250094 Create a broader vision for Public Health in the Nationwide Health Information Network

Monday, October 31, 2011: 8:30 AM

Robert G. Harmon, MD, MPH , Director, Duval County Health Department, Jacksonville, FL
  
     
Local health departments (LHDs) should be engaged in national policy decisions about meaningful use of electronic health record data and the evolvement of integrated health information networks and information exchange with healthcare providers. A recent NACCHO study identified some of the barriers that exist to LHDs being involved in these activities which included: little awareness of opportunities; a lack of a business case, workforce limitations; and funding shortages. Yet new national and state initiatives have opened the door to LHD involvement as end users of increasingly robust health data systems. This presentation will highlight avenues LHDs can take to improve quality of care and support public health goals. The speaker will address existing resources provided through the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act including, regional extension centers, the Beacon Communities and the electronic health record incentive program.

Learning Areas:
Administration, management, leadership
Communication and informatics
Provision of health care to the public
Public health administration or related administration
Public health or related organizational policy, standards, or other guidelines
Systems thinking models (conceptual and theoretical models), applications related to public health

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe strategies for increasing funding to support local health IT capacity development 2. Present tested tools and resources that LHDs can use to support meaningful use of EHRs and participation of health information exchanges

Keywords: Public Health Informatics, Health Information Systems

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have provided the public health thought leadership in electronic health information exchange with public health. The jurisdiction I oversee (Duval County) is the leader of the Northeast Florida Health Information Consortium (NEFHIC), which is a consortium of stakeholders with mutual goals of combining and consolidating resources in Northeast Florida into a community-based electronic HIE that facilitates the sharing of electronic health information. Within the Florida System of County Health Departments, I lead Duval County to become one of the first local health departments to implement e-Prescribing, an EHR system for jail health services, and manage and develop the Jacksonville Health Information Network.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: National Health IT Goals and Demands
See more of: Health Informatics Information Technology