PHDS Fact Sheet

Why the Public Health Data Strategy Matters

To advance core missions of robust public health data aimed at improving health outcomes equitably, the Public Health Data Strategy…

…addresses the imperative of the CDC Moving Forward effort to consistently deliver public health information and guidance to Americans in near real-time

…builds on lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and other recent public health threats to be more response-ready

…aligns data modernization efforts at all levels of public health and across partners, focusing execution on near-term priority gaps

…measures success with specific 2-year milestones

…creates accountability for public health data with CDC’s newly established Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology (OPHDST)

The Public Health Data Goals …

Goal 1

Strengthen the core of public health data
Ensure Core Data Sources¹ are more complete, timely, rapidly exchanged, and available to support the integrated ability to detect, monitor, investigate, and respond to public health threats

Goal 2

Accelerate access to analytic and automated solutions to support public health investigations and advance health equity
Make tools available so STLTs and public health decision-makers can better use public health data to address health disparities

Goal 3

Visualize and share insights to inform public health action
Serve as a trusted source for near real-time visualizations and offer situational awareness for the public and decision-makers to understand risks, make decisions, and direct resources

Goal 4

Advance more open and interoperable public health data
Enable exchange of interoperable data so that healthcare, STLTs, federal agency partners, and CDC programs can access and use data they need, when they need it

… Advance the Core Public Health Missions

• Detect and monitor
• Investigate and respond
• Inform and disseminate
• Be response-ready

How the Public Health Data Goals Will Drive Key Outcomes over the Next 2 Years

Illustrative Examples

Goal 1: Strengthen the core of public health data

• <7 days needed to detect a suspected disease outbreak and begin nationwide monitoring
• Reduced case reporting burden for STLTs and faster access to lab and mortality data

Goal 2: Accelerate access to analytic and automated solutions to support public health investigations and advance health equity

• Time saved on data cleaning and analytics through reusable technologies, enabling epidemiologists to focus on core public health missions
• Data available on demand to enable health disparities analyses across geographies, conditions, and settings

Goal 3: Visualize and share insights to inform public health action

• American public has near real-time awareness of the status of high-consequence diseases through a centralized data dissemination platform
• Faster, actionable insights from Core Data Sources

Goal 4: Advance more open and interoperable public health data

• Faster sharing of data through language and terms for data protection and use
• Increased data exchange back to healthcare providers to inform clinical decision-making

How the Public Health Data Strategy Focuses Execution of the Data Modernization Initiative

Public Health Data Strategy

• Streamlines efforts to enable efficient, secure exchange of critical core data²
• Supports CDC in building long term critical core data accountability, initial focus on what is most critical to deliver in next two years
• Creates accountability in the Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology (OPHDST)

Data Modernization Initiative

• Outlines broad aspects of data modernization needed across the overall public health landscape (e.g., includes workforce and partnerships)
• Is an ongoing, multi-year undertaking with specific Phase 2 goals to be achieved by the end of 2023
• Is being undertaken across many different stakeholders with OPHDST and Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) leading CDC-wide coordination