title: Leveraging Cloud Computing to Address Public Health Disparities: An Analysis of the SPHPS.
abstract: As the use of certified electronic health record technology (CEHRT) has continued to gain prominence in hospitals and physician practices, public health agencies and health professionals have the ability to access health data through health information exchanges (HIE). With such knowledge health providers are well positioned to positively affect population health, and enhance health status or quality-of-life outcomes in at-risk populations. Through big data analytics, predictive analytics and cloud computing, public health agencies have the opportunity to observe emerging public health threats in real-time and provide more effective interventions addressing health disparities in our communities. The Smarter Public Health Prevention System (SPHPS) provides real-time reporting of potential public health threats to public health leaders through the use of a simple and efficient dashboard and links people with needed personal health services through mobile platforms for smartphones and tablets to promote and encourage healthy behaviors in our communities. The purpose of this working paper is to evaluate how a secure virtual private cloud (VPC) solution could facilitate the implementation of the SPHPS in order to address public health disparities.
authors.affiliation: University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Public Health ; University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System ; University of Illinois at Chicago, Biomedical and Health Information Sciences.
authors.forename: Arash
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jalali
authors.forename: Olusegun A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Olabode
authors.forename: Christopher M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Bell
keywords: big data analytics; cloud computing; health disparities; public health informatics; smarter public health prevention system; virtual private cloud