title: Factors related to public health data sharing between local and state health departments.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Public health organizations increasingly face the need to be able to share data among themselves and ultimately with other providers. We examined what factors contribute to public health organizations' data exchange capabilities.
  
  
  METHODS
  National Association of County and City Health Officials' 2008 National Profile of Local Health Departments survey was linked to the Association of State and Territorial Health Official's 2007 Profile of State Public Health Survey.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of organizational factors associated with gaps in data sharing between state health agencies (SHAs) and local health departments (LHDs) in the areas of childhood immunizations, vital records, and reportable conditions.
  
  
  METHODS
  Based on reported information system (IS) capabilities, we created a binary variable that measured whether bidirectional data sharing was structurally possible between an LHD and its respective SHA.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The proportion of LHDs experiencing a data sharing gap was 34.0 percent for immunizations, 69.8 percent for vital records, and 81.8 percent for reportable conditions. Increased SHA technological capacity and size reduced the odds of gaps.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Improving the IS capabilities of public health agencies may be the key to their remaining relevant in the currently evolving health care system.
authors.affiliation: Center for Healthcare Informatics and Policy, Division of Quality and Medical Informatics, Department of Public Health, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Joshua R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Vest
authors.forename: L Michele
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Issel
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003195:Computer Communication Networks / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D057286:Electronic Health Records / Q000458:organization & administration*; D035082:Federal Government; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007114:Immunization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D033181:Information Dissemination / Q000379:methods*; D009111:Local Government; D008297:Male; D011635:Public Health Administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013219:State Government; D014481:United States; D014798:Vital Statistics
keywords: Public health; computer communication networks; organization and administration; public health informatics; public health surveillance