When healthcare delivery is connected to public health, community health and well-being as well as preventive care improves. It helps to share data, develop shared goals, and create formal governance (Taylor, Bailit & Dyer, 2016). If data integration is rewarded and encouraged, health systems can share information from clinical settings to public health. If there is a formal structure for public health professionals to share goals with clinicians, a positive correlation between healthcare delivery and public health will occur to the benefit of the communities they serve.
One type of system that helps collect information is a syndromic surveillance system. Syndromic surveillance systems collect data from hospital emergency rooms for example and note other information from patient EHR’s to keep track of infection rates and diseases as they surface in the data to help public health professionals catch outbreaks in the population or certain populations to enable them to be ready for them and prevent when possible (Morgan & Pinner, 2009).
The National Syndromic Surveillance program supported by the CDC helps provide the current data and forecasts of diseases and contagions on the horizon. It assists public health professionals with expertise in catching onto what disease spreading to look out for and address. Using the program, these professionals can investigate and identify what positive actions need to be taken in preparation for or prevention of possible outbreaks (CDC, n.d.)
Surveillance systems have never been more relevant as the potential of infectious diseases to cause harm needs to be foreseen and prevented when possible or prepared for when not possible. Worldwide, nations have agreed to enter surveillance with integrated systems (WHO, 2005). The surveillance includes the viewing of infection-related factors such as human habits, relevant technology, international travel, economic development, microbial adaptation, breakdown of public health measures, and possible bioterrorism threats (Morgan & Pinner, 2009).
With the partnership of healthcare delivery systems and public health, information can and should be shared across multiple sources. With this interoperability in place among a variety of care settings such as clinics, hospitals, and community centers; public health can be more prepared to catch any diseases, infections, or contagions at the very beginning so they can be nipped in the bud.
References
CDC. (n.d.). National Syndromic Surveillance Program (NSSP). https://www.cdc.gov/nssp/php/about/index.html
Morgan, O. W. & Pinner, R. W. (2009). Surveillance of infectious diseases. PubMed Central. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7150019/
Talor, E., Bailit, M. & Dyer, M. (2016). Integrating public health and healthcare: Getting beyond the theory. https://www.shvs.org/SHVS-Bailit-Public-Health-Integration-March-2016.pdf
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