News Release
RAND Study Finds Gaps in Public Health Agency Responsiveness to Reports of Suspicious Illnesses
Aug 30, 2005
Published in: Health Affairs - Web Exclusive, Aug. 30, 2005, p. w5-412-w5419
Posted on RAND.org on January 01, 2005
The authors evaluated the ability of local public health agencies (LPHAs) to meet a preparedness standard set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): to receive and respond to urgent case reports of communicable diseases twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The authors found substantial variability in performance and in the systems in place to respond to such reports. Development and implementation of measures of public health agencies' performance are crucial to improving public health preparedness and, ultimately, to assuring the agencies' accountability.
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