Impact of faxed health alerts on the preparedness of general practitioners during communicable disease outbreaks

Authors

  • Alexander Rosewell National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Westmead, New South Wales; National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory
  • Mahomed S Patel National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory
  • Kerri Viney NSW Department of Health, North Sydney, New South Wales
  • Andrew Marich NSW Department of Health, North Sydney, New South Wales
  • Glenda L Lawrence National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Westmead, New South Wales

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33321/cdi.2010.34.3

Keywords:

fax, health alert, outbreak, communication, measles, public health, general practitioner

Abstract

The NSW Department of Health (NSW Health) faxed health alerts to general medical practitioners during measles outbreaks in March and May 2006. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of randomly selected general practitioners (GPs) (1 per medical practice) in New South Wales to investigate the effectiveness of faxing health alerts to GPs during a communicable disease outbreak. Fax transmission data allowed comparison of GPs sent and not sent the measles alert for self-reported awareness and practice actions aimed at the prevention and control of measles. A total of 328 GPs participated in the study. GPs who were sent the alert were more likely to be aware of the measles outbreak (RR 1.18, 95% CI 1.02, 1.38). When analysed by whether a fax had been received from either NSW Health or the Australian General Practice Network, GPs who reported receiving a faxed measles alert were more likely to be aware of the outbreak (RR 2.56, 95% CI 1.84, 3.56), to offer vaccination to susceptible staff (RR 6.46, 95% CI 2.49, 16.78), and be aware of other infection control recommendations. Respondents reported that the faxed alerts were useful with 65% reporting that the alerts had reminded them to consider measles in the differential diagnosis. This study shows that faxed health alerts were useful for preparing GPs to respond effectively to a communicable disease outbreak. The fax alert system could be improved by ensuring that all general practices in New South Wales are included in the faxstream database and that their contact details are updated regularly. Commun Dis Intell 2010;34(1):22–27.

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Published

31/03/10

How to Cite

Rosewell, Alexander, Mahomed S Patel, Kerri Viney, Andrew Marich, and Glenda L Lawrence. 2010. “Impact of Faxed Health Alerts on the Preparedness of General Practitioners During Communicable Disease Outbreaks”. Communicable Diseases Intelligence 34 (March):23-28. https://doi.org/10.33321/cdi.2010.34.3.

Issue

Vol. 34 (2010)

Section

Original article

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