“The ultimate measure of whether a surveillance system has achieved the optimal balance of attributes lies in its usefulness.” No one is better qualified to comment on usefulness than the users. As system developers, we are well advised to consider the opinions of users when building, evaluating, and considering revisions to surveillance systems.
Health Monitoring Systems, Inc. is a for-profit company that provides biosurveillance capabilities to public health agencies and hospitals using a software-as-a-service model.
Objective
This paper describes results from a survey of public health department users of biosurveillance. The survey solicited input regarding sophistication of analytic methods, perceived value of potential data sources, and utilization resulting in timelier public health interventions.