You are asked to justify the creation of the first public health infor

QUESTION

You are asked to justify the creation of the first public health informatics (PHI) program in your jurisdiction. You will emphasize this likely benefit by ensuring:

a. current PHI can enhance public health surveillance such as identifying clusters of diseases.
b. privacy and security issues are avoided because public health informatics data are de-identified at the community level.
c. interoperability already exists for public health IT.
d. standards already exist for PHI.

ANSWER:

ANS: A
Emphasizing the likely benefit of a PHI program (e.g. identifying clusters of diseases) will ensure that current PHI can enhance public health surveillance. The others are still issues in public health informatics, but they do not ensure benefit.