The Institute Digest
Winter 2005 Issue 4

Journal of Public Health Management and Practice supplement
 A recent supplement to the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice (JPHMP) focuses on progress in developing integrated child health information systems at the state and local level. Articles in the November 2004 JPHMP supplement detail the evolution and current landscape of integration activities, with emphasis on public health programs.

Institute launches new Connections community of practice
The Connections Community of Practice launched last October with support from HRSA/MCHB is gaining momentum as a peer-to-peer learning community and networking experience for 21 state agencies involved in integrating child health information systems.
 
Community members are focusing primarily on integrating the information systems of these public health programs: newborn dried blood spot screening, newborn hearing screening, immunizations, and vital records.
 
Connections has its roots in an earlier community of practice called All Kids Count Connections, launched in June 2001 with 11 participating agencies. The JPHMP supplement (above) offers a detailed report on that community in the article titled All Kids Count Connections: A Community of Practice on Integrating Child Health Information Systems.
 
Several members of the first community are now participating in the current Connections community of practice. The first Connections group was funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The current community is supported by HRSA/MCHB.

Connecting online
Through a new interactive online forum called ConnectionsZone, Connections members explore and discuss issues related to:
• Data Quality
• Privacy and Confidentiality
• Funding
• Governance / Management of Information Systems

Members actively engage in problem-solving and sharing resources with peer health departments that are working on similar issues. By leveraging expertise across the community, they avoid "reinventing the wheel" on each project. Members also meet in monthly conference calls in which they share their approaches to integrating health information systems and further increase the body of knowledge.

Getting together
As part of the community, a work group has begun exploring current approaches to matching and merging data to ensure that each individual in the integrated system has a unique and complete record. In late March, the group will meet in Atlanta to brainstorm the features and functions of a tool that will guide public health stakeholders through issues related to matching and merging child health records.
 
This spring, Connections members will convene for a face-to-face meeting in Washington, DC. Together they will tackle problems and issues common to the community, share lessons learned, and discuss best practices. The results of the work group and face-to-face meetings will be published in a future issue of The Institute Digest.