Causal Inference in Population Health Informatics

Summary Objectives: To survey advances in public and population health and epidemiology informatics over the past 18 months. Methods: We conducted a review of English-language research works conducted in the domain of public and population health informatics and published in MEDLINE or Web of Science between January 2015 and June 2016 where information technology or informatics was a primary subject or main component of the study methodology. Selected articles were presented using a thematic analysis based on the 2011 American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) Public Health Informatics Agenda tracks as a typology. Results: Results are given within the context developed by Dixon et al., (2015) and key themes from the 2011 AMIA Public Health Informatics Agenda. Advances are presented within a socio-technical infrastructure undergirded by a trained, competent public health workforce, systems development to meet the business needs of the practice field, and research that evaluates whether those needs are adequately met. The ability to support and grow the infrastructure depends on financial sustainability. Conclusions: The fields of public health and population health informatics continue to grow, with the most notable developments focused on surveillance, workforce development, and linking to or providing clinical services, which encompassed population health informatics advances. Very few advances addressed the need to improve communication, coordination, and consistency with the field of informatics itself, as identified in the AMIA agenda. This will likely result in the persistence of the silos of public health information systems that currently exist. Future research activities need to aim toward a holistic approach of informatics across the enterprise.

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The Delirium and Population Health Informatics Cohort study protocol: ascertaining the determinants and outcomes from delirium in a whole population

10.1101/248559 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Daniel Davis ◽

Sarah Richardson ◽

Joanne Hornby ◽

Helen Bowden ◽

Katrin Hoffmann ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cohort Study ◽

Cognitive Impairment ◽

Population Health ◽

Health Informatics ◽

Social Care ◽

Population Sample ◽

Cognitive Status ◽

Health And Social Care ◽

The Impact

AbstractBackgroundDelirium affects 25% of older inpatients and is associated with long-term cognitive impairment and future dementia. However, no population studies have systematically ascertained cognitive function before, cognitive deficits during, and cognitive impairment after delirium. Therefore, there is a need to address the following question: does delirium, and its features (including severity, duration, and presumed aetiologies), predict long-term cognitive impairment, independent of cognitive impairment at baseline?MethodsThe Delirium and Population Health Informatics Cohort (DELPHIC) study is an observational population-based cohort study based in the London Borough of Camden. It is recruiting 2000 individuals aged ≥70 years and prospectively following them for two years, including daily ascertainment of all inpatient episodes for delirium. Daily inpatient assessments include the Memorial Delirium Assessment Scale, the Observational Scale for Level of Arousal, and the Hierarchical Assessment of Balance and Mobility. Data on delirium aetiology is also collected. The primary outcome is the change in the modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status at two years.DiscussionDELPHIC is the first population sample to assess older persons before, during and after hospitalisation. The cumulative incidence of delirium in the general population aged ≥70 will be described. DELPHIC offers the opportunity to quantify the impact of delirium on cognitive and functional outcomes. Overall, DELPHIC will provide a real-time public health observatory whereby information from primary, secondary, intermediate and social care can be integrated to understand how acute illness is linked to health and social care outcomes.

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A proposed national research and development agenda for population health informatics: summary recommendations from a national expert workshop

Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association ◽

10.1093/jamia/ocv210 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 24 (1) ◽

pp. 2-12 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Hadi Kharrazi ◽

Elyse C Lasser ◽

William A Yasnoff ◽

John Loonsk ◽

Aneel Advani ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Research And Development ◽

Population Health ◽

Health Informatics ◽

Health Management ◽

Scientific Evidence ◽

Data Governance ◽

Development Agenda ◽

Starting Point ◽

Challenges And Opportunities ◽

Policy Alignment

Objective: The Johns Hopkins Center for Population Health IT hosted a 1-day symposium sponsored by the National Library of Medicine to help develop a national research and development (R&D) agenda for the emerging field of population health informatics (PopHI). Material and Methods: The symposium provided a venue for national experts to brainstorm, identify, discuss, and prioritize the top challenges and opportunities in the PopHI field, as well as R&D areas to address these. Results: This manuscript summarizes the findings of the PopHI symposium. The symposium participants’ recommendations have been categorized into 13 overarching themes, including policy alignment, data governance, sustainability and incentives, and standards/interoperability. Discussion: The proposed consensus-based national agenda for PopHI consisted of 18 priority recommendations grouped into 4 broad goals: (1) Developing a standardized collaborative framework and infrastructure, (2) Advancing technical tools and methods, (3) Developing a scientific evidence and knowledge base, and (4) Developing an appropriate framework for policy, privacy, and sustainability. There was a substantial amount of agreement between all the participants on the challenges and opportunities for PopHI as well as on the actions that needed to be taken to address these. Conclusion: PopHI is a rapidly growing field that has emerged to address the population dimension of the Triple Aim. The proposed PopHI R&D agenda is comprehensive and timely, but should be considered only a starting-point, given that ongoing developments in health policy, population health management, and informatics are very dynamic, suggesting that the agenda will require constant monitoring and updating.

