Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Communications with Health Care Providers: A Literature Review

A systematic review of peer- and non-peer-reviewed literature focused on the following questions: 1) What public health systems exist for communicating PHEPR messages from public health agencies to HCPs? 2) Have these systems been evaluated and, if yes, what criteria were used to evaluate these systems? 3) What have these evaluations discovered about characterizations of the most effective ways for public health agencies to communicate PHEPR messages to HCPs?We identified 25 systems or tools for communicating PHEPR messages from public health agencies to HCPs. Few articles assessed PHEPR communication systems or messaging methods or outcomes. Only one study compared the effectiveness of the delivery format, device or message itself. We also discovered that the potential is high for HCPs to experience "message overload" given redundancy of PHEPR messaging in multiple formats and/or through different delivery systems.We found that detailed descriptions of PHEPR messaging from public health to HCPs are scarce in the literature and, even when available are rarely evaluated in any systematic fashion. To meet present-day and future information needs for emergency preparedness, more attention needs to be given to evaluating the effectiveness of these systems in a scientifically rigorous manner.Public health emergency preparedness and response (PHEPR) involves activities directed at preventing possible emergencies and planning to ensure an adequate response and recovery if an emergency occurs. The public health system itself is a complex network of organizations and individuals that work together for the benefit of the public's health. These entities include public health agencies at local, state and federal levels, public safety agencies, emergency managers, academia, business, communities, the media, and the healthcare delivery system [1]. As one component of the PHEPR system, information contributed by health care providers (HCPs) to public health is aggregated, analyzed