Current issues of national healthcare assessment for biological threats preparedness (literature review)

Abstract

Introduction. Biological threats regularly challenge national healthcare, thus becoming a most critical problem that impedes successful performance. New biological agents with high infectivity and potency have promoted a review of approaches to medical care management, as well as changes in the fundaments of medical infrastructure in order to ensure healthcare readiness to provide a timely and adequate response to emerging challenges. Meanwhile, a clear definition, as well as understanding of specific prerequisites to such biological threats readiness in healthcare is still missing in either international or domestic publications in research journals.The objective is to provide a systemic overview of the problems and approaches to national health assessment for biological threats preparedness.Methods. The analytical review of international and Russian publications was performed using the PRISMA checklist, content analysis, and expert review of the most informative publications on the dedicated research. VOSviewer 1.6.20 – the software tool for bibliometric networks construction and visualization – allowed to highlight the most frequent key terms and concepts used by fellow investigators to characterize the impact of biological threats on public health and healthcare overall, as well as healthcare planning and other activities performed by medical organizations.Results and discussion. The paper presents the results of the content analysis and expert review of 29 most meaningful international and Russian publications with a focus on key parameters determining the healthcare readiness to respond to biological threats. The 7 key areas that determine healthcare readiness for biological threats include planning, hospital activities design and organization, reserves potential, effective communication, medical personnel training, timely and accurate medical care, sanitary and epidemiological surveillance, and compliance with standard operating procedures.Conclusions. Classification of challenges in healthcare readiness usually considers a limited number of specific activities within medical organizations and available resources. Currently, there are no integral common methods for comprehensive verification of activities to counter biological threats in healthcare, especially in medical organizations providing medical care in inpatient settings. Healthcare preparedness assessment to respond effectively to biological threats requires further study, considering the ongoing development of various functional frameworks.