Designing and Managing Public Health Information Systems: 8 Steps to Success

Designing and Managing Public Health Information Systems: 8 Steps to Success walks through each step of the systems development life cycle (SDLC). In this interactive, eight-week experience led by expert faculty, participants learn strategies for working with technical teams, how to communicate program informatics needs and more! The course is equipped with live webinars, on-demand content and self-paced activities, and is rooted in best practices of informatics and public health data modernization.

This course is designed for public health staff at state, tribal, local, and territorial (STLT) agencies or in freely associated states who are working on an informatics or health IT project or will do so in the future. The course also serves as a great refresher for experienced public health informatics practitioners. 

Currently, enrollment in this course is free of charge to participants and their agencies. Placement in the course will be determined by the eligibility criteria set by the funder.

The spring 2026 course will start in mid-March 2026 and be geared toward early career professionals (with less than 5 years in public health) or those working at rural public health agencies. Pre-register if you are interested in this cohort or future course offerings.

Please note that registering your interest in the course does not guarantee a seat in the course.

pre-register for the course

Eight weeks of informatics learning

Each week of the course will focus on key course topics. Topics will include:

  • Core concepts of informatics
  • Overview of the systems development life cycle (SDLC)
  • Key concepts of change management and project management
  • Project initiation and concept
  • Planning and system requirements definition
  • System design and development; system testing
  • Training and system implementation
  • System operations, maintenance and disposition
  • Application of the SDLC
  • Collaboration, faculty Q-and-A, and peer-to-peer learning

Funding disclosure: This project is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number 5 NU38PW000002-02-00. Any information, content and expressed conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by CDC, HHS or the U.S. Government.