Reaching New and Existing Stakeholders to Participate in BioSense Real Time Real Talk (RTRT) - Congress passed the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002, which requires specific activities related to bioterrorism preparedness and response. This congressional mandate outlines the need for improving the overall public’s health through electronic surveillance and led to the creation of the BioSense program. - BioSense is the national, human health surveillance system designed to improve the nation’s capabilities for disease detection, monitoring, and real-time health situational awareness. This work is made possible by providing public health access to existing data from healthcare organizations, state syndromic surveillance systems, national laboratories, and others for timely public health decision-making. - BioSense data are analyzed through advanced statistical methods, and made accessible through the BioSense application. The application provides data, charts, graphs, and maps through a secure web-based interface which can be accessed by CDC and authorized state and local public health and hospital users. - In order to meet the congressional mandate, it is important that BioSense partners and stakeholders are kept abreast of updates to the BioSense application and the ways in which this new technology will impact the investigation or monitoring of any potential disease outbreaks or bioterrorist attacks. - Real Time Real Talk quarterly teleconference calls were created to be a forum for CDC to answer questions and provide updates about BioSense. Sharon Wong, SRA International Marella Bradway, SRA International Lazenia Harris, CDC

Overview Objectives Methodology Audience Assessment Questions Limitations Findings Discussion

Objectives of Needs Assessment Obtain feedback from BioSense partners and stakeholders on RTRT’s content and format Obtain ideas for enhancements and improvements to RTRT

Occupational Background Methodology Phone interviews were conducted with BioSense stakeholders who are members of the RTRT target audience: Occupational Background # Participants Public Health Departments 5 Hospitals 2 Professional Associations CDC DISSS 3 DISSS = Division of Integrated Surveillance Systems & Services - OMB regulations concern any data collection with 10 or more non-federal employees, so we stated under than number.

Methodology Interview sample included: Stakeholders who had attended RTRT: We wanted to obtain feedback about RTRT’s value Stakeholders who had not attended RTRT: We wanted to obtain feedback on how to attract those who have not yet attended

Audience 9 non-Federal and 3 CDC participants were interviewed Participants with broad occupational backgrounds and varying levels of attendance at past RTRT calls Participation in interviews was voluntary with no incentives All 12 participants contacted agreed to participate

For Past RTRT Attendees Questions Examined For Past RTRT Attendees What were reasons for attending RTRT? What were impressions of RTRT? Has RTRT provided information about BioSense updates? Has RTRT provided the opportunity to ask questions about BioSense?

Questions Examined cont’d… For All Participants Where do stakeholders go with questions about BioSense? What delivery methods are preferred for BioSense updates? How can open dialogue be encouraged for RTRT? What kinds of speakers should be featured on RTRT? What kinds of topics should be featured on RTRT? How should RTRT be publicized and promoted?

Limitations Qualitative research is exploratory and is used to gain insight into a variety of ideas, opinions, and feedback from members of target audiences The findings are not meant to be a statistical representation of the attitudes of the target populations

# RTRT Conference Calls Attended Self-Confirmed Attendance Findings # RTRT Conference Calls Attended # Participants – Tracked Attendance Self-Confirmed Attendance n=6 n=8 1 n=4 n =3 2 n =1 n=0 4 n=1 RTRT Past Attendance in Interview Sample RTRT attendance is tracked when callers leave their names during the sign-in portion of the call. While the interview sample was chosen to include 6 participants who had attended RTRT, just 4 of these participants recalled attending RTRT when queried during the interview. Only participants who confirmed having attended RTRT (n=4) were asked questions about their impressions of RTRT, while all participants (n=12) were asked questions about future possibilities for RTRT and BioSense communications.

Question 1 What were Reasons for Attending RTRT? Participate answers: Agenda contained an item of interest Interest in hearing BioSense updates Available at scheduled time Desire to ask questions about BioSense

Question 2 What were Impressions of RTRT? All participants said RTRT was informative. Individuals added: The question and answer session was helpful It contained useful information about policy and operations issues The presentation stayed on time A participant said, “It was a lot of fun. I learned a lot about the ways BioSense is being used.”

Question 3 Has RTRT provided information about BioSense updates? All participants agreed that RTRT provided information about BioSense updates

Question 4 Has RTRT provided the opportunity to ask questions about BioSense? Most participants agreed that RTRT provided the opportunity to ask questions One participant had questions during RTRT, but was not able to ask them in the time allotted

Question 5 Where do stakeholders go with questions about BioSense? BioSense Staff, especially members of the BIC CDC or BioSense webpages Internal colleagues The BIC: Bio Intelligence Center

Question 6 What delivery methods are preferred for BioSense updates? Most preferred to receive BioSense updates by email from the listserv Some preferred to consult the BioSense website Some requested updates in a webinar format

Question 7 How can open dialogue be encouraged for RTRT? Submit a question via email before the call Submit a question via email during the call Submit a question verbally during the call Submit a question anonymously via the BioSense webpage or through a webinar Individual participants suggested “live meeting” or “instant messenger” for submitting questions

Radio Interview Format Most participants agreed that this was a promising idea if it was implemented in a smooth, experienced and professional manner The responsibility would be borne by the meeting facilitator Radio Interview Format = Interview of a guest followed by questions from the audience; like “Larry King Live”

Question 8 What kinds of speakers should be featured on RTRT? State PH County PH Hospitals Funded partners VA & DoD Professional Associations Members of the BIC Those who set up BioSense technology at hospitals

Question 9 What kinds of topics should be featured on RTRT? Success stories Updates Training opportunities Issues with the application Collaborations Commonly cited

Other Topics National integration of BioSense with other CDC surveillance systems Future plans Data quality, processing and analysis Policy BioSense 101 for new users MOUs between CDC and Homeland Security How data is used and by whom in Federal agencies BioSense user protocols Individually cited - BioSense user protocols (e.g., response to anomalies, information sharing with hospitals)

Other Topics Cont’d… Lessons learned Value of syndromic surveillance Value of aggregated data Most efficient ways to bring in data streams Non-technical overview of hospital providers’ participation with BioSense Participation in BioSense from beginning stages CDC’s use of BioSense data Public health’s use of BioSense in decision making - Lessons learned (e.g., Chicago drill that spiked an anomaly, CA wildfires) - Participation in BioSense from beginning stages (e.g., collection of raw data)

Question 10 How should RTRT be publicized and promoted? All participants agreed that an email from the list-serv is the preferred method

Discussion Three out of four respondents indicated that there were one or more colleagues with them in the room during RTRT calls Therefore, tracked attendance of RTRT is likely an under-representation of the actual number of people listening in on the call We wondered whether our tracking of attendance was accurate

Discussion Participants noted the benefits in providing a RTRT agenda ahead of the conference call: Informs the decision of whether to attend Allows the ability to prepare questions

Discussion Changing RTRT into a webinar would provide the added capabilities of: Supplying visuals to enhance the oral presentations Easily creating an archived file of the presentations

Thank you Sharon Wong, SRA International Marella Bradway, SRA International Lazenia Harris, CDC www.cdc.gov/biosense