scholarly journals Observations Illustrating the Use of Health Informatics to Link Public Health Immunization Registries and Pharmacies to Increase Adult Immunization Rates and Improve Population Health Outcomes

Author(s):  
Michael Popovich ◽  
Brandy Altstadter ◽  
Lara Hargraves Popovich

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act encourages health information exchange between clinical care and public health through Meaningful Use measures. Meaningful Use specifically identifies objectives to support a number of public health programs including immunizations, cancer registries, syndromic surveillance, and disease case reports. The objective is to improve public and population health. Stage 2 of Meaningful Use focused on the sending of information to public health. The Stage 3 information exchange supports the flow of information from public health back to the provider.The HITECH Act Stage 2 initiative provided incentive and motivation for the healthcare providers to encourage their Electronic Medical Record (EMR) vendors to implement data exchanges with public health, resulting in timelier awareness of population health risk. However, the real empowerment in the HITECH Act is not in the reporting of information to public health but in the ability for a provider to receive relevant information back, the Stage 3 model. There is no better example of the Stage 3 empowerment than an immunization record data exchange.The ability for public health to retain current immunization records of individuals from a variety of providers supports their program goals to increase immunization rates and mitigate the risk of vaccine-preventable disease (VPD). The ability for providers to receive at the point of service more complete immunization histories integrated with decision support supports their delivery of care and reduces the risk of their patients to VPD. Indirectly payers benefit through healthcare cost savings and when the focus is expanded from a health model to a business model, there are significant return on investment (ROI) opportunities that exponentially increase the value of a bi-directional immunization data exchange. This paper will provide descriptions of case examples to demonstrate the value added benefit of electronic data exchanges when immunization providers, specifically pharmacists, and public health work together.

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacey Hoferka ◽  
Ivan Handle ◽  
Steven Linthicum ◽  
Dejan Jovanov ◽  
William Trick ◽  
...  

In support of Meaningful Use public health reporting, health departments are expanding their capacity to receive electronic health data. The Illinois Department of Health is working with the Illinois Health Information Exchange to build services and applications to improve the quality and utility of surveillance data. The Master Patient Index is an innovative component of the technology that will integrate public health data across surveillance systems. This presentation will cover the application of the MPI to ambulatory syndromic surveillance as well as other surveillance systems and highlight potential use cases.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  

Abstract Countries have a wide range of lifestyles, environmental exposures and different health(care) systems providing a large natural experiment to be investigated. Through pan-European comparative studies, underlying determinants of population health can be explored and provide rich new insights into the dynamics of population health and care such as the safety, quality, effectiveness and costs of interventions. Additionally, in the big data era, secondary use of data has become one of the major cornerstones of digital transformation for health systems improvement. Several countries are reviewing governance models and regulatory framework for data reuse. Precision medicine and public health intelligence share the same population-based approach, as such, aligning secondary use of data initiatives will increase cost-efficiency of the data conversion value chain by ensuring that different stakeholders needs are accounted for since the beginning. At EU level, the European Commission has been raising awareness of the need to create adequate data ecosystems for innovative use of big data for health, specially ensuring responsible development and deployment of data science and artificial intelligence technologies in the medical and public health sectors. To this end, the Joint Action on Health Information (InfAct) is setting up the Distributed Infrastructure on Population Health (DIPoH). DIPoH provides a framework for international and multi-sectoral collaborations in health information. More specifically, DIPoH facilitates the sharing of research methods, data and results through participation of countries and already existing research networks. DIPoH's efforts include harmonization and interoperability, strengthening of the research capacity in MSs and providing European and worldwide perspectives to national data. In order to be embedded in the health information landscape, DIPoH aims to interact with existing (inter)national initiatives to identify common interfaces, to avoid duplication of the work and establish a sustainable long-term health information research infrastructure. In this workshop, InfAct lays down DIPoH's core elements in coherence with national and European initiatives and actors i.e. To-Reach, eHAction, the French Health Data Hub and ECHO. Pitch presentations on DIPoH and its national nodes will set the scene. In the format of a round table, possible collaborations with existing initiatives at (inter)national level will be debated with the audience. Synergies will be sought, reflections on community needs will be made and expectations on services will be discussed. The workshop will increase the knowledge of delegates around the latest health information infrastructure and initiatives that strive for better public health and health systems in countries. The workshop also serves as a capacity building activity to promote cooperation between initiatives and actors in the field. Key messages DIPoH an infrastructure aiming to interact with existing (inter)national initiatives to identify common interfaces, avoid duplication and enable a long-term health information research infrastructure. National nodes can improve coordination, communication and cooperation between health information stakeholders in a country, potentially reducing overlap and duplication of research and field-work.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (7) ◽  
pp. 1072-1083
Author(s):  
Stacey Marovich ◽  
Genevieve Barkocy Luensman ◽  
Barbara Wallace ◽  
Eileen Storey

