Grantees and Project Descriptions
The following organizations received grant funding to pursue informatics projects in the Common Ground program. The Informatics Capacity grants were completed in December 2007.
Informatics Capacity
These 15-month grants were designed to support organizations in developing or expanding their capabilities in informatics.
State of Alaska Department of Health and Social Services
DPH Business Process Assessment Project
To develop and improve business processes in prevention and control of infectious diseases involving epidemiology, nursing, and public health laboratories.
City of Austin Health and Human Services Department (TX)
Common Ground Preparedness Initiative
To develop and improve business processes in public health preparedness.
Sonoma County Department of Health Services (CA)
Redesign of Billing and Accounts Receivable for Sonoma County Health Services
To develop and improve business processes in billing and accounts receivable across six divisions.
Genesee County Health Department (MI)
S.T.D. with I.T.! [Stop Transmitting Disease with Information Technology!]
To develop and improve business processes related to the prevention and control of infectious diseases within the sexually transmitted disease program.
Kane County Health Department (IL)
Building Capacity for Public Health Business Process Assessment and Redesign
To develop and improve business processes related to public health preparedness, response, and recovery—involving emergency management, animal control, and preparedness and communicable disease departments.
Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government (KY)
The Louisville Metro Health Department Informatics Capacity
To develop and improve business processes related to maternal and child health with an emphasis on the reduction of infant mortality through interaction with Family Planning Services.
Madison County Health Department (NY)
Madison County Health Department—Informatics Capacity Project
To develop and improve business processes related to Home Care Nursing Services.
Mahoning County District Board of Health (OH)
Environmental Health Permitting: Can We Improve the Process?
To develop and improve business processes related to environmental health and sanitation by improving the septic permitting process for new homes.
Maricopa County Department of Public Health (AZ)
Maricopa County Public Health Process Redesign
To develop and improve business processes related to prevention and control of infectious diseases by creating an integrated solution via electronic health records in clinics.
Monroe County Health Department (MI)
Seamless Service: Integrating Maternal and Child Health Programs in Monroe County, Michigan
To develop and improve business processes related to maternal and child health focusing on the integration of WIC and Maternal and Infant Health Programs.
State of Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services
Information Systems Governance and Planning Process
To develop and improve business processes that enhance the coordination of information systems, including public health preparedness.
Multnomah County Health Department (OR)
Common Threads: Transforming Decentralized Public Health Data into an Integrated System for Communicable Disease Investigation and Control
To develop and improve business processes related to the prevention and control of infectious diseases by reviewing the public health reportable disease surveillance and related interventions to improve responses to communicable disease outbreaks.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Developing Business Process Development Skills for Public Health in NC
To improve the usefulness of information systems for environmental health services.
County of Santa Cruz (CA)
Reassessing, Rethinking, and Redesigning Public Health in Santa Cruz County
To develop and improve business processes related to chronic disease, specifically aimed at diabetes in underserved populations.
Summit County Board of Health (UT)
A Business Process Analysis of the Work Interactions Between Foodborne Illness, Disease Surveillance, Restaurant Inspection, and Case Management
To develop and improve business processes related to food safety and disease surveillance, including restaurant inspections and foodborne illness investigations.
Requirements Development
Chronic Disease
Public Health Authority of Cabarrus County (NC)
Developing Electronic Community Connections for Public Health
To develop a new generation of information systems that can support and integrate the use of personal health records by community partners.
State of California, Health and Human Services Agency
Building Bridges: Reducing Chronic Disease in California
To collaboratively define business processes for obtaining and using the data essential for chronic disease prevention and control.
Coconino County Health Department (AZ)
CCHD Moves Ahead
To develop an integrated information system for a large rural health department covering a diverse area.
Kitsap County Health District (WA)
Kitsap County Health District: Our Business is Your Business
To improve the prevention and control of suicide/ depression, obesity, and cancer by improving business processes and developing a set of requirements for a chronic disease information system.
Louisiana Public Health Institute
Louisiana Health Information Exchange [LaHIE]—Public Health Information Systems Improvement Project [PHISIP]
To develop an integrated health information system to improve chronic disease management and population health
State of Minnesota Department of Health
Minnesota Common Ground
To improve the capacity of information systems to support disease prevention, disease and risk factor surveillance, and improve management of chronic diseases in all populations.
State of Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services
Mainstreaming Chronic Disease Surveillance
To streamline chronic disease information systems by forming a team of internal and external stakeholders committed to the prevention and control of chronic disease conditions.
State of Rhode Island Department of Health
Improving Information Systems for Chronic Care and Disease Management
To integrate the common business practices across chronic disease programs.
State of South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control
South Carolina Chronic Disease Requirement Development Project
To focus on chronic disease prevention and control with a specific interest in surveillance and special emphasis on eliminating health disparities.
State of Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services
Wisconsin's Common Ground: Integrating Chronic Disease Informatics Systems
To improve the development of a chronic disease information system by developing informatics best practice knowledge and skills, creating a training infrastructure to disseminate techniques and continuously improve IT systems, developing a set of endorsed processes and requirements, and establishing an implementation plan.
Preparedness
Children's Hospital Corporation (MA)
State and Local Health Collaboration: Requirements Developement for Resource Management and Patient Tracking for Public Health Preparedness
To foster collaboration between the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Cambridge Department of Public Health to improve their ability to track resources, including pharmaceuticals, equipment, and personnel.
Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County (IN)
MCHD: Requirements Development Project
To manage large-scale outbreaks or other public health emergencies by developing requirements to substantially enhance systems for mass prophylaxis, detection of public health emergencies, and coordination with community partners.
Health Research Incorporated (NY)
Adopting a Nationally Accepted Project Management Methodology to Improve Public Health Preparedness Informatics in New York State
To advance fully capable and interoperable information systems to ensure critical tools are available and used to support an all-hazards approach in resonding to health threats.
State of Maine Department of Health and Human Services
Grounded in Excellence
To realize immediate improvements to statewide public health preparedness planning and to standardize and disseminate an approach for information system development.
Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County (TN)
Incident Command Informatics [ICI]
To define business processes, task flows, and information system requirements that support the information needs of the Metro Public Health Incident Command System (ICS) to help prevent, respond to, and recover from a public health emergencies.
Spokane Regional Health District (WA)
Spokane Regional Health District: Requirements Development for Public Health Preparedness
To develop collaborative requirements for preparedness within a 10-county region through the Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response program to achieve goals of detecting, identifying, and responding appropriately and effectively to infectious disease outbreaks and community health emergencies.