Systemic Failure and Health Catastrophe: The Final Report from the Flint Water Advisory Task Force

"The Flint water crisis is a story of government failure, intransigence, unpreparedness, delay, inaction, and environmental injustice. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) failed in its fundamental responsibility to effectively enforce drinking water regulations.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) failed to adequately and promptly act to protect public health. Both agencies, but principally the MDEQ, stubbornly worked to discredit and dismiss others’ attempts to bring the issues of unsafe water, lead contamination, and increased cases of Legionellosis (Legionnaires’ disease) to light."

Matthew M Davis, MD, MAPP, Chris Kolb, Lawrence Reynolds, MD, Eric Rothstein, CPA, Ken Sikkema, Executive Summary Statement, Flint Water Advisory Task Force Final Report, 2016, p. 5

From the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and all the way to the Governor’s office, there are more than enough culpable participants in the failure to protect the health of Flint’s children. According to pediatrician Mona Hanna-Attisha, MD, who first alerted government officials of concerns for her patients, the lead-contaminated water could impact as many as 8000 children.¹

The unimaginable happened. The repercussions are still unknown. But for persons engaged in disease surveillance, public health, health informatics and policy-making, the Final Report is a "must-read" to gain understanding of how separate individual and agency failures compounded to allow a catastrophic outcome. We recommend all practitioners review the report.

1. Abby Goodnough, Flint Weighs Scope of Harm to Children Caused by Lead in Water, nytimes.com, January 29, 2016

 

NACCHO – PHII Webinar this Monday, June 23rd “Building Informatics Capacity Through Workforce Development”

Please join NACCHO and PHII this Monday, June 23rd for an exciting webinar on building informatics capacity in local health departments through workforce development!

UPCOMING WEBINAR JUNE 23 BUILDING INFORMATICS CAPACITY THROUGH WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

Title: Building Informatics Capacity through Workforce Development
Date: June 23, 2014
Time: 3:00- 4:00 PM EDT
Join: Reserve your Webinar seat now: http://naccho.adobeconnect.com/wfdev2014/event/registration.html

Description:
The challenges to building the informatics capabilities of public health agencies are many and varied. A common challenge is related to workforce development activities to recruit, select, hire, train and retain individuals that have the combination of skills and competencies needed by informatics professionals. Some of these challenges are related to establishing competitive salaries, finding individuals with the appropriate skill sets and distinguishing between IT and Informatics positions, skills, knowledge and abilities.

The webinar presentation is intended to:

• Increase awareness of common workforce related challenges to building informatics capability.
• Increase awareness of products and resources that are available to assist local health agency staff to develop informatics position descriptions.
• Provide an opportunity to hear how your colleagues have addressed informatics challenges in their organizations.

In 2013, CDC sponsored an opportunity that supported NACCHO and the Public Health Informatics Institute (PHII) to develop useful tools to assist public health agency staff to address of these issues. As an emerging discipline, the resources to assist public health agencies to establish informatics capacity at an agency level were limited. The partners established a process to draft, review and create example position descriptions for public health agencies to utilize within their organizations to establish informatics positions. These included sample position descriptions for the executive, management, clinical, and professional levels, and a brief description of a professional career ladder that describes the various positions for professionals that seek further career growth. A cross-walk document that links informatics competencies to tasks and duties was also created to assist agencies to develop position descriptions for various types of informatics jobs.

Public Health Informatics Course: Registration Closing Soon!

Designing and Managing Public Health Information Systems:  8 Steps to Success

Do you need information systems that support the way you work? Get concrete steps and tools in this instructor-supported online course. Reserve your spot before the Memorial Day holiday----enrollment is limited to 50 students.

This short course will enable you to:

• Provide strategic guidance to your technical teams
• Effectively communicate your health information system needs 
• Improve processes within your agency for better automation
• Share experiences and learn best practices from peers

What will I learn in this course?
The course covers the eight phases of the Information Technology (IT) Lifecycle, a methodology for approaching information systems development in a systematic way.

How will learning about the IT lifecycle help you? 
When developing a new system, understanding the IT lifecycle will help you integrate your input and participation----so that information systems meet your practice needs.

This instructor-supported course gives you the opportunity to learn about and apply the IT lifecycle to your current informatics projects. The webinars provide an opportunity to ask questions and share challenges and best practices with your peers using your real-life project examples.

Course dates and registration
June 9 - Aug. 8, 2014
Registration ends June 2 or when enrollment is full.

Who should take the course?
Public health practitioners who are involved with information systems or informatics projects. We encourage participation of teams that are working on the same informatics project or group of related projects.

