Ensuring Data Quality
To clean your data, use your data – and know what you’re looking for

In a recent conversation with Connections, Ellen Amore, manager of Rhode Island’s Newborn Screening programs, summed up the problem of data quality: “It really comes down to that old adage: Garbage in, garbage out.”

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The change in Maine falls mainly in the plan
With the launch of its integrated public health system,
this New England state enters the world of one-stop shopping

In April, Maine will be home to one of the country’s most ambitious integrated information systems for public health.

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Forging a state public health—education partnership
How the Michigan Department of Community Health Immunization Division is teaming up with the state Department of Education to take its registry to the next level

Imagine a world in which nearly 100 percent of your state’s children are current on their immunizations, and those records are available anytime – along with up-to-date records from other child health programs – through a secure Web portal. That’s the world Michigan plans on entering in 2006.

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Public Health Informatics That Makes a Difference
Stories from our past shaping our future

This article was adapted from a speech by Dr. David Ross, Executive Director of the Public Health Informatics Institute, to The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/National Library of Medicine public health informatics fellows at the AMIA Annual Symposium in Washington, D.C., October 2005.

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Lost but not forgotten
Integrated information systems help improve referral and follow-up

Although states have developed very effective newborn screening systems, every baby remains at risk of “falling through the cracks,” that is, not having a screen conducted or not having a record of a screen’s results in an accessible database.

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Building a business case for child health information systems integration
Modeling tool will help public health agencies' planning and decision-making

For public health agencies planning to integrate information systems, the business case answers the question: What are the financial, business, and organizational consequences of making specific decisions and taking various actions?

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The match-and-merge dilemma
Experts tackle the challenges of records 'de-duplication'

Since the beginning of electronic data entry, the problem of uniquely identifying individuals and removing duplicate records within a database has plagued developers and program managers.

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How public health agencies can secure their place at the information-sharing table
A conversation with Dr. Virginia Caine, public health officer, Marion County, Indiana

Dr. Virginia Caine is Director of Marion County Health Department, which encompasses Indianapolis and covers a metro area of 1.4 million people. Dr. Caine also serves as Associate Professor of Medicine for the Infectious Disease division of the Indiana University School of Medicine. She is the past president of the American Public Health Association (APHA), the nation’s oldest and largest public health organization.

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Public Health and Informatics
Don’t Go Away. This Could Be Important!

Transcript of a plenary presentation by Dave Ross, Director of the Public Health Informatics Institute, at the 2004 Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association.

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Understanding FERPA
A quick overview of a 30-year-old federal law

The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974 is a federal law that gives parents of students under 18, and students 18 and over, the right to examine school records -- including health information -- kept in the student's personal file.

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A framework for health information systems integration projects to use as they examine alternatives for deduplication software.

A report by Susan Salkowitz, Salkowtiz and Associates, and Stephen Clyde, Utah State University.

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