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Public and Population Health Informatics: The Bridging of Big Data to Benefit Communities

Yearbook of Medical Informatics ◽

10.1055/s-0038-1667081 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 27 (01) ◽

pp. 199-206 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

Roland Gamache ◽

Hadi Kharrazi ◽

Jonathan Weiner

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Big Data ◽

Social Determinants Of Health ◽

Population Health ◽

Social Determinants ◽

Information Exchange ◽

Health Informatics ◽

Determinants Of Health ◽

Geographical Information ◽

Care Providers

Objective: To summarize the recent public and population health informatics literature with a focus on the synergistic “bridging” of electronic data to benefit communities and other populations. Methods: The review was primarily driven by a search of the literature from July 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017. The search included articles indexed in PubMed using subject headings with (MeSH) keywords “public health informatics” and “social determinants of health”. The “social determinants of health” search was refined to include articles that contained the keywords “public health”, “population health” or “surveillance”. Results: Several categories were observed in the review focusing on public health's socio-technical infrastructure: evaluation of surveillance practices, surveillance methods, interoperable health information infrastructure, mobile health, social media, and population health. Common trends discussing socio-technical infrastructure included big data platforms, social determinants of health, geographical information systems, novel data sources, and new visualization techniques. A common thread connected these categories of workforce, governance, and sustainability: using clinical resources and data to bridge public and population health. Conclusions: Both medical care providers and public health agencies are increasingly using informatics and big data tools to create and share digital information. The intent of this “bridging” is to proactively identify, monitor, and improve a range of medical, environmental, and social factors relevant to the health of communities. These efforts show a significant growth in a range of population health-centric information exchange and analytics activities.

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OP115 Improving the assessment of causality in population health: should bradford hill be revisited to incorporate developments in causal inference?

10.1136/jech-2019-ssmabstracts.114 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

M Shimonovich ◽

H Thomson ◽

A Pearce ◽

V Katikireddi

Keyword(s):

Causal Inference ◽

Population Health ◽

Bradford Hill

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A case study of the 1115 waiver using population health informatics to address disparities

JAMIA Open ◽

10.1093/jamiaopen/ooaa019 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 178-184

Author(s):

Amy M Sitapati ◽

Barbara Berkovich ◽

April Moreno Arellano ◽

Angela Scioscia ◽

Lawrence S Friedman ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Disparities ◽

Population Health ◽

Health Informatics ◽

Care Delivery ◽

Leadership Education ◽

Quality Performance ◽

And Gender ◽

Modern Application ◽

The University

Abstract As participants in the California Medicaid 1115 waiver, the University of California San Diego Health (UCSDH) used population health informatics tools to address health disparities. This case study describes a modern application of health informatics to improve data capture, describe health disparities through demographic stratification, and drive reliable care through electronic medical record-based registries. We provide a details in our successful approach using (1) standardized collection of race, ethnicity, language, sexual orientation, and gender identity data, (2) stratification of 8 quality measures by demographic profile, and (3) improved quality performance through registries for wellness, social determinants of health, and chronic disease. A strong population health platform paired with executive support, physician leadership, education and training, and workflow redesign can improve the representation of diversity and drive reliable processes for care delivery that improve health equity.

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Public Health, Population Health, and Epidemiology Informatics: Recent Research and Trends in the United States

Yearbook of Medical Informatics ◽

10.1055/s-0037-1606510 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 26 (01) ◽

pp. 241-247

Author(s):

B. L. Massoudi ◽

K. G. Chester

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Population Health ◽

Workforce Development ◽

Health Informatics ◽

English Language ◽

The United States ◽

Public Health Workforce ◽

Future Research ◽

Public Health Informatics ◽

Research Activities

Summary Objectives: To survey advances in public and population health and epidemiology informatics over the past 18 months. Methods: We conducted a review of English-language research works conducted in the domain of public and population health informatics and published in MEDLINE or Web of Science between January 2015 and June 2016 where information technology or informatics was a primary subject or main component of the study methodology. Selected articles were presented using a thematic analysis based on the 2011 American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) Public Health Informatics Agenda tracks as a typology. Results: Results are given within the context developed by Dixon et al., (2015) and key themes from the 2011 AMIA Public Health Informatics Agenda. Advances are presented within a socio-technical infrastructure undergirded by a trained, competent public health workforce, systems development to meet the business needs of the practice field, and research that evaluates whether those needs are adequately met. The ability to support and grow the infrastructure depends on financial sustainability. Conclusions: The fields of public health and population health informatics continue to grow, with the most notable developments focused on surveillance, workforce development, and linking to or providing clinical services, which encompassed population health informatics advances. Very few advances addressed the need to improve communication, coordination, and consistency with the field of informatics itself, as identified in the AMIA agenda. This will likely result in the persistence of the silos of public health information systems that currently exist. Future research activities need to aim toward a holistic approach of informatics across the enterprise.

Download Full-text