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Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)
- An assessment system initially designed to collect information on the movement of mentally impaired persons from state-operated facilities into community settings. The assessments have been expanded to include other populations and are designed to determine the effectiveness of programs in meeting health care needs of as risk populations.
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Bioterrorism
- The use of pathogens or other potentially harmful biologic agents to sicken or kill
- members of a targeted population. Informatics database applications are used to track strategic indicators such as emergency room visits, disease case reports, frequency and type of lab testing ordered by physicians and/or nurse practitioners, missed work, over-the-counter medication purchases, that may indicate an outbreak that can be attributed to bioterrorism
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Center for Disease Control (CDC)
- - “An agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services based in unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia adjacent
- to the campus of Emory University and east of the city of Atlanta. It works to
- protect public health and safety by providing information to enhance health
- decisions, and it promotes health through partnerships with state health departments and other organizations. The CDC focuses national attention on developing and applying disease prevention and control (especially infectious diseases), environmental health, occupational safety and health, health promotion, prevention and education activities designed to improve the health of the people of the United States” (Wikipedia, 2008, ¶ 1); organization that deals with disease control and prevention.
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Community Risk Assessment (CRA)
- Determining the presence of risk factors in community is a key part of a community risk assessment. (CRA) Communities may be concerned
- about what in the environment affects or may affect the community’s health, the
- level of environmental risk, and other factors that should be included in
- public health planning.
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Epidemiology
- Literally means identifying things that come upon the people; incidence, prevalence and control of disease; case finding.
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National Center for Public Health Informatics (NCPHI)
In 2005, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) created a National Center for Public Health Informatics (NCPHI) to provide leadership in the field. This center aims to protect and improve health through PHI (McNabb, Koo, Pinner, & Seligman, 2006). Information is vital to public health programming. The data processed into public health information can be from administrative, financial and facility sources, Included may be encounter, screening, registry, clinical, and laboratory data as well as surveillance data.
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National Health Information Network (NHIN)
An agency of Health and Human Services charged with the development of a safe, secure, interoperable health information infrastructure.
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Public Health
- - Safeguarding and improvement of community and population health; changes the social conditions and systems that affect everyone within a given community. It is because of public health that we understand the importance of clean water, the danger of second-hand smoke, and
- the fact that seat belts really do save lives (PHI, 2007).
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Public Health Informatics (PHI)
- - represents “a systematic application of information and computer science and technology to public health (PH) practice, research and learning”. (Yasnoff, O’Carroll, Koo, Linkins, & Kilbourne, 2000). This area of informatics differs from others because it is focused on the promotion of health and disease prevention in populations and communities. PHI efficiently and effectively organizes and manages of data, information and knowledge generated and used by public health professionals to fulfill the core functions of public health:
- assessment, policy and assurance
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Public Health Interventions
- Actions taken to promote and secure the well-being of a population or a community. The future of PHI will offer real-time surveillance data available electronically and investigations and emergences will be managed with the tools of informatics (Yasnoff, 2004). “Surveillance data systems, e.g., systems for infectious diseases, store information on exposure or trends in adverse health effects over a specified period of time that can be used by public health officials for planning, evaluation, or implementation of public health interventions”(ATSDR, 2003). “Syndromic surveillance for early outbreak
- detection is an investigational approach where health department staff,
- assisted by automated data acquisition and generation of statistical signals,
- monitor disease indicators continually (real-time) or at least daily (near
- real-time) to detect outbreaks of diseases earlier and more completely than
- might otherwise be possible with traditional public health methods”
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Regional Health Information Exchange (RHIO)
- A regional network of health care organizations and providers who exchange
- information related to the health of the population. The goal is to work together without duplication to provide cost effective health care and promote community well-being. Population health data must be considered an important part of the infrastructure of all regional health information exchanges (RHIOs) which are the building blocks for a national health information network (NHIN). “These efforts call for collaboration of various organizations and agencies interested in clinical, public health and population health information to promote and protect the public’s health”
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Risk Assessment
Determination of risk or danger such as assessing for risk factors related to heart disease.
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Suicide Prevention Community Assessment Tool (SPRC)
Risk factor systems are used throughout the country and may be local, regional or national in scope. Specific risk assessment tools exist for specific health issues such as the Suicide Prevention Community Assessment Tool (SPRC) which addresses general community information, prevention networks, and the demographics of the target population as well as community assets and risk factors. Other risk assessment tools include the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).
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Surveillance
- -The act of watching for trends in health related data for early detection of
- health threats. Uses health-related data that signal a sufficient probability of a case or an outbreak that warrants further public health response. Although historically syndromic surveillance has been utilized to target investigations of potential infectious cases, its utility to detect possible outbreaks associated with bioterrorism is increasingly being explored by public health officials (CDC, 2007). Early detection of possible outbreaks can be achieved through timely and complete receipt, review, and investigation of disease case reports, by improving the ability to recognize patterns in data that may be indicative of a possible outbreak early in its course and through receipt of new types of data that can signify an outbreak earlier in its course
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Surveillance Data Systems
- -A networked computer system designed to use health related data trends to
- predict the probability of an outbreak of a contagious or infections disease,
- or to detect morbidity and mortality trends in a geographic area as a precursor
- to public health planning or response. The future of PHI will offer real-time
- surveillance data available electronically and investigations and emergences
- will be managed with the tools of informatics (Yasnoff, 2004). “Surveillance data systems,
- e.g., systems for infectious diseases, store information on exposure or trends
- in adverse health effects over a specified period of time that can be used by
- public health officials for planning, evaluation, or implementation of public
- health interventions”
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Syndromic Surveillance
- A specialized system of data collection to detect trends in the incidence and
- severity of a specific disease or health related syndrome and plan the public
- health response. It has been utilized to target investigations of potential infectious cases, its utility to detect possible outbreaks associated with bioterrorism is increasingly being explored by public health officials (CDC, 2007). Early detection of possible outbreaks can be achieved through timely and complete receipt, review, and investigation of disease case reports, by improving the ability to recognize patterns in data that may be indicative of a possible
- outbreak early in its course and through receipt of new types of data that can
- signify an outbreak earlier in its course.
- New types of data might
- include identification of absences from work or school, increased purchases of
- health-care products, including specific types of over-the-counter medications,
- presenting symptoms to health-care providers, and laboratory test orders (CDC,
- 2007). A comprehensive
- surveillance effort supports timely investigation and identifies data needs for
- managing the public health response to an outbreak or terrorist event.
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Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS)
An epidemiologic survey conducted by the CDC to identify and track the most common health risk behaviors that lead to illnesses and mortality among youth
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Public health informatics strives to ensure
- ensure that health data systems will meet the data needs of all organizations interested in population health as national and international standards are dev eloped for healthcare data collection. This includes standardization of
- environmental, socio-cultural, economic and other data that are relevant to
- population health
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