Communicating emerging infectious disease outbreaks to the public through local television news: public health officials as potential spokespeople.

OBJECTIVE: To assess how West Nile virus (WNV) was reported to the American public on local television news and identify the main factors that influenced coverage. METHODS: A representative sample of WNV stories that were reported on 122 local television news stations across the United States during October 2002, covering 67% of the nation's population, were coded for self-efficacy, comparative risk scenarios, symptoms and recommendations, high-risk individuals, and frame. In addition, public service professionals (PSPs) interviewed in the segments were identified. Comparisons were made between stories in which a PSP was interviewed and stories without an interview with respect to discussion of the 5 variables coded. RESULTS: Of the 1,371 health-related stories captured during the study period, 160 WNV stories aired, the second most common health topic reported. Forty-nine of the 160 WNV stories contained at least 1 of the 5 reporting variables. Forty-two PSPs were interviewed within 33 unique WNV stories. Public health officials composed 81% of all PSP interviews. Stories containing a public health official interview had 15.2 times (odds ratio 15.2, confidence interval 5.1-45.9) higher odds of reporting quality information, controlling for station affiliate or geographic location. CONCLUSIONS: Emerging infectious disease stories are prominently reported by local television news. Stories containing interviews with public health officials were also much more likely to report quality information. Optimizing the interactions between and availability of public health officials and the local news media may enhance disaster communication of emerging infections.

Role of hospitalists in an offsite alternate care center (ACC) for pandemic flu.

Recent concerns about an influenza pandemic have highlighted the need to plan for offsite Alternate Care Centers (ACCs). The likelihood of a successful response to patient surges will depend on the local health systems' ability to prepare well in advance of an influenza pandemic. Our health system has worked closely with our state's medical biodefense network to plan the establishment of an ACC for an influenza pandemic. As hospitalists have expanded their roles in their local health systems, they are poised to play a major role in planning for the next influenza pandemic. Hospitalists should work with their health system's administration in developing an ACC plan.

Assessment of a clinical performance evaluation tool for use in a simulator-based testing environment: a pilot study.

PURPOSE: This study assessed a clinical performance evaluation tool for use in a simulator-based testing environment. METHOD: Twenty-three subjects were evaluated during five standardized encounters using a patient simulator (six emergency medicine students, seven house officers, ten chief resident-fellows). Performance in each 15-minute session was compared with performance on an identical number of oral objective-structured clinical examination (OSCE) sessions used as controls. Each was scored by a faculty rater using a scoring system previously validated for oral certification examinations in emergency medicine (eight skills rated 1-8; passing = 5.75). RESULTS: On both simulator exams and oral controls, chief resident-fellows earned (mean) "passing" scores [sim = 6.4 (95% CI: 6.0-6.8), oral = 6.4 (95% CI: 6.1-6.7)]; house officers earned "borderline" scores [sim = 5.6 (95% CI: 5.2-5.9), oral = 5.5 (95% CI: 5.0-5.9)]; and students earned "failing" scores [sim = 4.3 (95% CI: 3.8-4.7), oral = 4.5 (95% CI: 3.8-5.1)]. There were significant differences among mean scores for the three cohorts, for both oral and simulator test arms (p <.01). CONCLUSIONS: In this pilot, a standardized oral OSCE scoring system performed equally well in a simulator-based testing environment.