Introduction and Purpose
Bioterrorism represents a significant public health threat
to the United States. Our Nation's vulnerability to the deliberate
use of biological and chemical agents has been highlighted
by recent high-profile terrorist attacks and the recognition
that there may be substantial biological weapons development
programs and arsenals in foreign countries.
Addressing this threat requires the rapid development of
Federal, State, and local capacity to respond to potential
bioterrorism events. To be as effective as possible, these
efforts must be directed toward improving the ability of both
our public health system and our health care delivery system
– including the individual health care systems, facilities,
and clinicians that comprise the latter – to detect and
respond to such events. They also must focus on ensuring that
all of these components communicate and coordinate with one
another and with other systems, such as emergency preparedness
and law enforcement, as effectively and efficiently as possible.
The Federal Government is playing an important role in supporting
and coordinating the Nation's efforts to prepare itself for
the possibility of a bioterrorist attack. An example of its
many activities in this area is the recent release of the
first installment of $1.1 billion dollars targeted to enhancing
the preparedness of hospitals and State and local health agencies.
The Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Public
Health Preparedness and the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) play critically important roles in these
efforts.
In addition, the Federal Government has funded research to
develop methodologies and tools that can assist public health
officials, health care systems and facilities administrators,
and front-line clinicians in assessing and improving their
readiness to respond to bioterrorism. For example, the Federal
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) plays an
important role in these efforts. It has supported a series
of important bioterrorism-related research activities, including:
- Efforts aimed at identifying the most effective methods
for training clinicians about bioterrorism;
- Creating models to assess the capacity of delivery systems
to respond to bioterrorist events;
- Developing tools to assess the preparedness of individual
hospitals and health systems; and
- Examining approaches to use information technology to
more effectively link primary care providers to emergency
preparedness and public health personnel.
State and local health policymakers and program administrators
play an essential role within their own jurisdictions and
regions in developing capacity and coordinating efforts across
the public health, health care, law enforcement, and related
systems. It is extremely important, therefore, that they have
information about:
- The nature of Federal efforts to ensure the rapid development
of Federal, State, and local capacity to address potential
bioterrorism events;
- The importance of effective and timely coordination and
communication across public health, health care systems
and facilities, front-line clinicians, and other systems
responding to bioterrorism and strategies to achieve this;
and
- The availability of methods and tools that have been
developed through Federally-supported health services research
efforts that can be of assistance to these officials in
developing systems capacity and enhancing readiness.
To address these important information needs, AHRQ's User
Liaison Program, in partnership with CDC, offer this series
of Web-assisted audio conferences:
Event #1:
Enhancing Public Health, Health Care System, and Clinician
Preparedness: Strategies to Promote Coordination and Communication
Monday, April 29, 2002, 2:00 - 3:30 p.m., Eastern Daylight
Time (EDT)
Event #2:
Promoting Clinician Readiness
Tuesday, April 30, 2002, 2:00 - 3:30 p.m., EDT
Event #3:
Assessing Hospital and Health System Preparedness and Response
Wednesday, May 1, 2002, 2:00 - 3:30 p.m., EDT
Intended Audience
These Web-assisted audio conferences will be of value to
a wide range of State and local officials, in both the executive
and legislative branches of government, who have responsibility
for making policy or administering programs related to: public
health, health care delivery, the training of health professionals,
emergency preparedness, and other systems involved in responding
to the threat of bioterrorism. These officials include, but
are not necessarily limited to: State and local public health
officials, Governors' staff, State legislators and their staff,
and other senior staff within State or local health departments
and offices of emergency preparedness.
Web-Assisted Audio Conference Format
Each Web-assisted audio conference will address a different
aspect of bioterrorism preparedness and examine tools and
methods to increase and assess readiness and capacity. Each
event will last about 90 minutes. Participants are welcome
to register for single or multiple sessions. Each event will
feature a panel of experts in the field who will answer questions
from the audience via phone, e-mail, or online chat. The calls
will be moderated by Cindy DiBiasi, former health and science
journalist, TV news anchor, and currently a principal with
Ignition Strategic Communications, Washington, DC. To help
us develop a program that meets your needs effectively, please
submit your questions several days in advance to:
ulp@ahrq.gov.
The audio conferences will be available in a Webcast version
and also in a conventional audio conference format. Presentation
slides, audio, and an online chat will be provided through
the Webcast, and simultaneously the audio portion of the program
will be available by phone for participants who prefer to
use their telephones instead of their computers. To participate
in the Webcast version, you will need a computer with an Internet
connection, Internet Explorer or Netscape, and audio capability
(includes a sound card and speakers, and the free, downloadable
RealOne
Player plug-in software).
Costs
There will be no charge for participation, but we would appreciate
feedback on the usefulness of this format for sharing up-to-the-minute
information on the topics that most concern you in health
care delivery and policy. Please invite your colleagues to
join us for any or all of the calls.
How to Register
Click on the button above to register for any or all three
of the Web-assisted audio conferences. You must register at
least three business days before the first event if you are
registering for all three events, or three days before a specific
event if you are not registering for the full series. You
will receive an automated e-mail confirmation (or a fax confirmation,
if you register by fax) that includes the Web address, toll-free
number (if accessing audio by phone), and access information
for joining the audio conference.
We are experiencing an extremely high volume of registrations
for this series. This may cause some audio connection difficulties
for those connecting at, or shortly after, the beginning of
the program. If for any reason you are unable to access the
audio portion of the program via your computer, you may dial
in using your telephone at any time by calling the following
phone number: 1-888-868-9080 and use the passcode: "Bioterrorism
Audio Conference".
If you have additional questions about registering for these
Web-assisted audio conferences, you may contact Maureen Ball,
the ULP contact at Health Systems Research, Inc. (AHRQ's contractor
for the audio conference series) at 202-828-5100.
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