How is the course delivered?
This is an instructor-supported distance learning course, using interactive webinars, a self-paced eLearning module, and supporting materials.

What is the time commitment?
One hour-long webinar plus one hour of preparation time per week, on average, with a total commitment of 20 hours over the eight-week course.

How much does the course cost?
 $800 for an individual
- or -
$1500 for a team of 2-3 (Additional team members may be added at a cost of $300 each. Teams are capped at 6 individuals.)

Additional questions?
Registration and course information is available at phii.org/academy. For additional questions, email informatics.academy@phii.org. 

Public Health Informatics 2013 Virtual Event - Abstract Submission Deadline Extended to June 2nd!

Invitation to Participate in a Virtual Event

"Strengthening Public Health -- Health Care Collaboration"

July 16-18, 2013

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) along with the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) and the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) invite you to participate in an upcoming Public Health Informatics virtual event "Strengthening Public Health--Health Care Collaboration" that will take place July 16-18, 2013. This virtual event provides a zero cost platform for public health partners to share and collaborate with partners all over the globe. Selected abstracts will be required to produce a video submission for their abstract for broadcasting during the virtual event. 

You may submit abstracts for the following tracks:

• Informatics Policy and Practice: virtual sessions will focus on national and international policy issues and their implications for public health informatics programs; applied informatics projects for programmatic support; and new initiatives.
• Research & Innovation: virtual sessions will focus on informatics research and technological innovation to public health and clinical settings.
• Supporting Public Health Evidence Base through Informatics Practice: virtual sessions will focus on strengthening public health through knowledge sharing, evaluation, and visualization and reporting. 

The Deadline for Abstract Submission is now June 2, 2013. Click here to complete the online Abstract Submission Form.

• Applicants are notified of the status of selection on June 7, 2013
• This event is completely virtual; attendees will participate in the session from the comfort of their own desks.
• If selected, the presentation must be pre-recorded with video and audio capabilities.
• This virtual event is free of charge and open to the public health community.

We look forward to receiving your submission for the virtual meeting taking place on July 16-18, 2013. 

For more information, please visit this website.

New PHII Course: Registration Open

The Public Health Informatics Institute (PHII) is announcing its first ever distance-based course. In partnership with UNC Chapel Hill, PHII's Informatics Academy will be delivering a blended approach course in public health informatics entitled "Designing and Managing Public Health Information Systems: 8 Steps to Success." The target audience for this course is mid-level career public health practitioners. PHII specifically seeks teams of 3 people from a health department that are working on an informatics project.

The course will enable participants to: 

• Provide strategic guidance to your technical teams
• Effectively communicate your health information system needs
• Improve processes within your agency for better automation
• Develop valuable skills for career opportunities in public health informatics

This course will take place over 8 weeks and will be delivered as an instructor-supported distance learning course with interactive webinars, a self-paced eLearning module, and supporting materials and review activities. 

Course Dates: June 16th - August 9th, 2013

Registration Deadline: Friday, June 7th

View the course flyer

To register or request more information, please contact informatics.academy@phii.org.

IEEE Intelligence and Security Informatics (ISI) 2013: Call for Participation

THEME: Big Data, Emergent Threats and Decision-Making in Security Informatics

Dates/Location: June 4-7, 2013, Seattle, WA, USA

HOST: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Conference website: http://ISIconference2013.org/

Intelligence and Security Informatics (ISI) is an interdisciplinary research field involving researchers in information technologies, computer science, public policy, bioinformatics, and social and behavior studies as well as local, state, and federal law enforcement and intelligence experts, and information technology industry consultants and practitioners to support counterterrorism and homeland security missions of anticipation, interdiction, prevention, preparedness and response to terrorist acts. The annual IEEE International ISI Conference series was started in 2003. The ISI 2013 conference program will feature three main topic streams:

• Big Data in Security Informatics
• Emergent Threats
• Decision-Making in Security Informatics.

Keynote Speakers

• Dr. Joseph Kielman - Department of Homeland Security
• Dr. CAPT Dylan Schmorrow/LT David Combs - US Office of the Sec. of Defense
• Dr. William Burns - Decision Science Research Institute Inc.
• Dr. Pietro Michelucci - Strategic Analysis, Inc.

Workshops

• Evaluating Visualization in Support of Analytical Reasoning and Decision 
• Making for Cybersecurity. Organizing institution: Innovative Analytics.
• Signature Discovery for Intelligence and Security. 
• Organizing institution: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
• Social Media Analytics. Organizing institutions: Boeing, Chinese Academy of
• Sciences, and the University of Arizona. 

