Dr. Dennis Cochrane Presents at National Syndromic Surveillance Conference

Dennis G. Cochrane, MD, Attending Physician and Faculty, Emergency Medicine, Morristown Memorial Hospital, had the honor of presenting at the 2003 Second Annual National Syndromic Surveillance Conference.  Held at The New York Academy of Medicine in New York City, the conference was sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the New York City Department of Health and the New York Academy of Medicine.

Dr. Cochrane, the only practicing emergency physician to give a formal presentation at the conference, discussed surveillance from an emergency department physician’s perspective.   He highlighted the infrastructure developed by EMA using the Emergency Medicine Analysis and Reporting System (eMARS), and displayed research related to syndromic surveillance using ICD9 codes versus the patient’s presenting complaint.

The conference, attended by national, state and local health officials interested in building and sharing experiences regarding the development of syndromic surveillance systems, showed an increase in attendance from last year, as the interest in surveillance has grown significantly from private and public sectors involved in healthcare.  In addition to Dr. Cochrane, those presenting ranged from the CDC, Department of Defense, Harvard Medical School, and John Hopkins University. 

Dr. Cochrane and EMA continue to be at the forefront of syndromic surveillance and were able to support efforts and presentations given by the CDC and Department of Defense’s Essence Project and New York City Department of Health.  EMA would like to congratulate Dr. Cochrane for his work in this arena.