The Public Health Ecosystem: Before and After
View the full Public Health Data Strategy [891 KB, 20 Pages].
The Public Health Data Strategy aims to address challenges currently experienced across the public health ecosystem (illustrated below). Successfully achieving the Public Health Data Goals and 2-year milestones addresses critical public health challenges by 2025.
The public health ecosystem shows high-level data flow between each of the four components: 1) states, tribes, localities, and territories (STLTs); 2) national public health (CDC, federal partners); 3) public; 4) healthcare (labs, providers).
Current Challenges
Current Challenges
~70% of healthcare organizations using fax to send or receive care records1
~70% of healthcare organizations using fax to send or receive care records1
Increased ability for STLTs to automatically exchange data with CDC creates a reliable national common operating picture
(Supports Public Health Data Goal 2)
Increased ability for STLTs to automatically exchange data with CDC creates a reliable national common operating picture
(Supports Public Health Data Goal 2)
Up to 80% of epidemiologists’ time spent cleaning data2 because of non-interoperable systems
Up to 80% of epidemiologists’ time spent cleaning data2 because of non-interoperable systems
Time saved on data cleaning and analytics, through reusable technologies, enables epidemiologists to focus on core public health missions
(Supports Public Health Data Goal 2)
Time saved on data cleaning and analytics, through reusable technologies, enables epidemiologists to focus on core public health missions
(Supports Public Health Data Goal 2)
30%+ of COVID-19 cases missing data on race and ethnicity early in the pandemic3
30%+ of COVID-19 cases missing data on race and ethnicity early in the pandemic3
Data on demand enables health disparities analysis across geographies, conditions, and settings
(Supports Public Health Data Goal 1)
Data on demand enables health disparities analysis across geographies, conditions, and settings
(Supports Public Health Data Goal 1)
6+ months often needed to develop and potentially rework Data Use Agreements4
6+ months often needed to develop and potentially rework Data Use Agreements4
Faster sharing of data through language and terms for data protection and use
(Supports Public Health Data Goal 4)
Faster sharing of data through language and terms for data protection and use
(Supports Public Health Data Goal 4)
12+ months for data on some reportable conditions to become available in national datasets or be disseminated in accessible and interoperable formats4
12+ months for data on some reportable conditions to become available in national datasets or be disseminated in accessible and interoperable formats4
American public has near real-time awareness of the status of high-consequence diseases through a centralized data dissemination platform
(Supports Public Health Data Goal 3)
American public has near real-time awareness of the status of high-consequence diseases through a centralized data dissemination platform
(Supports Public Health Data Goal 3)
~3 months between first reported domestic mpox case and CDC data access agreements with STLTs5
~3 months between first reported domestic mpox case and CDC data access agreements with STLTs5
<7 days needed to detect a suspected disease outbreak and begin nationwide monitoring
(Supports Public Health Data Goal 1)
<7 days needed to detect a suspected disease outbreak and begin nationwide monitoring
(Supports Public Health Data Goal 1)
* Outcomes listed are not exhaustive but are illustrative of the Public Health Data Strategy’s expected two-year impacts
1. ONC Data Brief No. 54 (2021)
2. ‘A Prototype of Modernized Public Health Infrastructure for All: Findings from a Virginia Pilot’ – CDC (2022)
3. CDC case surveillance data (as of Sept 9, 2022)
4. Average estimates by CDC staff
5. ‘Very Harmful’ lack of data blunts U.S. response to outbreaks’ – New York Times 2022
Source: New York Times, NEJM Jan 2022, GAO, ONC, CDC + USDS Virginia prototype findings, CDC estimates