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Evaluation of State Web-based Systems for the Dissemination of Health-related
Data
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| What's New |
| A Guide for
Public Health Agencies Developing, Adopting, or Purchasing
Interactive Web-based Data Dissemination Systems - A
practical tool for public health agencies to use in developing,
adopting, or purchasing new queriable Web-based data systems,
or enhancing existing systems; this document provides a consolidated
list of processes, standards, and checklists resulting from
work accomplished through a 3-year evaluation project. |
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Background
Increasingly, public health agencies are using the Internet
to disseminate data. Many of these agencies are in various stages of
developing, adopting, or purchasing systems that will better enable
them to combine data from different sources; improve the timeliness,
accuracy, and quality of the data; and present the data in a way that
is useful to their constituents.
The increased activity and interest by state and local health
agencies have created a need for guidance to address the key organizational,
technical, and system design issues involved in developing, adopting, or
purchasing a system for Web-based data dissemination.
To help address this need, the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC), through a contract with ORC Macro, Inc., undertook
a three-year evaluation of current public health agency Web-based data
dissemination systems and practices.
The products of this evaluation are intended to assist
public health agencies plan for the development, adoption, or purchase
of interactive Web-based data dissemination systems by identifying
current best practices for disseminating information via the Web.
Partner Organizations/Groups
- CDC, Epidemiology Program Office, Division of Public
Health Surveillance and Informatics
- National Association for Public Health Statistics
and Information Systems (NAPHSIS)
- National Association of Health Data Organizations
(NAHDO)
- Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
- CDC, National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)
Interim Products
- Summary
of Abstractions - Findings from an assessment of 53 state and
local health agency Web sites (50 states plus the District of Columbia,
New York City, and Seattle/King County, Washington) conducted to
examine current systems and approaches used to share public health
data over the Internet.
- Usability
Literature Review - A review of usability literature and implications
for data dissemination on state health Web sites.
- Webmaster
Interviews - Findings from interviews with health agency Webmasters
from eight states to evaluate the technical components/architecture
of their Web-based data query systems.
- Heuristic
Evaluation of Query Interfaces - Findings from a usability
review based on Jakob Nielson's Design Heuristics to identify best
practices among selected Web-based data query systems; a summary
of best practices gathered from the selected systems can be reviewed
in Appendix B of this report.
- Technology
Transference and System Analysis - An exploration of issues
related to the successful development, adoption, or purchase of
queriable Web-based data dissemination systems by public health
agencies; summarizes lessons learned by a select group of public
health agencies with regard to organizational support and resources
for these systems (funding, staffing, organizational and system
support), technical considerations (system compatibility, standards,
confidentiality, and data decisions), and users (types of user,
training needs, and feedback mechanisms).
Final Products
- A Guide for
Public Health Agencies Developing, Adopting, or Purchasing Interactive
Web-based Data Dissemination Systems - A practical tool for
public health agencies to use in developing, adopting, or purchasing
new queriable Web-based data systems, or enhancing existing systems;
this document provides a consolidated list of processes, standards,
and checklists resulting from work accomplished through a 3-year
evaluation project.
- Model Prototype - A non-deployable prototype of a Web-based data
dissemination system interface designed to visually illustrate
the best practices described in the Guide.
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