Speaker Name(s): Barry P. Chaiken, MD, MPH
Description: Unlike bombs or tornados, pandemic flu's impact is not measured in hours but months. Organizations need to prepare for the slow and methodical erosion of their ability to maintain services in the face of increasing demand, and realize that the disaster plans they maintain that address other disasters will not apply. Even more chronic and just as devastating in the long haul is the human toll from medical injuries and lapses in healthcare quality that claim up to 4,500 Wisconsin lives annually, and the rising healthcare costs that threaten everyone's access to care. How might information technology help us address such "chronic emergencies"? In a follow-on panel, government and public health leaders will present their view on the role health information networks and electronic medical records will have in ensuring the public's safety.