Public Health Data Management

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 16:08 -- Channa Lindsay

Does anyone happen to know of software that can help public health programs track data not required to be reported to the state?
In general each PH program here use very different state mandated systems. A comprehensive system to store, analyze, and review data not required to be input into these systems does not exist. I need a way to fill in these data gaps. Also, the items tracked in the software program need to be modifiable since each program wants to review vastly different metrics.

 

Thanks

Channa 

__________________

First, I would like to say thank you for all the wonderful answers! I appreciate you all taking the time to help out.


Second, I thought I would clarify our needs a bit better.


We do have a software program to store, view, and track the progress of projects and programs. It also creates Dashboard reports. Currently, however, we can only track data input into state systems. While these metrics are important, there are additional metrics our programs would like to monitor. We would like to find a system that will help us track these additional metrics. I have creating decent tracking tool in Excel, but a more sophisticated system is preferable.


Ex of a metric: The percent of time each person and/ or program spends in the community vs. in clinics vs. in schools. This would be self-reported data that staff would be able to track in the system.


Again, the items tracked in the program need to be modifiable since each program wants to review vastly different metrics.


I realize this is a very specific request, and don’t expect such a program to exist. On the other hand, it never hurts to reach out!


Again, thank you for your time and support in responding.

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Submitted by eileens on

Hi Channa, at Maricopa County Dept of Public Health, we contracted with a private vendor who has helped us create a performance management dashboard, which is the fancy way of saying that we now have a database that houses the performance measures of all our programs at the department.  We're also using it to track our departmental action plans for quality improvement, workforce development, the CHIP, and our strategic plan.  If you want more information about how we're using this, let me know!

Eileen

Eileen Eisen-Cohen, PhD

Performance Improvement Manager

eileeneisen-cohen@mail.maricopa.gov

(602) 372-8424 

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Eileen Eisen-Cohen, PhD
Performance Improvement Manager
Maricopa County Department of Public Health
www.wearepublichealth.org

Steven.Chapman@flhealth.gov's picture
Submitted by Steven.Chapman@... on

Sounds like you need some sort of database program that is fairly flexible.  A lot of folks use Microsoft's Access, but if you have a good IT department, they may be able to set up a Microsoft SQL database for you.

There are a number of Business Intelligence (BI) solutions that are out there.  Some can actually draw data from other automated systems and bring it all together into dashboards, etc.  IBM's COGNOS, SAS, Oracle, and a bunch of other products are out there.

We have 67 counties that send us data that isn't normally contained in our automated systems.  The fun in that is that you can get VBA (macro) language that will pull all those files together, clean them up, and produce a nice data file out of a bunch of Excel files that folks send you.  Secret is Googling, "how do I ---- in Excel?"

For ad hoc reporting, we rely on SPSS or SAS.  I am a 30-year veteran of SPSS programming, which is pretty easy to pick up, but its expensive.  SAS is complicated, but very versatile.  I like SPSS because I can pull in data from Microsoft products, as well as from SQL, SAS, or other data sources.  Not hard to learn.  I pull all kinds of data in using SPSS and squirrel it away for analysis later.

Hope that helps some--good luck!

 

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Steven F. Chapman, Ph.D., Director
Public Health Statistics and Performance Management
Florida Department of Health
(850) 245-4444, X4712
Steven.Chapman@flhealth.gov

Submitted by Torney Smith on

Our agency utilizes SQL with a SharePoint front end.  There is wonderful flexibility  once properly set up.  Set up is an involved process.

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4Sloan's picture
Submitted by 4Sloan on

Results scorecard is an online system that allows you to make customizable reports. It also has some pre-loaded templates....like the for the Couny Health rankings. This system is based on the Mark Friedman Results-Based Accountability model which we use at our LHJ. Definitely worth a look: http://resultsaccountability.com/

 

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Submitted by Channa Lindsay on

First, I would like to say thank you for all the wonderful answers! I appreciate you all taking the time to help out.


Second, I thought I would clarify our needs a bit better.


We do have a software program to store, view, and track the progress of projects and programs. It also creates Dashboard reports. Currently, however, we can only track data input into state systems. While these metrics are important, there are additional metrics our programs would like to monitor. We would like to find a system that will help us track these additional metrics. I have creating decent tracking tool in Excel, but a more sophisticated system is preferable.


Ex of a metric: The percent of time each person and/ or program spends in the community vs. in clinics vs. in schools. This would be self-reported data that staff would be able to track in the system. 


Again, the items tracked in the program need to be modifiable since each program wants to review vastly different metrics.


I realize this is a very specific request, and don’t expect such a program to exist. On the other hand, it never hurts to reach out! 


Again, thank you for your time and support in responding.

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Channa Lindsay

Submitted by Carlylb on

Hi Channa,

We started out with an Excel spreadsheet for a tracking tool, but then switched it to Google Spreadsheets and now have a shared file on Google Drive.  Each program has their own spreadsheet to track their own measures.  We done this by setting up seperate tabs or pages for each program within the same file.  The Google program allows you to create locks on each tab or on individual cells within the page so you can specify who has editing rights and to what.  It allows several individuals access to the spreadsheets at one time and you have the ability to monitor the history of who/what has been changed.  The tracking tool you developed in Excel could be the standard template you use for each program, and the program managers could add/remove performance measures as long as you give them editing rights.  Formulas can be created in the "total" column to calculate the percentages you want and those cells can be locked so they are not accidently changed. Its not anything fancy, but it might meet your needs.  We also use a similar method for tracking our employee training....each employee has their own tab and locks are set up for each tab.

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Rhonda Bartow