Informatics Workforce Development to Support Health System Transformation and Population Health Improvement

Key Objectives:
Learning objectives By the end of the roundtable discussion, participants should be able to

1. list informatics workforce development challenges for public health agencies;
2. describe the role of the informatics workforce in health system transformation;
3. describe CDC’s systems-based approach to building informatics capacity for public health agencies; and
4. provide inputs and insights to enhance and improve CDC’s strategic framework for assisting public health agencies in building informatics capacity.

Brief Summary:
Developing informatics capacity for public health agencies requires multipronged, systems-based, collaborative interventions across leverage points in the workforce development pipeline. During this roundtable discussion, the authors will present the conceptual framework by using a pipeline metaphor to address informatics workforce gaps in public health agencies. They will discuss how this conceptual framework contributes to health system transformation and population health improvement. Components of this conceptual framework include

1. pipeline segment-specific interventions (e.g., Info-Aid franchises for academic centers, visiting scholar programs for informatics faculty development, training in place, and the Career Informatics Field Officer program in addition to traditional fellowships); and
2. cross-cutting interventions (e.g., interprofessional education; cross-cutting partnerships; infrastructure development, including occupation codes and position descriptions; mobile-based delivery of standardized and personalized just-in-time learning; and workforce surveillance).

Discussion questions: The authors will engage the participants in a discussion to address the following questions (an opportunity will be provided to add 1or 2 more discussion questions):

1. Which important challenges that public health agencies face should be addressed by workforce development initiatives over the short and long term?
2. In relation to the important challenges, what range of informatics capacity needs or gaps do public health agencies have that can be addressed by collaborative workforce development efforts?
3. What other innovative workforce development initiatives can CDC and public health partners explore to address informatics workforce development needs or gaps faced by public health agencies?