International Journal of Health Policy and Management

International Journal of Health Policy and Management

Health Departments’ Engagement in Emergency Preparedness Activities: The Influence of Health Informatics Capacity

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Gulzar H. Shah
Bobbie Newell
Ruth E. Whitworth
Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA, USA
10.15171/ijhpm.2016.48
Abstract
Background
Local health departments (LHDs) operate in a complex and dynamic public health landscape, with changing demands on their emergency response capacities. Informatics capacities might play an instrumental role in aiding LHDs emergency preparedness. This study aimed to explore the extent to which LHDs’ informatics capacities are associated with their activity level in emergency preparedness and to identify which health informatics capacities are associated with improved emergency preparedness.
 
Methods
We used the 2013 National Profile of LHDs study to perform Poisson regression of emergency preparedness activities.
 
Results
Only 38.3% of LHDs participated in full-scale exercises or drills for an emergency in the 12 months period prior to the survey, but a much larger proportion provided emergency preparedness training to staff (84.3%), and/or participated in tabletop exercises (76.4%). Our multivariable analysis showed that after adjusting for several resource-related LHD characteristics, LHDs with more of the 6 information systems still tend to have slightly more preparedness activities. In addition, having a designated emergency preparedness coordinator, and having one or more emergency preparedness staff were among the most significant factors associated with LHDs performing more emergency preparedness activities.
 
Conclusion
LHDs might want to utilize better health information systems and information technology tools to improve their activity level in emergency preparedness, through improved information dissemination, and evidence collection.
Keywords
Informatics
Electronic Health Records (EHRs)
Emergencies
Immunization
Health
Information
Exchange
Disease Notification
Registries
Subjects
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International Journal of Health Policy and Management
Volume 5, Issue 10
2016
Pages 575-582

  • Received Date 09 September 2015
  • Revised Date 21 April 2016
  • Accepted Date 23 April 2016
  • First Published Date 01 October 2016
  • Published Date 01 October 2016