![[ Visit Client Website ]](images/banner.gif)
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Grand Hall/Exhibit Hall
Today, Oregon child preventive health data resides in a myriad of program-specific state database silos and in Electronic Health Record (EHR) and Practice Management (PM) systems. Examples of Oregon statewide data silos are Women, Infants and Children Supplemental Nutrition (WIC) program, Early Hearing Detection and Intervention, Oregon Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, Oregon Child Health Information Data System (home visiting program), ALERT Immunization Registry, Vital Statistics, Medicaid, Electronic Laboratory Reporting and the Oregon Public Health Laboratory.
Each of these database silos has a unique identifier for the provider and child, data dictionary, data sharing policy, programming language and interface. In short, the data and processes are not standardized across silos. In this environment it is a challenge for a provider to obtain a comprehensive understanding of services or follow-up needs for the child. Moreover, public health practitioners and IT staff had little understanding of the what informatics was or had to offer in addressing these problems.
As a result, several initiatives were undertaken, including:
• Building a web-based data warehouse that is populated with linked and extracted client data derived from State and Partner database silos. The linked data is the basis for the Child Health Record (CHR) that is stored in a standardized format in the data warehouse. The CHR will enable providers to see a comprehensive view of the child’s needs and services so that duplication of screening, referrals and other services is reduced or eliminated.
• Creating tools for practitioners including Program Administrator dashboards and a uniform data sharing agreement.
• Developing an online Informatics Curriculum that will be used to train program and IT staff beginning in fall 2009. IT staff will be required to take two online introductory public health courses as a prerequisite to enrolling in the Informatics Curriculum.
Each of these database silos has a unique identifier for the provider and child, data dictionary, data sharing policy, programming language and interface. In short, the data and processes are not standardized across silos. In this environment it is a challenge for a provider to obtain a comprehensive understanding of services or follow-up needs for the child. Moreover, public health practitioners and IT staff had little understanding of the what informatics was or had to offer in addressing these problems.
As a result, several initiatives were undertaken, including:
• Building a web-based data warehouse that is populated with linked and extracted client data derived from State and Partner database silos. The linked data is the basis for the Child Health Record (CHR) that is stored in a standardized format in the data warehouse. The CHR will enable providers to see a comprehensive view of the child’s needs and services so that duplication of screening, referrals and other services is reduced or eliminated.
• Creating tools for practitioners including Program Administrator dashboards and a uniform data sharing agreement.
• Developing an online Informatics Curriculum that will be used to train program and IT staff beginning in fall 2009. IT staff will be required to take two online introductory public health courses as a prerequisite to enrolling in the Informatics Curriculum.