Public health agencies depend on reliable data and information systems to perform their work. The multi-sector Kansas Public Health Systems Group formed the Public Health Informatics Workgroup to support a strategic vision for public health informatics in Kansas. The workgroup has published the following reports.
Using an assessment tool organized around the Foundational Capabilities of the RESOLVE Foundational Public Health Services model, an interdisciplinary focus group representing local, state and academic public health leaders considered the respective informatics capacities of local public health departments and the state health department. Overall, the capacity assessment identified strengths in some informatics topics within the Foundational Capabilities; however, considerable gaps also were identified.
As a resource to assist local health departments in identifying their own strengths and weaknesses in informatics, the workgroup developed a self-assessment tool based on the Public Health Informatics Institute’s (PHII) Informatics-Savvy Health Department Self-Assessment Tool. The tool evaluates informatics around four domains.
The Kansas Public Health Informatics Workgroup is comprised of representatives from local health departments and the state health department, academic institutions and non-governmental organizations—all working together to support a strategic vision for public health informatics in Kansas. This report provides an overview of the work it has accomplished since it was formed in 2014.