Panels

• Funding Opportunities in Intelligence and Security Informatics. Panelists: Various funding agency program managers.
• Open Source Indicators and Predicting the News. Panelists: Jason Matheny (IARPA) and Open Source Indicators Program PIs
• Security and Information Assurance. Panelists: Dewey Houck (Boeing), Nick Multari (PNNL); Steven Yau (ASU)

IMPORTANT DATES

• May 1 - Early Registration Deadline: registration info http://isiconference2013.org/pgs/registration.php
• June 4-7 Conference 

AMIA Upcoming Webinar - Immunization Decision Support

ISDS would like to share an upcoming event hosted by one of our partner organizations, AMIA, regarding Immunization Decision Support from Electronic Health Records. You can learn more about this event and how to register below.

American Medical Informatics Association

Public Health Informatics Webinar Series

Immunization Decision Support

With reporting to Immunization Information Systems (IIS) from Electronic Health Records (EHRs) advancing, it is important to think about how information from EHRs and IIS can work together to provide the most effective immunization decision support. Immunization decision support requires connection across many different systems in many different clinical and public health jurisdictions and represents a leading example of public health decision support in clinical settings. This webinar will consider the kinds of immunization decision support rules needed, decision support use in EHRs and the ways in which IIS’s and EHRs need to connect to support needed transactions.

Speakers:

Stuart T. Weinberg, MD FAAP

Project Director, Outpatient Whiteboard

Technical Director, Immunization Registry Project

Assistant Professor of Biomedical Informatics

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics

Vanderbilt University School of Medicine

Stuart Myerburg, JD

Health Scientist, Informatics

Immunization Information Systems Support Branch

National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Disease

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Bill Adams, MD

Director of BU-CTSI Clinical Research Informatics

Director of Child Health Informatics,

Professor of Pediatrics at Boston University School of Medicine

April 9, 2013 at 2:00 PM EST

Register at: http://www.amia.org/education/webinars/immunization-decision-support

 (There will be a $50 charge for non-member participation)

The last webinar is viewable at:

Data and Informatics Needs of the Recent Fungal Meningitis Events

(http://www.amia.org/webinar/webinar-data-needs-recent-meningitis-event)

 AMIA aims to lead the way in transforming health care through trusted science, education, and the practice of informatics. AMIA connects a broad community of professionals and students interested in informatics. AMIA is the bridge for knowledge and collaboration across a continuum, from basic and applied research to the consumer and public health arenas. One of the five domains supported by AMIA is the Public Health Informatics Working Group. Public Health Informatics is the application of informatics in areas of public health, including surveillance, reporting, and health promotion.

IEEE Intelligence and Security Informatics (ISI) 2013

Call for Papers and Workshop Proposals

June 4-7, 2013, Seattle, WA, USA

THEME: Big Data, Emergent Threats and Decision-Making in Security Informatics

HOST: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Conference website: http://ISIconference2013.org/

Intelligence and Security Informatics (ISI) research is an interdisciplinary research field involving academic researchers in information technologies, computer science, public policy, bioinformatics, and social and behavior studies as well as local, state, and federal law enforcement and intelligence experts, and information technology industry consultants and practitioners to support counterterrorism and homeland security missions of anticipation, interdiction, prevention, preparedness and response to terrorist acts. The annual IEEE International ISI Conference series was started in 2003. Meetings have been held in Tucson, AZ (twice); Atlanta, GA; San Diego, CA; New Brunswick, NJ; Taipei, Taiwan; Dallas, TX; Vancouver, Canada; and Beijing, China, and Washington D.C. Proceedings of these ISI meetings and workshops have been published by the IEEE Press and in the Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS) series.

ISI 2013 will be organized in three main streams focusing on

• Big Data in Security Informatics
• Emergent Threats
• Decision-Making in Security Informatics

Submissions may include systems, methodology, test-bed, modeling, evaluation, and policy papers. Research should be relevant to informatics, organization, or public policy in applications of counter-terrorism or protection of local/national/international security in the physical world or cyberspace. Topics include but are not limited to:

Big Data in Security Informatics

• Information Sharing and Data/Text Mining Intelligence-related knowledge discovery
• Computer or cybercrime investigations and digital forensics
• Criminal investigative criteria and standard of procedure on Computer crime
• Criminal data mining and network analysis
• Forecasting crime and the impact of crime
• Criminal/intelligence information sharing and visualization
• Crime pattern recognition and modeling tools
• Web-based intelligence monitoring and analysis
• Spatial-temporal data analysis/GIS for crime analysis and security informatics
• Deception and intent detection
• Cyber-crime detection and analysis
• Authorship analysis and identification
• Applications of digital library technologies in intelligence data processing, preservation, sharing, and analysis
• Agents and collaborative systems for intelligence sharing
• HCI and user interfaces of relevance to intelligence and security
• Information sharing policy and governance
• Privacy, security, and civil liberties issues
• Intelligence-computerized community security and surveillance system

