Executive Summary

The Public Health Data Strategy (PHDS) outlines the data, technology, policy, and administrative actions essential to exchange critical core data efficiently and securely across healthcare and public health.

The strategy is designed to describe a path to address gaps in public health data, helping the nation become response-ready, promote health equity, and improve health outcomes for all.

To advance core public health missions (Detect and Monitor, Investigate and Respond, Inform and Disseminate, and Be Response-Ready), the PHDS addresses the CDC Moving Forward imperative to consistently deliver public health information and guidance to Americans in near real-time.

Through the PHDS, public health decision-makers (e.g., the public; labs; providers; other healthcare partners; state, tribal, local, and territorial health departments; CDC programs; federal agencies) will have a clear, streamlined vision of near-term priorities.


The Public Health Data Strategy articulates four Public Health Data Goals:

  1. Strengthen the core of public health data1
  2. Accelerate access to analytic and automated solutions to support public health investigations and advance health equity
  3. Visualize and share insights to inform public health action
  4. Advance more open and interoperable public health data

Accomplishing 2-year milestones associated with these goals requires collaboration and partnership with state, tribal, local, and territorial health departments; healthcare partners; and other federal agencies.


CDC will create accountability for these Public Health Data Goals and 2-year milestones through the new Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology (OPHDST), which will lead and strengthen engagement and collaboration with jurisdictions, CDC programs, and private partners, and focus the execution of data modernization activities.

1. Ensure Core Data Sources are more complete, timely, rapidly exchanged, and available to support the integrated ability to detect, monitor, investigate, and respond to public health threats.