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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1998

Public health informatics: a CDC course for public health program managers.

Information science and technology are critical to the modern practice of public health. Yet today's public health professionals generally have no formal training in public health informatics--the application of information science and technology to public health practice and research. Responding to this need, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently developed, tested, and delivered a new training course in public health informatics. The course was designed for experienced public health program managers and included sessions on general informatics principles and concepts; key information systems issues and information technologies; and management issues as they relate to information technology projects. This course has been enthusiastically received both at the state and federal levels. We plan to develop an abbreviated version for health officers, administrators, and other public health executives.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S.↗
PubMed2002

A UML-based meta-framework for system design in public health informatics.

UNLABELLED: The National Agenda for Public Health Informatics calls for standards in data and knowledge representation within public health, which requires a multi-level framework that links all aspects of public health. METHOD: The literature of public health informatics and public health informatics application were reviewed. A UML-based systems analysis was performed. Face validity of results was evaluated in analyzing the public health domain of lead poisoning. RESULTS: The core class of the UML-based system of public health is the Public Health Domain, which is associated with multiple Problems, for which Actors provide Perspectives. Actors take Actions that define, generate, utilize and/or evaluate Data Sources. The life cycle of the domain is a sequence of activities attributed to its problems that spirals through multiple iterations and realizations within a domain. CONCLUSION: The proposed Public Health Informatics Meta-Framework broadens efforts in applying informatics principles to the field of public health

Computer Systems↗
PubMed1995

Public health informatics: how information-age technology can strengthen public health.

The combination of the burgeoning interest in health, health care reform and the advent of the Information Age, represents a challenge and an opportunity for public health. If public health's effectiveness and profile are to grow, practitioners and researchers will need reliable, timely information with which to make information-driven decisions, better ways to communicate, and improved tools to analyze and present new knowledge. "Public Health Informatics" (PHI) is the science of applying Information-Age technology to serve the specialized needs of public health. In this paper we define Public Health Informatics, outline specific benefits that may accrue from its widespread application, and discuss why and how an academic discipline of public health informatics should be developed. Finally, we make specific recommendations for actions that government and academia can take to assure that public health professionals have the systems, tools, and training to use PHI to advance the mission of public health.

Communication↗
PubMed2003

Development of competency-based on-line public health informatics tutorials: accessing and using on-line public health data and information.

In response to training and information needs of the public health workforce, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, in collaboration with the Department of Biomedical Informatics, Columbia University and the New York Academy of Medicine, is developing a series of on-line, interactive tutorials in public health informatics. The goal is to teach public health practitioners how to locate, use, and disseminate data and information on the Internet, while imparting basic informatics principles. Course content is based on Public Health Informatics Competencies, and evaluation will be performed by measuring changes in self-efficacy and knowledge as well as determining user satisfaction.

Competency-Based Education↗
PubMed2002

Development and evaluation of public health informatics at University of Washington.

Public Health Informatics (PHI) education began at the University of Washington (UW) with a Summer Institute in 1995. The Biomedical and Health Informatics graduate program, which is housed in the School of Medicine, is an interdisciplinary, multi-school program. It demonstrates the UW's cooperative efforts in advancing informatics, encompassing the schools of public health, medicine, nursing, dentistry, pharmacy, information and graduate schools in computer science. This article provides an overview of the developmental milestones related to activities in PHI and describes the evaluation strategy and assessment plan for PHI training at the UW (http://phig.washington.edu).

Curriculum↗
PubMed2006

The public health informatics infrastructure: anticipating its role in cancer.

Cancer information and surveillance, historically conducted with manual data collection and submission, are viewed increasingly as inherently dependent on the effective application of information science. One challenge is to use information technology (IT) in a manner that improves cancer-related decision-making and ultimately the quality of care that is offered to patients with cancer. In this article we begin by envisioning a future view of IT-supported surveillance and care that can be made available for application in cancer and its management. We then ask what barriers need to be overcome and what forces are at work that may help us in our efforts to effect the necessary changes. Our future vision for surveillance and information, although appealing and widely shared, requires major cultural change, financial investment, and logistical planning. Competition in the medical marketplace, coupled with fiscal pressures affecting providers and health systems, suggests that leadership for regional and national coordination will need to come from elsewhere-and likely from governments.

