New York State-Department of Health: The New York State Department of Health and Health Research Inc., in collaboration with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, has been awarded a $20 million grant from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to improve the state’s accuracy, timeliness and completeness of public health surveillance and reporting. This five-year grant is one of three awarded nationally in response to a CDC competitive request for proposals.
This grant will make it possible for state, city and county health departments to work collaboratively with providers to detect the spread of disease and to track it over time, take actions to prevent illness and improve the health of New Yorkers. Automated ways of tracking people and monitoring hospital capacity and the supply of resources in public health emergencies will also be improved. The information required for this will be accessed and analyzed through a state-of-the-art health information exchange (HIE) service. Patient confidentiality is a top priority of this initiative, and all solutions developed will ensure patient privacy and implementation of the highest security standards.
“The creation of an automated and uniform way to share, measure and report health data will increase the quality of information, improve case management and coordination and reduce costs,” said state Health Commissioner Richard F. Daines, M.D. “Public health stakeholders will have access to additional public health information that is not currently available. The public health HIE service will improve surveillance, communication and response to disease outbreaks and other public health emergencies.”
Read full press release: State and City Health Departments to Support Improvements in Disease-Tracking Reporting Through $20 Million Federal Grant