Despite strides since September 11, 2001, hospitals, doctors, nurses, and information technology systems are not prepared to effectively respond to biological, chemical, nuclear, and cyber attacks. Addressing the critical human, financial, and technological issues, sooner not later, is absolutely necessary for rapid disease identification, reporting, response, containment, and lifesaving treatment. A survey taken after September 11, 2001 showed that nearly three-quarters of primary care physicians felt unprepared for bioterror incidents that could expose their patients to the unusual diseases that could be spread. Thirty-eight percent of physicians rated their knowledge of the diagnosis and treatment of bioterrorism-related illnesses as poor; shortly thereafter, there was an anthrax attack through our postal system in which people lost their lives.

After completing this activity, the participant should be able to:

• identify two terrorism or disaster preparedness scenarios and their implications for healthcare.
• identify three opportunities to strengthen the next generation of health information infrastructure technology.
• describe three models that public-private collaborative efforts have created that can serve as examples for today’s healthcare leaders.
• identify two action steps healthcare leaders can take to protect Americans against bioterrorism.