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Figure 32.1

Public health departments are collecting and analyzing unprecedented amounts of data from multiple sources to monitor health trends and respond to emergencies. To manage this large volume of data, public health practitioners have increasingly adopted information technology over the past 10 years. Standards have also been established to facilitate exchange of clinical and laboratory data between information systems, in order to better understand population health. This chapter provides an overview of how informatics supports core public health functions like assessment, policy development, and assurance of services. It also introduces the emerging role of the Public Health Nurse Informatician.

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50 views2 pages

Figure 32.1

Public health departments are collecting and analyzing unprecedented amounts of data from multiple sources to monitor health trends and respond to emergencies. To manage this large volume of data, public health practitioners have increasingly adopted information technology over the past 10 years. Standards have also been established to facilitate exchange of clinical and laboratory data between information systems, in order to better understand population health. This chapter provides an overview of how informatics supports core public health functions like assessment, policy development, and assurance of services. It also introduces the emerging role of the Public Health Nurse Informatician.

Uploaded by

Alyssa Ashley
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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OVERVIEW

For many years, public health practitioners stated the belief that if nobody thought about public
health, then public
health must be doing its job. The battles that health practitioners waged against infectious
diseases (such as malaria,
tuberculosis [TB], and leprosy), chronic diseases, and environmental health hazards were often
not highlighted in the
media. In recent years, after recent outbreaks of SARS and Influenza A virus (H1N1), dramatic
large-scale foodborne
disease outbreaks, and the explosion of chronic illnesses that are linked to multiple vectors such
as obesity, public
health is frequently in the media limelight. The continuing need to be alert to emerging public
health problems,
responsive in emergencies, and accountable to the public has intensified health departments’
efforts to collect data
and information from multiple sources.
Health departments are collecting and analyzing data on a scale that was inconceivable even 10
years ago (Fig.
32.1) (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2013a). To be able to manage this
overwhelming deluge
of data and information, public health practitioners have tapped into information technology.
During 2000–2010,
information systems have become widely adapted to fit the special needs within public health.
Recognizing the
importance of linkages among clinical care (also known as direct care), clinical care information
systems, laboratory
information systems, and other data sources to better understand and improve the state of the
nation’s health, public
health has helped establish data and information exchange standards to support system
interoperability.
• FIGURE 32.1. Local Public Health Information and Data Exchange Entities. (Reproduced
from OSTLTS (2009).
National Public Health Standards Program. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
http://www.cdc.gov/ostlts/.)
This chapter provides an overview of the application of informatics to public health, describes
legislation that has
affected public health information systems, and provides examples of electronic data exchange
between clinical care
and public health. The chapter also introduces the emerging role of the Public Health Nurse
Informatician (PHNI)
and gives examples of differentiating the public health nurse (PHN) and the PHNI.
PUBLIC HEALTH, PUBLIC HEALTH INFORMATICS,
PUBLIC HEALTH
NURSING, AND THE PUBLIC HEALTH NURSE
INFORMATICIAN
In 1920, C.-E. A. Winslow defined public health as “the science and art of preventing disease,
prolonging life and
promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations,
public and private,
communities and individuals” (Winslow, 1920). The roots of public health were established in
the United States
when the Public Health Service (PHS) was established in 1798 by the Marine Hospital Service
Act. In 1944, with
the passage of the Public Health Service Act [Title 42 U.S. Code], the PHS mission was
broadened to protect and
advance the nation’s physical and mental health. To accomplish this mission, public health had
to define the activities
clearly that would lead to this desired outcome.
In a seminal study by the Institute of Medicine, The Future of Public Health, the functions
of public health were
described as assessment, policy development, and assurance (Institute of Medicine, 1988).
Assessment includes
activities of surveillance, case finding, and monitoring trends, and is the basis for the decision-
making and policy
development by public agencies. Policy development is the broad community involvement in
formulating plans,
setting priorities, mobilizing resources, convening constituents, and developing comprehensive
public health
policies. Assurance covers activities that verify the implementation of mandates or policies, and
guarantees that the
provision of necessary resources is provided to reach the public health goals. To enhance further
the core public
health functions, a committee of public health agencies and organizations convened by the U.S.
Public Health Service
described the 10 essential services of public health (Public Health Functions Steering
Committee, 1994). Figure 32.2
(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2013a) describes the relationship between
the core functions
and essential services of public health.

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