 chapter summary in chapter 2 fundamental concepts we review concepts related to healthcare and public health surveillance as well as trends in outbreak detection and response as healthcare associated infection and antimicrobial resistance hai ar surveillance improves and outbreaks are recognized earlier the public health and healthcare communities are better positioned to reduce patient harm from hais ar pathogens and healthcare outbreaks the ultimate goal of healthcare outbreak response is to rapidly detect and respond to potential outbreaks ensuring that any unsafe practices are discovered and corrected before further harm can occur the chapter contains information on healthcare settings investigators may encounter as part of an hai ar outbreak response changes to healthcare delivery regulations funding and public health capacity over time that have impacted hai ar surveillance practices and outbreak response activities trends in surveillance including descriptions of systems used to identify potential outbreaks as well as types of outbreaks and other events to which public health routinely responds 