Emergent Threats

• Infrastructure Protection and Emergency Responses
• Cyber-Physical-Social system security and incident management
• Cyber-infrastructure design and protection
• Intrusion detection
• Bio-terrorism tracking, alerting, and analysis
• Bio-terrorism information infrastructure
• Transportation and communication infrastructure protection
• Border/transportation safety
• Law Enforcement decision support systems
• Emergency response and management
• Disaster prevention, detection, and management
• Communication and decision support for search and rescue
• Assisting citizens' responses to terrorism and catastrophic events
• Computer forensics and crime lead discovery
• Anti-fraud information technology
• Terrorism Informatics
• Terrorism related analytical methodologies and software tools
• Terrorism knowledge portals and databases
• Terrorist incident chronology databases
• Terrorism root cause analysis
• Social network analysis (radicalization, recruitment, conducting operations), visualization, and simulation
• Forecasting terrorism
• Countering terrorism
• Measuring the impact of terrorism on society
• Measuring the effectiveness of counter-terrorism campaigns
• Crime intelligence and cyberspace crime investigation
• Immigration and security

Decision-Making in Security Informatics

• Enterprise Risk Management and Information Systems Security
• Information security management standards
• Information systems security policies
• Behavior issues in information systems security
• Fraud detection
• Cybercrime and social impacts
• Corporate going concerns and risks
• Accounting and IT auditing
• Corporate governance and monitoring
• Board activism and influence
• Corporate sentiment surveillance
• Market influence analytics and media intelligence
• Consumer-generated media and social media analytics

IMPORTANT DATES

• Paper submission due date: March 11, 2013 (Extended from February 15, 2013)
• Notification of acceptance: April 8, 2013
• Due date for Workshop proposals: February 18, 2013

PAPER SUBMISSION
Submission file formats are PDF and Microsoft Word. Required Word/LaTeX templates (IEEE two-column format) can be found at the conference Web site. Long (6,000 words, 6 pages max) and short (3000 words, 3 pages max.) Papers in English must be submitted electronically via the conference Web site. The accepted papers from ISI 2013 and its affiliated workshops will be published by the IEEE Press in formal Proceedings. IEEE ISI Proceedings are EI-indexed. Authors who wish to present a poster and/or demo may submit a 1-page extended abstract, which, if selected, will appear in Proceedings. The selected IEEE ISI 2013 best papers will be invited for contribution to the Springer Security Informatics journal. The deadline for paper submissions is February 15, 2013. Paper submission instructions and template information can be found at on the Submissions page at https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=ieeeisi2013.

Best papers awards will be given in three categories:

• Best paper
• Runner-up paper
• Best student paper
• Runner-up student paper.

WORKSHOPS
In conjunction with ISI 2013, several workshops will be held on June 4, 2013.Special-topic workshops in any areas of Intelligence and Security Informatics research and practice are welcome. Such events will be an integral part of the ISI-2013 conference program. Proposals in PDF or Microsoft Word not exceeding 3 pages should be emailed to the conference organizing committee at antonio@pnnl.gov by February 18, 2012 and contain the following information.

• Title of tutorial/workshop
• Preferred duration (half day vs. full day)
• Brief bios of proposed instructor(s)/organizer(s)
• Objectives to be achieved
• Scope of topics to be covered
• Target audience and the list of potential presenters/contributors

AMIA - Public Health Informatics Workgroup Webinar Series

Public Health Informatics Workgroup Webinar Series

AMIA and the AMIA Public Health Informatics Work Group are planning a series of webinars on timely issues in public health and population health informatics. The webinars will include information from relevant experts and an opportunity for questions and interaction with all participants. These webinars are open to both AMIA members and non-AMIA members for no charge. 

The Data and Informatics Needs of the Recent Meningitis Events

Date – February 12, 2013

Time – 12:00 Noon EST

At least 44 people have died and more than 678 people in 19 states have become ill from fungal meningitis, epidural abscesses, and other infections after receiving contaminated steroid shots made by the New England Compounding Center in Massachusetts.   Public health response to these events required coordination among multiple Federal and State organizations, recommendations for the management of possible and confirmed cases and strong patient and physician communications. This webinar will focus on data and informatics needs of this event and what capabilities could facilitate similar responses in the future.

