The Institute Digest
Summer 2004 Issue 2

Research Briefs

Putting Training on Track
In 2003, the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) and the Public Health Informatics Institute, with sponsorship from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, conducted a series of in-depth written surveys of 23 local public health agencies, focusing on their informatics capabilities and practices. The survey results revealed a dilemma: Local public health agencies need to use information technology tools to perform their public health mission effectively and efficiently, yet they often lack technical assistance and training to develop the skills and knowledge needed to use those tools to their best advantage.

Batteries Not Included
To invest wisely, health department heads, budget and procurement officials, public health laboratory administrators, and others considering the purchase of public health laboratory information systems (LIMS) must be fully informed about the “lifetime” costs of a system. Research conducted by the Public Health Informatics Institute in collaboration with the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) shows that maintenance costs represent 84 percent of the total cost of a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) product, while the combined acquisition and implementation costs of COTS LIMS represent only 16 percent of the total cost over a useful life of eight years.

Topic Papers

All Systems Go
When investing in new technology, a public health agency should develop a well-conceived plan that helps the organization understand the need for change, what it is planning to buy, and what the investment is intended to accomplish. Ultimate success starts up front by creating a project charter, which helps gain stakeholder support by seeking answers to the right questions. The checklist provided in this publication provides a ready tool for an agency to make sound planning decisions. In addition, this paper makes “the case for a business case,” based on survey findings and perspectives from the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), the Institute’s co-sponsor in this project.

Integrated Child Health Information Systems
The fragmented nature of health information is a barrier to effective health care, especially for children, the most vulnerable population. This paper addresses the status and near-term future of integrating clinical information systems with public health information systems to improve coordination of care for children. Parents, clinicians, insurers, communities, and public health officials all would benefit from more timely and accurate information about the children they serve.

Case Studies

A Collaboration to Develop Laboratory Information Management System Requirements
This collaboration between the Institute, the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL), and 16 public health laboratories demonstrated that developing laboratory information management systems (LIMS) requirements with input from key stakeholders benefits public health projects and vendors. The Institute and APHL developed common LIMS requirements that would serve public health laboratories across the country.

Developing a Charter for a Collaborative Requirements Project
The success of the LIMS requirements project is directly related to the strong start established by the project charter created at the outset. With the input and buy-in of all participants, the charter ensured that everyone involved was “on the same page.” The charter also helped formalize the partner relationships among the Institute, APHL, and the participating laboratories while reflecting the interests, concerns, and desires of all stakeholders.

Developing Performance Measures for Immunization Registries
Performance indicators enable stakeholders of an information system – policymakers, funding agencies, users, and the organizations and programs developing the system – to assess progress toward achieving the intended outputs, outcomes, goals, and objectives. The All Kids Count performance indicators project demonstrated the value of performance indicators to show progress toward an information system’s stated goal and to guide an organization’s efforts to refine its operations and public health programmatic impact.

Additional New Resources

All Kids Count Vision Conference Proceedings
All Kids Count, an Institute program funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, hosted Developing Child Health Information Systems to Meet Medical Care and Public Health Needs, an invitational conference convened in Atlanta, Georgia, December 3-4, 2003. Approximately 100 public health stakeholders representing 55 organizations participated in the meeting and delivered concrete recommendations for the development of actions to take now and over the next three to five years.

Creating a Road Map (Volume Two): Sharing Knowledge About Integrating Child Health Information Systems
The second of a two-part document, Road Map II furthers the mission of the community of practice in addressing specific practical challenges in integration of information systems. In this second volume, five individual projects share knowledge on their experience in integrating systems, and two group projects report on their collaborative efforts.

Guiding Principles for Effective Health Information Systems
The Institute’s Guiding Principles provide valuable insights to help your agency think holistically about its next information system investment and implementation.