"Blueprint version 2.0": updating public health surveillance for the 21st century

J Public Health Manag Pract. 2013 May-Jun;19(3):231-9. doi: 10.1097/PHH.0b013e318262906e.

Abstract

Rapid changes to the United States public health system challenge the current strategic approach to surveillance. During 2011, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists convened national experts to reassess public health surveillance in the United States and update surveillance strategies that were published in a 1996 report and endorsed by the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists. Although surveillance goals, historical influences, and most methods have not changed, surveillance is being transformed by 3 influences: public health information and preparedness as national security issues; new information technologies; and health care reform. Each offers opportunities for surveillance, but each also presents challenges that public health epidemiologists can best meet by rigorously applying surveillance evaluation concepts, engaging in national standardization activities driven by electronic technologies and health care reform, and ensuring an adequately trained epidemiology workforce.

Publication types

  • Historical Article
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Government
  • Health Care Reform
  • History, 21st Century
  • Humans
  • Medical Informatics
  • Public Health Surveillance / methods*
  • United States