Abstract Objective The study sought to develop an information model of data describing a person’s work for use by health information technology (IT) systems to support clinical care, population health, and public health. Materials and Methods Researchers from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health worked with stakeholders to define relationships and structure, vocabulary, and interoperability standards that would be useful and collectable in health IT systems. Results The Occupational Data for Health (ODH) information model illustrates relationships and attributes for a person’s employment status, retirement dates, past and present jobs, usual work, and combat zone periods. Key data about the work of a household member that could be relevant to the health of a minor were also modeled. Existing occupation and industry classification systems were extended to create more detailed value sets that enable self-reporting and support patient care. An ODH code system, available in the Public Health Information Network Vocabulary Access and Distribution System, was established to identify the remaining value sets. ODH templates were prepared in all 3 Health Level 7 Internationalinteroperability standard formats. Discussion The ODH information model suggests data elements ready for use by health IT systems in the United States. As new data elements and values are better defined and refined by stakeholders and feedback is obtained through experience using ODH in clinical settings, the model will be updated. Conclusion The ODH information model suggests standardized work information for trial use in health IT systems to support patient care, population health, and public health.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Sharp ◽  
Christine D Angert ◽  
Tyania Mcconnell ◽  
Pascale Wortley ◽  
Eugene Pennisi ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Public health information exchanges (HIEs) link real-time surveillance and clinical data and can help to re-engage out-of-care people with HIV (PWH). Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study of out-of-care PWH who generated an HIE alert in the Grady Health System (GHS) Emergency Department (ED) between January 2017 and February 2018. Alerts were generated for PWH who registered in the GHS ED without Georgia Department of Public Health (GDPH) CD4 or HIV-1 RNA in the prior 14 months. The alert triggered a social work (SW)–led re-linkage effort. Multivariate logistic regression analyses used HIE-informed SW re-linkage efforts as the independent variable, and linkage to care and 3- and 6-month viral suppression (HIV-1 RNA < 200 c/mL) as primary outcomes. Patients admitted to the hospital were excluded from primary analysis. Results One hundred forty-seven out-of-care patients generated an alert. Ninety-eight were included in the primary analysis (mean age [SD], 41 ± 12 years; 70% male; 93% African American), and 20 received the HIE-informed SW intervention. Sixty percent of patients receiving the intervention linked to care in 6 months, compared with 35% who did not. Patients receiving the intervention were more likely to link to care (adjusted risk ratio [aRR], 1.63; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.99–2.68) and no more likely to achieve viral suppression (aRR, 1.49; 95% CI, 0.50–4.46) than those who did not receive the intervention. Conclusions An HIE-informed, SW-led intervention systematically identified out-of-care PWH and may increase linkage to care for this important population. HIEs create an opportunity to intervene with linkage and retention strategies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. s423-s423
Author(s):  
Alana Cilwick ◽  
Alexis Burakoff ◽  
Wendy Bamberg ◽  
Geoffrey Brousseau ◽  
Nisha Alden ◽  
...  

Background: Healthcare-associated group A Streptococcus (GAS) infections can cause severe morbidity and death. Invasive GAS is a reportable condition in the 5-county metropolitan area of Denver, Colorado. Prior to August 2018, methodology to identify long-term care facility (LTCF) residency among reported GAS cases was accomplished by reviewing addresses reported electronically, and identification of postsurgical cases and outbreaks relied on reporting by healthcare facilities. We evaluated whether the use of a health information exchange (HIE) to identify healthcare exposures improved our ability to detect and rapidly respond to these events. Methods: In August 2018, we implemented a review of health records available in the HIE accessible by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment for all incoming reports of GAS for selected healthcare exposures: LTCF residency, surgery, delivery, wound care, and other relevant exposures. We defined an LTCF-related case as GAS in a current or recent resident (ie, in the 14 days prior to the positive culture) of an LTCF. Postpartum and postsurgical cases were defined as GAS isolated from a sterile site or wound during the inpatient stay or within 7 days of discharge following a delivery or surgical procedure. Outbreaks in each of these settings were defined as 2 or more cases within a 3-month period. We compared the number of cases and outbreaks identified in each category during a 1-year period before and after implementation of the use of the HIE in the case ascertainment process. Results: During August 2017 through July 2018, prior to implementation of the HIE process, we detected 45 LTCF cases and conducted outbreak investigations in 9 facilities. Moreover, 1 postsurgical case and 1 postpartum outbreak were reported by healthcare facilities; none were detected via surveillance. During August 2018 through July 2019, after the implementation of HIE process, we identified 70 LTCF cases and conducted outbreak investigations in 13 LTCFs. We detected 5 postsurgical cases and 3 postpartum cases, which resulted in 2 outbreak investigations. Conclusions: Enhanced GAS surveillance through use of a HIE resulted in detection of more healthcare-associated GAS infections and outbreaks. Timely identification of healthcare-associated GAS infections can allow for prompt response to outbreaks and promotion of proper infection control practices to prevent further cases. Jurisdictions in which GAS is a reportable condition should consider the use of HIEs as part of routine surveillance to identify GAS outbreaks in high-risk settings. HIEs should be made available to public health agencies for case ascertainment and outbreak identification.Funding: NoneDisclosures: None


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document