Creating partnership agreements with health care organizations as data suppliers is a critical and potentially daunting next step. Health care organizations are currently undergoing many areas of transformation, both internally and externally, such as implementing EHRs, transitioning to ICD-10, responding to payment reforms, forming Accountable Care Organizations and other major drivers of change.

This section is about testing and refining your work from the first step, Making the Value Case, by entering in to conversations and negotiations with potential health care organizations that could serve as data suppliers.

Questions addressed in this section:

• Who are the stakeholders for this surveillance program, what are their levels of influence and interest and to what degree might they influence its development and in what direction?
• What communications strategies do you follow for each stakeholder group based on their influence and interest?
• What are the roles for each of the actors and each of the information systems?
• What concerns could arise from prospective data suppliers and how will you address them?
• What formal agreements will be needed and what is the best mechanism to execute those agreements?

Likely stakeholders and participants:

• Program managers
• Clinical health care representatives/data suppliers
• Community groups and health advocacy organizations, as appropriate
• Agency attorneys for review of any agreements