Key Objectives:
Discuss an innovative use case of health care-public health information sharing to improve health outcomes. Recognize the value of a consistent and unified approach to using health care’s EHR data to improve disease surveillance.
Brief Summary:
Current approaches for public health case reporting are outdated, inefficient, and discourage information sharing between clinical care and public health. Attempts at information exchange have been fractured across public health’s programmatic and jurisdictional boundaries. The Digital Bridge initiative represents an effort by public health to speak with a unified voice to interact with clinical and health information technology (IT) sectors. Electronic case reporting (eCR) was selected as an initial implementation for this collaboration. Partners participating in the Digital Bridge initiative are developing a multi-jurisdictional approach to eCR that is system agnostic and adaptable by any organization and data provider. This approach allows for improved data and workflows for both clinical practice and public health. A governance body, along with workgroups, was formed in the fall of 2016, with representation from public health, health care delivery systems and EHR vendors. Areas of focus include eCR business requirements, legal and privacy issues, sustainability and technical architecture. In 2017, five sites will test and implement the eCR design and architecture developed by Digital Bridge members. Digital Bridge demonstrates health care, health IT and public health can collaborate within a nationwide governance framework and achieve information sharing that fosters a culture of health. While this may entail some compromise, expected results include greater bi-directional data exchange supporting surveillance and interventions preventing disease. This session will provide an opportunity for discussion about the Digital Bridge governance and technical architecture for eCR. Preliminary findings from eCR implementations will also be shared, including technical and policy issues related to eCR, public health reporting, and patient privacy. Anticipated discussion will address how state and local health departments can join the Digital Bridge approach for transforming systems and building partnerships with health care delivery systems, eventually leading to healthier communities.