The Initiative

Information technology and communication systems are vital to the delivery of public health services. The Iowa Public Health Standards* outline the Iowa Department of Public Health's responsibility for establishing and maintaining a data warehouse. This will result in:

• Improved public health decision making: Take advantage of high quality, accessible data and decision support tools.
• Healthier Iowans in healthier communities: Use data to perform thorough community health needs assessments and to create and implement impactful health improvement plans.
• Increased opportunities for funding: Use data to support grant applications and ensure secured funds are used on programs that provide the most value to Iowans.
• Better use of time and resources: Spend less time searching for data and more time using the data for value-added activities.

Directly or indirectly, the data warehouse will support the missions, visions, and core functions of several groups:

• State and federal agencies
• Local public health practitioners
• Academic institutions and researchers
• Community partners and the public

IDPH Data Warehouse Team

• This team is comprised of the project coordinator, technical lead, database administrator/architect and support staff. The team drives the maintenance and progression of the data warehouse.

Data Warehouse Administrative Team

• This group of administrators provides oversight and guidance for the warehouse project. Several division directors, bureau chiefs and program staff serve on this team, which meets twice monthly.

Other Developmental Partners include:

• Lead User Group
• Environmental Public Health Tracking Technology Advisory Group
• Department data committees (e.g. Research and Ethics Review Committee)

The data warehouse was built on SQL Server. Access to the application is provided using SharePoint technology. SharePoint access is currently limited to basic users. Advanced users access the system through a database connection in Excel.

The data warehouse is not a transactional warehouse; rather, final data are loaded annually. The data warehouse does not contain provisional data. The data warehouse is constructed on the basis of public health events and does not allow for the tracking of a specific individual over time.

Data are available in four subject areas - Birth, Death, Statewide Inpatient Discharge, and Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). The most recent census data is used to calculate rates and extrapolate data when missing. In addition, county snapshots provide brief glimpses into the health of counties throughout Iowa. These snapshots contain indicators with statistics for the county and the state.