The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has awarded $4.37 million in competitive grants to enhance healthcare information management and improve the detection of and response to emerging public health threats.
The grants will fund four new Centers of Excellence in Public Health Informatics – at Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare, Indiana University, the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Utah.
“These centers will advance the study and practice of public health informatics through collaborative efforts among academic public health experts, local and state public health departments, developing regional health information organizations and other health and informatics professionals,” said Stephen B. Thacker, acting director of the CDC’s National Center for Public Health Informatics.
According to officials, the center of excellence initiative is designed to discover strategies and tools that increase the ability of health departments, physicians and other healthcare providers to promote health and prevent diseases, injuries or disabilities.
Each center will conduct two projects that support national priorities in informatics and support real-time biosurveillance for potential health threats through immediate access to data from hospitals and healthcare systems in major metropolitan areas across the nation.
Goals have been set:
Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare, Boston, Richard Platt, MD, and Kenneth D. Mandl, MD
- Personally Controlled Health Records and Social Networks, and
- Electronic Support for Public Health: Diabetes Mellitus.
Indiana University, Indianapolis, Shaun J. Grannis, MD
- Bringing Public Health to the Point of Care: Overcoming Digital Barriers; and
- Enhancing Basic Infrastructure Capabilities that Support Public Health Practice.
The University of Pittsburgh, Matthew Wagner, MD
- Automatic Case Detection Using Clinical Data;
- Bayesian Outbreak Detection and Characterization.
The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Matthew Samore, MD
- Visual Analytics and Decision Support for Core Public Health Missions
- Just-In-Time Delivery of Dynamically Maintained Public Health Knowledge.
According to officials, five previously funded centers have generated more than 85 peer-reviewed publications, 153 presentations at national meetings and 100 posters and abstracts. They also have contributed to strategic national activities such as the Informatics Grid and the Electronic Medical Record Initiative.