disease surveillance topics will guide me on the areas that I should do more research in. Through this course I have learnt that developing countries have many challenges in implementing disease surveillance systems. I therefore look forward to doing more research to come up with solutions for these challenges to improve health of the people in the developing nations (Groseclose 2016). The knowledge I have acquired will as well guide my practice in the profession as a scholar. Having learnt widely on disease surveillance and how it is done I will implement all that I have learnt throughout this course in my practice. We have done research on the different areas in public health and I know what I am expected to do in this field to contribute to the provision of good health care to the population (Nsubuga 2006).References Frerichs R. R. (1991). EPIDEMIOLOGIC SURVEILLANCE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. Retrieved from Annual Reviews: https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annu… Groseclose S. L. (2016 December 15). Public Health Surveillance Systems: Recent Advances in Their Use and Evaluation. Retrieved from Annual Reviews: https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/ann… Jayatilleke K. (2020 August 28). Challenges in Implementing Surveillance Tools of High-Income Countries (HICs) in Low Middle Income Countries (LMICs). Retrieved from Springer link: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40506-0… Nsubuga P. (2006). Public Health Surveillance: A Tool for Targeting and Monitoring Interventions. Retrieved from NCBI:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK11770/ Phalkey R. K. (2013 December 20). Challenges with the implementation of an Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) system: systematic review of the lessons learned . Retrieved from Health Policy and Planning:

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