Applied Epidemiology in Health Services: Evidence to Decision, Planning, and Monitoring
A special issue of Epidemiologia (ISSN 2673-3986).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 699
Editor
Interests: epidemiological decision support for immunization programs; vaccine strategy evaluation in real-world health systems; coverage optimization and equity for hard-to-reach groups; surveillance integration and data quality improvement; syndromic surveillance for early warning and rapid response; implementation evaluation of community-based prevention programs; service and pathway redesign in community care models
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Epidemiology has always played a central role in informing public health and healthcare decisions by identifying needs, quantifying risks, and evaluating interventions. This role is particularly relevant today, as health systems face population aging, the growing burden of chronic diseases, persistent health inequalities, infectious disease threats, and climate-related challenges, while also being required to demonstrate effectiveness, equity, and sustainability.
At the same time, routine health information systems, surveillance platforms, administrative databases, registries, and other real-world data sources are expanding the capacity of health services to generate actionable evidence. These developments create important opportunities to use epidemiological methods not only to describe health problems but also to support priority setting, service planning, program evaluation, and performance monitoring in real-world settings.
This Special Issue focuses on applied epidemiology as the use of epidemiological methods and data to inform operational and strategic decisions in public health services and healthcare organizations. Its main aim is to highlight how epidemiological evidence can be translated into decision support for prevention and vaccination policies, the planning and evaluation of interventions, and the design and monitoring of clinical and preventive care pathways.
We welcome original research, methodological contributions, and well-grounded case studies conducted in real-world health system settings at local, regional, or national levels. Submissions should demonstrate a clear link between epidemiological evidence and its relevance for decision-making, planning, implementation, evaluation, or monitoring in health services.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Applied epidemiology for vaccination, immunization, and prevention program planning and evaluation.
- Use of surveillance, routine health information systems, and real-world data for decision support.
- Epidemiological approaches to the planning, implementation, and monitoring of clinical and preventive care pathways.
- Evaluation of public health and healthcare programs in terms of effectiveness, equity, efficiency, and sustainability.
- Methods and indicators for health service performance measurement, quality improvement, and accountability,
- Risk stratification, vulnerable populations, and applied epidemiological approaches for reducing health inequalities.
- Pragmatic and real-world epidemiological study designs to support service organization and resource allocation.
- Case studies showing how epidemiological evidence has informed decisions in local, regional, or national health services.
Dr. Marco Montalti
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Epidemiologia is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- applied epidemiology
- public health decision-making
- health service planning
- program evaluation
- vaccination programs
- prevention strategies
- surveillance systems
- routine health information systems
- real-world data
- care pathways
- performance monitoring
- health equity
- quality improvement
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