Community Health Assessment and Public Health Informatics: Defining benefits and concerns

Assessment is identified as a core function of public health in the landmark Institute of Medicine reports in 1988 and 2001. The practice of community health assessment (CHA) involves several of the 10 Essential Public Health Services and is carried out by diverse public health system partner organizations such as hospitals, state and county governments and community-based organizations. CHAs are required in some states (e.g., New York, North Carolina) as part of the process to be reimbursed for public health services, encouraged with financial incentives in some states such as Illinois, and not required in some states such as Washington. The maturing field of public health informatics could greatly enhance CHA practice and there are anecdotal reports that illustrate successful approaches in surveillance (e.g., electronic health records). Public health benefits from access to timely, population-based information. Although knowledge of disease trends in a community can influence health planning and medical care provider decisions, community health planning has been slow to embrace public health informatics. Despite our knowledge of science and computer applications, only 27 states have a functional web-based health data query system which could be helpful in trend monitoring. Since 1992, CDC has funded states to develop innovative systems and methods to improve the way data are used to provide information for public health decisions and policy. During this presentation, incorporation of informatics principles in the practice of community health assessment will be discussed for states currently funded in the 2007 to 2012 cycle.