FEATURES
Keeping Vigilant Watch over the Nation’s Health
THE STORY
Is there an E. coli outbreak in my community? Is it spreading? Who is affected? Is this outbreak the result of a bioterrorist attack? Public health officials need fast and accurate answers when investigating a potential disease outbreak or bioterrorist attack.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a global authority on disease, created the BioSense program to sharpen our nation’s ability to keep a vigilant watch over our country’s health. This critical tool supports every level of public health. SRA provides valuable clinical data to BioSense by recruiting data sources. Our analysts staff CDC’s BioIntelligence Center and analyze the data and recommend enhancements to the application. SRA’s communications staff, working closely with the CDC, keeps BioSense partners and data sources informed.
RESULTS
The CDC must respond swiftly to disease outbreaks and provide the necessary information to help assuage fear. When lives are at stake, time is of the essence. BioSense receives data in real-time from hundreds of health-data sources across the country. SRA develops the relationships and coordinates the business, legal, and technical discussions necessary to get organizations to contribute patient health data to BioSense. We also provide on-hands support for the BioSense BioIntelligence Center, which analyzes and tracks BioSense data activity.
Challenges
- Acquiring data
- Managing and overseeing data sources
- Optimizing communications
- Coordinating stakeholders
Outcome
- Seamless participation from multiple data types and sources
- Support and facilitation of connectivity between the data source and CDC
- Full-service project management, marketing, and communications
- Client education through Web-based training and support for epidemiologic and technical inquiries
TECHNOLOGIES
SRA provides advanced technologies and human resources to effectively manage BioSense.
- Employ Capability Maturity Model® Integration (CMMI®) project management and IT methodologies from data acquisition to analysis
- Unify clinical, data and technical expertise from different health domains to ensure data source integrity
- Liaise between the data source and CDC to facilitate connections and implement CDC Public Health Information Network (PHIN) messaging standards
- Provide health situational awareness support from the BioIntelligence Center and perform enhanced monitoring for special events like world leadership summits and political conventions
- Promote collaboration between data sources and CDC public health subject matter experts
- Obtain stakeholder buy-in and support through effective communications and relationship management
RELATED INFO
SRA works on public health issues of local, regional, national and global importance. BioSense is one example of our long track record of working on missions that matter.
Services
- Project manager
- Statistician
- Database administrator
- Technical writing
- Web management
- Emergency preparedness