National imperative to establish a domestic medical intelligence center

Abstract

The United States does not have a centralized organization tasked with the oversight or implementation of a domestic medical intelligence program. Organizations throughout the nation have adopted a variety of definitions and operating procedures related to medical intelligence; however, they are inconsistent. Additionally, most jurisdictions limit medical intelligence to epidemiological surveillance. This thesis will propose the structure, governmental organization, data sets, and reporting for a domestic medical intelligence center. This center will require close partnership with other federal agencies and state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) governments. In addition, this thesis will analyze medical intelligence operations within the Armed Forces Medical Intelligence Center, the Department of Homeland Security Office of Health Affairs, the Metropolitan Washington Fusion Center, and the Los Angeles Terrorism Early Warning Group. As this thesis shows, the development of a domestic medical intelligence center, covering a wide range of data sets, will allow for the effective collection, integration, analysis, and dissemination of both tactical and strategic actionable intelligence for federal and SLTT governments and private sector partners. These actions will assist in addressing this significant gap and increasing our nation's level of preparedness thereby improving our nation's response to large scale incidents, both naturally occurring and man-made.