ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the information and knowledge base that public health practitioners and organisations require for delivery of public health activities. It considers how data and research findings become information or intelligence that is useful for policy and practice, and the: challenges for transforming information into appropriate decision and action. Ambulatory care sensitive conditions are those conditions where hospitalisation can be avoided through the application of prevention-oriented care and early disease management Health literacy enhancement measures might be especially important for a number of conditions. The information and monitoring system for all risk factors and diseases should be built on the same principles that underlie all surveillance systems. In the early 1970s, the National Committee on Health and Vital Statistics began a gradual process to align the collections for state health authorities, with a particular focus on hospital morbidity data.
