The NIOSH-Info Knowledge Database: An Innovation In Collaboration and Knowledge Management

Background:  One of the most noticeable changes for government centers reorganized in 2007 under the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was in handling public inquiries about health and safety. Individual center 800 numbers moved to a centralized CDC call center that became the frontline for answering all centers’ public inquiries. For the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the move changed the nature of NIOSH’s public interactions. NIOSH had to learn to effectively partner with a different organizational culture.

Program background:  Launched in 2005, CDC-INFO combines more than 40 hotlines, interactive voice response services, information clearinghouses and in-house systems into one national integrated service. English and Spanish translations of over 400 health and safety topics are available for the general public, healthcare providers, and professionals. During its 2009 strategic planning, the NIOSH-INFO (formerly 800 number) team identified the need to improve CDC-INFO interactions and address four critical program needs including a succession plan, quality control, customer service, and expert knowledge capture and transfer. A major challenge for CDC was handling the scope and complexity of NIOSH topic inquiries and responding to the public with accurate information. In particular, CDC-INFO needed to work with NIOSH to establish uniform standards for completeness, accuracy, and response delivery.  

Evaluation Methods and Results:  NIOSH decided to explore creating a system that would improve communication with CDC-INFO and address all NIOSH strategic needs. The result was a custom-built knowledge management tool, the Knowledge Database (KDB). The KDB tracks public inquiries, ensures quality assurance, generates performance reports to improve communication and collaboration with CDC-INFO, gathers intelligence on emerging occupational safety and health issues, and serves as a training and succession planning resource.

Conclusions: The KDB was developed in-house in one year and has exceeded performance expectations. KDB reports for CDC-INFO   provide clarity and information that   has reduced ambiguity and helped both parties identify problems and effectively collaborate on solutions. Although its use as a succession training tool was not anticipated until late 2012, unexpected staffing changes have shown the system invaluable in continuity of operations. System content is also being used to create FAQs and identify research gaps for other NIOSH programs.

Implications for research and/or practice: KDB has shown that an integrated, multifunctional database can be developed and used to address multiple needs in a CDC program.  It has also allowed for a more effective partnership between NIOSH and CDC-INFO.