Common Challenges States Face in Tackling Siloed Public Health Data and Promises for Removing Roadblocks Highlighted on Webinar
Public Health Systems Modernization: State Approaches to Connecting Siloed Public Health Data
June 13, 2022
In the second webinar in Altarum’s Public Health Systems Modernization series, Altarum hosted an engaging discussion with four public health leaders from Utah, Minnesota, and Michigan who shared their approaches to tackling the issue of data silos—what has worked, what challenges remain, and what plans are in place to securely connect data across the public health spectrum.
Watch the webinar:
Our panelists discussed the challenges associated with siloed funding focused on program and use-case specific goals as well as data sharing restrictions. These barriers have made it difficult to manage cases across systems and provide impactful, data-driven responses.
But there is hope on the horizon. New pandemic driven funding removes historic roadblocks by providing resources to establish:
- Common data models to and from public health systems
- New informatics and data strategy groups within state government to take a broader perspective across silos
- Data lakes to expedite and simplify sharing across programs
- Communities of practice that convene public and private stakeholders across jurisdictions to improve sharing of systems and data
The panelists acknowledged some data sharing challenges may persist. Contributing factors include the lack of national personal identifiers and the wide variety of regulations across jurisdictions regarding who can use data and for what purposes.
Altarum's webinar series on public health systems modernization brings together state disease surveillance and public health informatics leaders from across the US to discuss best practices for preparing for tomorrow’s public health opportunities and challenges. Listen, learn, and share ideas on how to make use of available public health modernization funding. Examine approaches other jurisdictions are taking to remove program silos for more effective data sharing across public health program areas.
Watch the previous webinar in our series here: Public Health Infrastructure Modernization: How State Leaders are Using Covid-19 as a Catalyst to Build Next Generation Technology
Altarum is a nonprofit organization that works with federal and state agencies and foundations to design and implement solutions to improve the health of individuals with fewer financial resources and populations disenfranchised by the health care system. We achieve measurable results by combining our expertise in public health and health care delivery with technology, workforce training and continuing education, applied research, and technical assistance. Our innovative solutions lead to better health for beneficiaries and better value for payers.