Biomedical subjects

Kristin N Saarlas

Publications and source records attributed to Kristin N Saarlas.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Integrating child health information systems.

The Health Resources and Services Administration and All Kids Count (a national technical assistance center fostering development of integrated child health information systems) have been working together to foster development of integrated child health information systems. Activities have included: identification of key elements for successful integration of systems; development of principles and core functions for the systems; a survey of state and local integration efforts; and a conference to develop a common vision for child health information systems to meet medical care and public health needs. We provide 1 state (Utah) as an example that is well on the way to development of integrated child health information systems.

Child↗

PubMed2004

The near-term future for child health information systems.

The developmental process in children offers an opportunity to influence their health and well-being as adults. The information infrastructure of the future needs to support the multiple partners responsible for providing elements of the health protection and health care of children. In this partnership, public health plays simultaneously a supportive role and a leadership role. Five tasks need to guide near-term information systems thinking with respect to establishing a basis for building electronic linkages among various child health programs. First, the nation's vital records system must be reengineered to ensure that this key information asset can be integrated into other child health information systems. Second, through an appropriate governance structure, the key stakeholders in child health should endorse standards and requirements that define a longitudinal health record for children. Third, public health agencies should develop a thorough business case/value proposition that drives mutually developed and mutually endorsed requirements for the integration of presently fragmented systems. Fourth, public health should take the lead in ensuring that parents have convenient access to information that can support the coordination of their child's care and development. And fifth, provider groups and public health agencies should join research networks to study how information supports positive changes to children's health.

Child↗

PubMed2004

All Kids Count 1991-2004: developing information systems to improve child health and the delivery of immunizations and preventive services.

The All Kids Count program began in late 1991 with funding from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The purpose was to improve child health and the delivery of immunizations and preventive services through the development of health information systems. All Kids Count concluded in mid-2004 having worked directly with 38 state and local health agencies through its grant and Connections program. The lessons learned from the 13-year program are applicable to other public health and medical care initiatives. Health information systems projects should: (1) involve stakeholders from the beginning, (2) recognize the complexity of establishing a population-based information system, (3) develop the policy/business/value case for information systems, (4) define the requirements of the system to support users' needs, (5) develop information systems according to current standards, (6) address common problems collaboratively, (7) plan for change, (8) plan boldly but build incrementally, (9) develop a good communications strategy, and (10) use the information (even if not perfect). Opportunities exist for public health agencies to share their experiences from developing immunization registries and integrated child health information systems and to develop collaborative approaches to improving the nation's health information infrastructure.

Child↗

PubMed2004

A vision for child health information systems: developing child health information systems to meet medical care and public health needs.

In both the medical care and public health arenas, a variety of information systems have been developed to serve providers and program managers. In general, these systems have not been designed to share information with other information systems and provide comprehensive information about a child's health status to the information user. A number of initiatives are underway to develop integrated information systems. In December 2003, All Kids Count hosted an invitational conference "Developing Child Health Information Systems to Meet Medical Care and Public Health Needs." Through a series of plenary presentations and breakout discussion groups, participants developed a series of recommendations about governance, economic issues, information infrastructure, and uses of information from integrated child health information systems (CHIS). Common threads in the recommendations were: (1) development of a national coalition of stakeholders to promote integration of separate child health information systems within the context of ongoing national initiatives such as the National Health Information Infrastructure and the Public Health Information Network, (2) the need to develop the business and policy cases for integrated CHIS, (3) the need to develop agreement on standards for collecting and transferring information, and (4) the need to get the word out about the importance of integrating separate CHIS to improve health and health services.

Child↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Developing performance measures for immunization registries.

Quantitative performance indicators were developed to monitor immunization registry progress of the 16 All Kids Count (AKC) grantees. Results were reviewed to determine if (1) the indicators measured immunization registry progress, (2) the results could be compared across AKC projects, and (3) other immunization registries could use the indicators. The study found that the AKC performance indicators provide a useful template for registries to measure their progress toward developing fully mature registries. Public health leaders should join with private health sector representatives to build on the immunization registry experience and develop and test performance indicators for integrated information systems in order to develop common goals and monitor changes in a comprehensive way.

Benchmarking↗