Speakers:

Janet J Hamilton, MPH
Disease Control and Health Protection
Bureau of Epidemiology
Florida Department of Health

Marion Kainer, MD MPH FRACP
Director, Healthcare Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance Program
Tennessee Department of Health

J. Todd Weber, MD
Incident Manager, CDC Response to Multistate Outbreak of Fungal Meningitis and Other Infections 
Chief, Prevention and Response Branch
Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, NCEZID
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

To participate – Register beforehand at: 

https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/526283406

AMIA aims to lead the way in transforming health care through trusted science, education, and the practice of informatics. AMIA connects a broad community of professionals and students interested in informatics. AMIA is the bridge for knowledge and collaboration across a continuum, from basic and applied research to the consumer and public health arenas. One of the five domains supported by AMIA is the Public Health Informatics Working Group. Public Health Informatics is the application of informatics in areas of public health, including surveillance, reporting, and health promotion.

NYC DOHMH Job Posting: Syndromic Surveillance Informatics Manager

Job Title: Syndromic Surveillance Informatics Manager

Civil Service Title: Computer Systems Manager

Proposed Salary Range: $49,492.00 - $81,903.00 (Annual)

Work Location: 42-09 28th Street, Long Island City, NY

Division/Work Unit: IT Solutions and Delivery

Job Description: The Informatics Unit is an innovative operational unit within the Bureau of Informatics and Development responsible for implementation activities and strategic planning of large scale city-wide critical systems and infrastructure including NYC Syndromic Surveillance Reporting. The Unit liaises and coordinates with NYC hospital electronic medical records IT staff to implement upgrades and enhancements for data quality and timeliness of syndromic reporting. In addition, NYC DOHMH is taking on a new initiative to integrate with CDC’s BioSense system in order to track syndromic data and response activities across jurisdictions. The Syndromic Surveillance Informatics Manager, under the direction of the Director of Informatics and Data Services, with great latitude for independent thinking, will be responsible for implementing and overseeing the following activities: 

• Act as the main IT point of contact with NYC area hospitals regarding transmission of syndromic surveillance data and meeting Meaningful Use requirements.

• Work with NYC Hospital EDs to implement syndromic reporting for those that are currently not reporting.

• Liaise with NYC-area hospitals to implement electronic reporting of syndromic surveillance emergency department data from non-standard methods to standard HL7 formats consistent with Meaningful Use.

• Coordinate transition of data transmission of ED data to HL7 standards that are consistent with Meaningful Use requirements, including work with BCD Syndromic staff to test new HL7 file data quality and timeliness, as compared to existing methods.

• Possess strong analytic skills along with the technical skills needed to work with large data systems and strong working knowledge of SAS (SAS eBI 9.2,  Proc SQL, Macros) and SQL (Database server Application), is required. Ability to program in capacity in SSRS or ability to learn SSRS is a plus.

• Extensive knowledge working with HL7 messages and HL7 parsing tools as well as XML messages and XML framework.

• Identify data quality issues independently or in coordination with BCD Syndromic Surveillance unit.

• Identify, troubleshoot and resolve issues with interruptions in reporting from NYC hospitals to DOHMH.

• Escalate reporting issues to Informatics and BCD Syndromic Surveillance unit.

• Work with NYC hospitals to improve data quality and timeliness of syndromic ED reports.

• In coordination with DIIT technical staff and BCD Syndromic data analysts, design a central database for syndromic ED data.

• Investigate methods to electronically submit data to BioSense.

• In coordination with DIIT application developers and BioSense technical team, design a method to report NYC Syndromic ED data to BioSense.

• Ability to utilize Geographic Information Systems tools (GIS) such as ESRI and ArcGIS Server to assist surveillance programs to map ELR data.

• Examine other electronic data sources linked to syndromic surveillance and identify methods to improve data quality.

• Use knowledge of syndromic surveillance to collaborate with colleagues on various data matching and surveillance projects.

• Escalate reporting issues to Director of Informatics and DOHMH surveillance programs as necessary.

• In addition, the Syndromic Surveillance Informatics Manager will prepare presentations, manuscripts, and reports describing initiatives, systems, methodologies and results as well as participate and represent DOHMH in conferences, meetings and seminars.

For complete information regarding Minimum Qualification Requirements and Preferred Skills, visit the full Job Posting on the NYC Gov Careers Site.

To Apply: 

Apply online with a cover letter to https://a127-jobs.nyc.gov/.  In the Job ID search bar, enter: job ID number #113535.

Posting Date: 11/26/2012
Post Until: Until Filled