Health Information Technology and Public Health
ASTHO State Environmental Health Directors Meeting
St. Louis, MO September 2011
John Sarisky, RS, MPH, DAAS Senior Environmental Health Officer
National Center for Environmental Health Environmental Health Services Branch
[email protected] 770.488.4131 Current Activities
• Improving public health performance – Accreditation – QI measures and performance standards
• Non-profit hospital - Community Health Needs Assessment
• RWJ - Public Health Services and Systems Research
Improving Health Care Electronic health records and health information networks will
– Reduce cost of health care
– Improve health outcomes and quality of care
– Reduce medical errors and redundancies
– Enhance public health and disease surveillance
Federal Health Information Initiatives April 2004
Office of National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology, Department of Health and Human Services
Purpose: To coordinate adoption of health information technology
Health Information Technology
• American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) February 2009
• Statute includes Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009 (HITECH Act)
Health Information Technology
• HITECH provides incentive payments to physicians and hospitals to advance HIT adoption and “meaningful use” of HIT
• Use HIT to improve quality of care - demonstrate meaningful use of electronic health record technologies Health Information Technology
• Electronic health info in coded format
• Health info used to track key clinical conditions
• Health info used to coordinate care
• Report clinical quality measures and public health information Health Information Technology
Public Health Information
– Submit electronic data to immunization registries
– Submit electronic syndromic surveillance data to public health agencies
– Submit electronic data on reportable lab results to public health agencies Other Public Health Domains
• Maternal and child health • Communicable diseases • Chronic disease • Injury reporting • Adverse event (drugs, biologics, devices) • Medical products • Environmental reporting • Medical countermeasures and emergencies Public Health Information
• Harmonization of vocabulary and terminology standards
• Information exchange standards
• Privacy and security standards
• Identifier standards
• Functional and business process standards Public Health Information
Office of Surveillance, Epidemiology and Laboratory Services (OSELS)
– Public Health Informatics and Technology Program Office (PHITPO) Public Health Information
• Joint Public Health Informatics Taskforce
• Public Health Information Network
– PHIN Public Directory
– PHIN Vocabulary Access and Distribution System Public Health Information
Public Health Data Standards Consortium
Structure a public health information system able to exchange data between programs within and across public health agencies and with clinical information systems
Maine Connected Healthcare Community
• Patient-centric design • Collaborative Care Model • Disparate IT systems are unified • All providers have access to through a shared information complete, up-to-date patient architecture information with patient consent
Pharmacies
Hospitals Diagnostic Labs Patients
Public Health Physicians & Staff
Public Health Information
• Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Health IT
• Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Records (EHR) Incentive Programs
• Office of National Coordination of Health IT (ONC)
• Health Information Joint Work Force Task Force Thank you for your attention Environmental Health Information and Data Environmental Health Information
• Where do we start? - Why collect and use EH data ?
• Do we understand and can we describe the EH data system (at the state, local, tribal, national level)?
Environmental Health Information
Who collects data;
what data is collected and available;
when is data collected, used and shared;
where is EH data (sources, generators);
Environmental Health Information
who holds EH data and how do we and others in the health system access it;
how do we use EH data and other data relevant to EH organizations;
how do others use EH data; how is EH data organized;
how does EH access and use other health system, community/social, environmental and other relevant data?
Environmental Health Information
Why collect and use EH data? What is purpose of data collection activity?
• Program management – staff monitoring, productivity, time management, scheduling, summary of program activities.
• Program planning – what is mix of services, what do we do now and what will we need to do in the future, do we have appropriate staff and number of staff?
• Trend analysis – has volume and intensity of services changed, why, what is impact on the organization and community?
Environmental Health Information
What is purpose of data collection activity?
• Identification of issues – can we identify current and emerging issues?
• Establish priorities – can the data we have be used to establish priorities? Environmental Health Information
What is purpose of data collection activity?
• Evidence of impact – what is outcome of activities? How does a reduction in exposure to risk factors (an outcome of EH activities) impact health status indicators (measures of community health and well-being)?
• Return on investment – do we have EH data that allows determination of ROI?
• Program evaluation – does EH data allow the determination of program efficiency and effectiveness?
Environmental Health Information
What is purpose of data collection activity?
• Public health system quality improvement efforts – can we establish baselines, identify service gaps and measure performance improvement?
• Inform decision makers – can we inform decision makers about EH issues before the public and media does? Can we provide information that allows decision makers to understand and support EH?
Environmental Health Information
What is purpose of data collection activity?
• Inform the public – do we have and share data with the public that increases awareness and demonstrates the importance and value of EH?
• Inform service users – do we have and share data with service users that demonstrate the benefits of service encounters and the day-to-day work of EH?
• Inform service providers – can data be used to show the impact of program and work of EH service providers?
Environmental Health Information
What is purpose of data collection activity?
• Inform health care providers – does data provide evidence of value and importance of EH to health system? What EH data should be shared with health system partners?
• Participate in community health assessment activities – can EH data be used to inform a community health assessment?
Environmental Health Information
What is purpose of data collection activity?
• Inform community health ranking systems – is appropriate and adequate EH data considered in state and county health ranking systems, dashboards and scorecards?
• Access to services – do we know who is accessing EH services and why? Do MUA and MUP have access to EH services, are these populations aware of and do they use EH services?
Environmental Health Information
What is purpose of data collection activity?
• Public health performance standards – is EH data available and used to assess health department performance?
• EH performance standards – is EH data available and used to assess the performance of the EH services system?
Environmental Health Information
What is purpose of data collection activity?
• Health department accreditation – is EH prepared to participate, is EH data collected and organized for use and review? Is available data a good indicator of EH performance?
• Research – is EH data available and used to conduct systems and service research?
Thank you for your attention