Decision Support Techniques↗
PubMed2001

A national agenda for public health informatics.

The American Medical Informatics Association 2001 Spring Congress brought together the public health and informatics communities to develop a national agenda for public health informatics. Discussions on funding and governance; architecture and infrastructure; standards and vocabulary; research, evaluation, and best practices; privacy, confidentiality, and security; and training and workforce resulted in 74 recommendations with two key themes: (1) all stakeholders need to be engaged in coordinated activities related to public health information architecture, standards, confidentiality, best practices, and research and (2) informatics training is needed throughout the public health workforce. Implementation of this consensus agenda will help promote progress in the application of information technology to improve public health.

Congresses as Topic↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A national agenda for public health informatics: summarized recommendations from the 2001 AMIA Spring Congress.

The AMIA 2001 Spring Congress brought together members of the the public health and informatics communities to develop a national agenda for public health informatics. Discussions of funding and governance; architecture and infrastructure; standards and vocabulary; research, evaluation, and best practices; privacy, confidentiality, and security; and training and workforce resulted in 74 recommendations with two key themes-that all stakeholders need to be engaged in coordinated activities related to public health information architecture, standards, confidentiality, best practices, and research; and that informatics training is needed throughout the public health workforce. Implementation of this consensus agenda will help promote progress in the application of information technology to improve public health.

Computer Security↗
PubMed2002

Ethical issues in public health informatics: implications for system design when sharing geographic information.

Public health programs today constitute a multi-professional inter-organizational environment, where both health service and other organizations are involved. Developing information systems, including the IT security measures needed to suit this complex context, is a challenge. To ensure that all involved organizations work together towards a common goal, i.e., promotion of health, an intuitive strategy would be to share information freely in these programs. However, in practice it is seldom possible to realize this ideal scenario. One reason may be that ethical issues are often ignored in the system development process. This investigation uses case study methods to explore ethical obstacles originating in the shared use of geographic health information in public health programs and how this affects the design of information systems. Concerns involving confidentiality caused by geographically referenced health information and influences of professional and organizational codes are discussed. The experience presented shows that disregard of ethical issues can result in a prolonged development process for public health information systems. Finally, a theoretical model of design issues based on the case study results is presented.

Computer Security↗
PubMed2005

Public health informatics: the nature of the field and its relevance to health promotion practice.

The purpose of this article is to introduce the relatively new field of public health informatics and provide examples of how informatics is currently being applied to health promotion activities. Additionally, the article illustrates how informatics is well positioned to play a central role and is likely to be central to disease prevention, health education, and health promotion as it will be practiced in the future.

Health Behavior↗
PubMed2001

Issues and opportunities in public health informatics: a panel discussion.

A panel was convened at the American Medical Informatics Association Spring Congress to discuss issues and opportunities that arise when informatics methods, theories, and applications are applied to public health functions. Panelists provided examples of applications that connect efforts between public health and clinical care, emphasizing the need for integration of clinical data with public health data and the analysis of those data to support surveillance and informed decision making. Benefits to be gained by both medical informatics and public health at the interface were evident; both encounter the same major issues including privacy, systems integration, standards, and many more.

Congresses as Topic↗
PubMed2001

Telehealth and the global health network in the 21st century. From homecare to public health informatics.

The Information Era we live in has created new challenges and opportunities. This age of information highways has an economic price, which has not been properly evaluated. Detailed studies are needed to prove the cost and medical effectiveness of these technologies as well as its effects in the quality of life. Our society's future may depend on it. People are living longer, discoveries in genetics and in information technology are not only helping produce newer drugs faster but also providing the opportunity to exploit new areas such as disease prevention. These technologies provide a variety of opportunities to address public health challenges such as universal access for the uneducated, counter-bioterrorism, telemedicine, distance education, and home care. These opportunities present new challenges such as: surveillance, privacy/confidentiality/security of personal information which will affect all of our lives. No strategy has been presented publicly (yet) addressing (neither) the benefits (n)or the pitfalls of such technologies. From an economic point of view it is an imperative necessity to understand the importance of the Information Technology Infrastructure (ITI) and what it is. The investments in creating and maintaining this ITI will not come from a single application area such as healthcare, but rather from a combination of sources such as electronic commerce, banking, financial, manufacturing, entertainment, travelling, weather forecasting, pharmaceuticals, education, defence and many other 'industries' or application areas.

