The Forum on Emerging Infections was created in 1996 in response to a request from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Its goal is to provide structured opportunities for representatives from academia, industry, professional and interest groups, and government ^* to examine and discuss scientific and policy issues of shared interest that are specifically related to research and prevention, detection, and management of emerging infectious diseases. In accomplishing this task, the Forum provides the opportunity to foster the exchange of information and ideas, identify areas in need of greater attention, clarify policy issues by enhancing knowledge and identifying points of agreement, and inform decision makers about science and policy issues. Although the Forum seeks to illuminate issues rather than resolve them directly, it does not provide advice or recommendations on any policy pending before any agency or organization. Its strengths are the diversity of its membership and the commitment of individual members expressed throughout the activities of the Forum.

A critical part of the work of the Forum is a series of workshops. The first of these, held in February 1997, addressed the theme of public-and private-sector collaboration (IOM, 1997b). The second workshop took place in July 1997 and explored aspects of antimicrobial resistance (IOM, 1998). The third workshop, on which this document reports, was held in March 1998 and examined the implications of managed care systems and the ability of those systems to address emerging infectious diseases in the age of managed care. Subsequent workshops have addressed the core capacity of the public and private health sectors in emerging infectious disease surveillance and response (November 1998 workshop) and the international aspects of emerging infections (October 1999). Workshop summaries based on those workshops are in production.

The restructuring of health care systems will have a major impact on the public health enterprise, including the prevention, monitoring, and treatment of infectious diseases. It is unrealistic to consider that managed care by itself will subsume all of the traditional public health functions, such as observation of compliance treatment regime for patients with tuberculosis or partner notification and contact investigation for patients with sexually transmitted diseases or for other disease outbreaks. Managed care needs to be integrated with a strong, functional public health system, and that integration requires partnership and appropriate incentives. For these reasons, the Forum convened a workshop to assess the opportunities and challenges confronting infectious disease surveillance, research, and prevention posed by changes in the health care environment. After a highly successful workshop characterized by discussion that was as rich and wide-ranging as would be expected of a diverse and knowledgeable assembly, a summation of the presentations and discussions were integrated into this workshop summary.

The workshop summary is organized as topic-by-topic descriptions of the presentations and discussions that occurred during the workshop. Its purpose is to present lessons from relevant experience, delineate a range of pivotal issues and their respective problems, and describe some potential responses described by the workshop participants. All information reported in the text emerged from the presentations made at the workshop and the subsequent, relevant discussions. Thus, the workshop summary is not a comprehensive or exhaustive exploration of the issues involved, nor does it represent a consensus of views or opinions. Rather, it summarizes a dialogue among representatives from different sectors and their thoughts on which research may merit further attention. The names of the presenters are identified at the beginning of each section. The summary descriptive material provides context and overview of the identified presentations and was prepared by the editor.

The Forum and the Institute of Medicine express their warmest appreciation to the individuals and organizations that gave valuable time to provide information and advice to the Forum through participation in the workshop. Each of the following contributed greatly: William Baine, Agency for Health Care Policy and Research; René Bowser, Georgetown University Law Center; John Burke, School of Medicine, University of Utah; Laurie Burke, U.S. Food and Drug Administration; Douglas Cocks, Eli Lilly & Company; Thomas Davies, GTE Corporation; Frank DeStefano, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); Richard Dixon, National Independent Practice Association Coalition; Margaret Hamburg, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Susan Horn, Institute for Clinical Outcomes Research, Research for International Severity Information Systems, University of Utah School of Medicine; Denise Koo, CDC; David Korn, Biomedical and Health Sciences Research, Association of American Medical Colleges; Nora Morris, Healthcare Education and Research Foundation, Inc.; Richard Platt, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care; Robert Rubin, The Lewin Group; Jerome Schentag, Millard Fillmore Health System; Anne Schuchat, CDC; Benjamin Schwartz, CDC; Lana Skirboll, Office of Science Policy, National Institutes of Health (NIH); Walter Stamm, Division of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, University of Washington School of Medicine; and Karl Western, NIH.

The Forum is indebted to the IOM staff who contributed during the course of the workshop and the production of this workshop summary. On behalf of the Forum, I gratefully acknowledge the efforts led by Jonathan Davis, study director for the Forum and editor of this report, for his thoughtful and insightful approach and skill in the translating the workshop proceedings and discussion into this workshop summary. I would also like to thank the following IOM staff for their valuable contributions to this activity: Christina Thacker and Gretchen Kidder assisted with the workshop planning and logistics; Nicole Amado developed the Glossary and Acronyms list; Vivian Nolan drafted and revised various sections of the workshop summary and provided detailed support to facilitate its development; Robert Levy, a medical summer intern, drafted the appendix on the Veterans Affairs health care system; and Sarah Pitluck, Alden Chang, Thelma Cox, and Hallie Wilfert provided expert support at various developmental stages of the workshop summary.

I want to especially thank Polly Harrison, who directed the Forum from its inception through two workshops, and who also dedicated much effort and time to developing this workshop’s agenda. Other professional staff also provided invaluable help. Consultant and technical writer Kathi Hanna contributed significantly to the revision of the manuscript during the report review process. Paul Phelps, an independent writer, incorporated into the first draft the many pieces of written material presented during the workshop. The extensive commentary and suggestions made by the copy editor, Michael Hayes, are gratefully acknowledged.

The Forum and myself also greatly appreciate the time and expertise contributed by Kenneth W. Kizer, Gary Roselle, and Larry J. Strausbaugh, all from the Veterans Health Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, for their consultation and review of the Appendix on the Veterans Affairs health care system.

Finally, the Forum and the IOM also wish to thank its sponsors, which supported this activity. Financial support for this project was provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and U.S. Food and Drug Administration; U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs; U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Abbott Laboratories; American Society for Microbiology; Applied Microbiology, Inc.; Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; Burroughs Wellcome Fund; Eli Lilly & Company; Glaxo Wellcome; Hoffmann-La Roche; Merck; Pfizer; SmithKline Beecham; and Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories.

Joshua Lederberg

Chair