Biomaterial Database

Public health interactions with the public: can quality be assured? "This call may be monitored for quality assurance purposes". 2004

Ruth Berkelman

Center for Public Health Preparedness and Research, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, USA. rberkel@sph.emory.edu

I describe what happened when a citizen called her state health department "after-hours" to report possible contamination of food at a commercial establishment. The call, inadequately handled by the health department, illustrates the need to assure quality of the public health responses to calls on a 24 hour, 7-day week basis. I examine possible reasons for the poor response. Health departments should consider training for those assigned to handle phone calls from the public, such as that provided to poison control center personnel. In addition, a quality assurance program should routinely assess the adequacy of public health responses. As medical care is available on an emergency basis, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, emergency services for prevention of illness in the population should be available to the public at all times with the response provided by appropriately trained individuals.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D011785	Quality Assurance, Health Care	Activities and programs intended to assure or improve the quality of care in either a defined medical setting or a program. The concept includes the assessment or evaluation of the quality of care; identification of problems or shortcomings in the delivery of care; designing activities to overcome these deficiencies; and follow-up monitoring to ensure effectiveness of corrective steps.	Quality Assessment, Health Care,Health Care Quality Assessment,Health Care Quality Assurance,Healthcare Quality Assessment,Healthcare Quality Assurance,Quality Assessment, Healthcare,Quality Assurance, Healthcare,Assessment, Healthcare Quality,Assessments, Healthcare Quality,Assurance, Healthcare Quality,Assurances, Healthcare Quality,Healthcare Quality Assessments,Healthcare Quality Assurances,Quality Assessments, Healthcare,Quality Assurances, Healthcare
D012147	Restaurants	An establishment where meals are cooked, sold and served to customers.	Restaurant
D003140	Communicable Disease Control	Programs of surveillance designed to prevent the transmission of disease by any means from person to person or from animal to man.	Flatten the Curve of Epidemic,Flattening the Curve, Communicable Disease Control,Parasite Control,Control, Communicable Disease,Control, Parasite
D005517	Foodborne Diseases	Acute illnesses, usually affecting the GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT, brought on by consuming contaminated food or beverages. Most of these diseases are infectious, caused by a variety of bacteria, viruses, or parasites that can be foodborne. Sometimes the diseases are caused by harmful toxins from the microbes or other chemicals present in the food. Especially in the latter case, the condition is often called food poisoning.	Food Poisoning,Food-borne Disease,Food-borne Illness,Foodborne Disease,Foodborne Illness,Food-borne Diseases,Food-borne Illnesses,Foodborne Illnesses,Poisoning, Food,Disease, Food-borne,Disease, Foodborne,Food Poisonings,Food borne Disease,Food borne Diseases,Food borne Illness,Food borne Illnesses,Illness, Food-borne,Illness, Foodborne,Illnesses, Foodborne
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D014481	United States	A country in NORTH AMERICA between CANADA and MEXICO.
D015980	Public Health Practice	The activities and endeavors of the public health services in a community on any level.	Health Practice, Public,Health Practices, Public,Practice, Public Health,Practices, Public Health,Public Health Practices