EpiCore Platform Evaluation

The Skoll Global Threats Fund, in partnership with HealthMap, ProMED, and Training Programs in Epidemiology and Public Health Interventions Network, launched Epicore in November 2015 with the goal of increasing the speed and accuracy of the outbreak verification and appropriate public health response. The current EpiCore system enables a set of moderators to issue requests for information about possible outbreaks. EpiCore members, who join through an application process and undergo training, can review and respond to requests for information sent to them. Moderators filter and share member responses with the broader surveillance community, inputting information into the public health system to prompt appropriate action as needed.  The Skoll Global Threats Fund engaged Mathematica as an evaluation partner in December 2016 to conduct a retrospective evaluation of the system’s first iteration, EpiCore 1.0, and lay the foundation for a prospective evaluation of EpiCore 2.0. Mathematica assessed EpiCore 1.0 for system attributes representing the characteristics of surveillance system implementation (connectivity, acceptability, data quality, stability, simplicity, and flexibility) and performance (accuracy, representativeness, and timeliness).