title: Description of a method to support public health information management: organizational network analysis.
abstract: In this case study, we describe a method that has potential to provide systematic support for public health information management. Public health agencies depend on specialized information that travels throughout an organization via communication networks among employees. Interactions that occur within these networks are poorly understood and are generally unmanaged. We applied organizational network analysis, a method for studying communication networks, to assess the method's utility to support decision making for public health managers, and to determine what links existed between information use and agency processes. Data on communication links among a health department's staff was obtained via survey with a 93% response rate, and analyzed using Organizational Risk Analyzer (ORA) software. The findings described the structure of information flow in the department's communication networks. The analysis succeeded in providing insights into organizational processes which informed public health managers' strategies to address problems and to take advantage of network strengths.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Informatics, Columbia University, 630 West 168th Street, VC 5, New York, NY 10032, USA. jam119@columbia.edu
authors.forename: Jacqueline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Merrill
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bakken
authors.forename: Maxine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rockoff
authors.forename: Kristine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gebbie
authors.forename: Kathleen M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Carley
mesh_terms: D003628:Database Management Systems; D003660:Decision Support Systems, Management / Q000458:organization & administration*; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval / Q000379:methods*; D008490:Medical Informatics / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017146:Models, Organizational; D009518:New York; D011634:Public Health / Q000379:methods*