Research Center of Excellence in Public Informatics

University Of Utah, Salt Lake City UT

Investigators

Abstract

We propose to create the Public Health Informatics, Decision-support, Evaluation, Analysis, and Surveillance[unreadable] (IDEAS) Center. Its theme will be system alignment and data integration to support the public health[unreadable] functions of preparedness, evaluation, surveillance, analysis, decision-making, and response. The Center[unreadable] will be housed in the Department of Medical Informatics at the University of Utah, which is one of four[unreadable] National Library of Medicine (NLM)/Robert Wood Johnson (RWJ) Public Health Informatics training program[unreadable] site. It will bring together academia, state and local health departments, integrated health care delivery[unreadable] systems, a successful Community Health Information Network (CHIN) and developing Regional Health[unreadable] Information Organization (RHIO), and myriad local, regional, and national public health and clinical data[unreadable] resources. The Center will unite the pursuit of state of the art research into public health informatics with a[unreadable] network of investigators, public health leaders and practitioners, hospital and clinic health care providers,[unreadable] computer scientists, and healthcare and community leaders.[unreadable] The research aims of the Public Health IDEAS Center address key problems in public health, clinical[unreadable] care, and public health informatics. We will develop and evaluate methods to improve accuracy of data[unreadable] linkage of patient records from multiple data sources and locations through probabilistic matching. The[unreadable] challenge of coordinating public health and health care system responses to threats to patient safety will be[unreadable] investigated. Reporting and monitoring functions of public health will be matched with education and quality[unreadable] improvement activities, using surveillance and analytic tools that are based on linked patient data. We will[unreadable] implement information technologies that support communication between providers and public health[unreadable] personnel, enhance decision-making capacity, and improve the efficiency of retrieval of data for investigation[unreadable] of infectious disease and other public health related events. Finally, we will develop and apply advanced[unreadable] modeling, simulation, and geographic information systems to better inform public health policy- and decisionmaking,[unreadable] not just for situations of high uncertainty and high risk, but also to improve control of more familiar[unreadable] infections. Our driving goal is to generate research findings that are widely generalizable for public health[unreadable] and its health care partners at the local, state, and national levels.