Most DSS sites originated from research projects. Research influences policy and practice through a long and slow pathway involving peer review publication and replication of results.  However much of the information collected routinely in a DSS site has immediate intrinsic value in terms of health information.  DSS household surveillance data should be seen as an integral part of a comprehensive Health Information System of the district, region and zone of the country in which it is situated.  This sentinel or sample approach has been recommended by the Health Metrics Network as an important transitional stage for countries where routine birth, death and cause of death registration is absent of incomplete.  Some countries, like Tanzania and Ghana, are now using annual inputs from multiple DSS sites in their countries, as a basis for setting district and national priorities for health interventions.

There are a variety of vehicles to communicate DSS information to local stakeholders.  The Matlab DSS in Bangladesh produces thorough annual reports which are distributed nationally and worldwide.  The Tanzania Ministry of Health has pioneered the use of District Health Intervention Profiles using sentinel DSS data, feeding back to District health planners.

INDEPTH is working with DSS sites at present to develop standard reporting formats for DSS derived poverty monitoring and Millennium Development Goal progress reporting.