Aged↗
PubMed2006

Informatics and public health at CDC.

Since CDC acquired its first mainframe computer in 1964, the use of information technology in public health practice has grown steadily and, during the past 2 decades, dramatically. Public health informatics (PHI) arrived on the scene during the 1990s after medical informatics (intersecting information technology, medicine, and health care) and bioinformatics (intersecting mathematics, statistics, computer science, and molecular biology). Similarly, PHI merged the disciplines of information science and computer science to public health practice, research, and learning. Using strategies and standards, practitioners employ PHI tools and training to maximize health impacts at local, state, and national levels. They develop and deploy information technology solutions that provide accurate, timely, and secure information to guide public health action.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S.↗
PubMed2002

National Pharmaceutical Stockpile drill analysis using XML data collection on wireless Java phones.

This study describes an informatics effort to track subjects through a National Pharmaceutical Stockpile (NPS) distribution drill. The drill took place in Seattle on 1/24/2002. Washington and the State Department of Health are among the first in the nation to stage a NPS drill testing the distribution of medications to mock patients, thereby testing the treatment capacity of the plan given a post-anthrax exposure scenario. The goal of the Public Health Informatics Group at the University of Washington (www.phig.washington.edu) was to use informatics approaches to monitor subject numbers and elapsed time. This study compares accuracy of time measurements using a mobile phone Java application to traditional paper recording in a live drill of the NPS. Pearson correlation = 1.0 in 2 of 3 stations. Differences in last station measurements can be explained by delay in recording of the exit time. We discuss development of the application itself and lessons learned. (MeSH Bioterrorism, Informatics, Public Health)

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed2006

Current issues in health care informatics.

Health care informatics has emerged as a diverse and important new field of study. The field can be very broadly defined as the science that addresses how best to use information to improve health care. The field includes the four areas of bioinformatics, medical informatics, public health informatics, and consumer health informatics. Health care informatics applications can be used to improve the quality of patient care, to increase productivity, and to provide access to knowledge. After providing an overview of the field, the 10 articles contained in this special issue are briefly discussed. The first six articles address a diverse set of topics such as the use of health care informatics to conduct research, clinical information systems used by the U.S. Air Force, electronic medical records and physician satisfaction in Oman, and a point of care documentation system used by hospice care providers. The last four articles discuss the complex issues raised by the implementation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).

Delivery of Health Care↗
PubMed2006

A new perspective in the promotion of e-health.

This paper proposes a new model that provides assistance in understanding the reasons why individuals would use new ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) to perform a healthcare change in their lifestyle. Achieving a lifestyle change by the use of ICT is a multifold issue that can be broadly addressed by analysing, in parallel two dimensions: the individuals' attitude towards their health condition and their approach and readiness to monitor and change their attitude by the use of ICT. Our work has been to conceive and develop a model that explains the different stages the user is at both in terms of the perception of healthcare and of the use of technology to perform any desired or recommended change. In order to place the user at each dimension a set of questionnaires were designed and implemented. These questionnaires assisted us in understanding what personalised information needs to be provided according to the stage the user is at as well as to other variables (such as age, cultural background, etc). The novelty of this model is that it proposes a general framework that may be applied to the conception, design and evaluation of any e-health application. Moreover, it can be applied to different application targets (medical informatics, public health informatics, etc) and to different audiences (healthy individuals, patients, professionals, etc) as it proposes an enhanced user modelling process by taking into account both healthcare behaviour aspects as well as technological issues, which up to this moment, have not been taken into account and may be part of the explanation of e-health uptake failure in the healthcare field. The application of this model promotes the empowerment of the individuals by providing tailored information, as well as guidance, monitoring, through ICT and it will certainly make an impact on health-related behaviour. Besides, it will allow to understand some of the reasons of the success or failure of different e-health platforms. Overall, this model is likely to provide deeper insights into the process of improving e-health so it can meet ongoing individuals' needs and become an increasingly valued part of health care services.

Health Promotion↗