20250108 Meeting Notes

We have a planning call with NACCHO on 1/8/25

Introductions

NACCHO Attendees:

• Meghan Shea - Senior Program Analyst; previously with CO DPH; 1.5yr at NACCHO; Columbus OH local DPH; support informatics and epi workgroup, forecasting

• Aurimar “ow-reemar” Ayala, “Ari nickname” - Senior Director of Infectious Diseases & Informatics; at NACCHO for a year; previously epi, CDC, County AZ, Tribal epi in CA; Puerto Rico; BU for MPH; JPHIT

• Gelilawit Tamrat “Guh-lee-la” - senior program analyst; 3 years with NACCHO; health dept and healthcare background

• All located in Northern Virginia; NACCHO offices are closed

APHL Attendees:

• Vanessa Holley

• Mel Kourbage

Discussion

New CoAg! Put in activities to work with NGOs on collaborative efforts

APHL helps PHLs and PHAs; we do a lot of technical assistance

NACCHO CoAg: Started year 1 FY25; there may be a chance to incorporate APHL/NACHO collab into next year

• “Transforming Informatics”

• Convening with CDC with 40+ LHDs - data modernization and other topics

• Listening sessions, foster communication between CDC and LHDs - plans to build capacity, implement data strategy at local level

• Informatics Champions - used to be webinar series; want to be more CoP

• Informatics Workgroup - Geillawit and Meghan facilitate - informatics experts at local level

  • Was 12, now 30 in the group

  • Meet monthly

• FHIR

  • Had Direct funding for pilot sites, but now they have subcontract with ASTHO

  • Want to have another site for FHIR; helping to engage LHDs for FHIR work

  • Phase 3 now

  • Gelilawit is the expert; she can provide more information

  • (Mention FHIR training)

• NACCHO/CSTE joint project on chronic disease modernization

  • Now Project Directors is the prime, with NACCHO as subcontractor

  • CSTE is still on NCE

  • (Mention PHII surveillance system assessment toolkit)

• Disease forecasting work

  • 15 demo sites

  • Build capacity to build or use existing models

  • They will have a Learning Collaborative

• ASPR - preparedness

  • Demo project last year with LHDs to sign data use agreement for bidirectional data exchange during emergencies

  • LHDs don’t have good tracking of assets they receive from state/federal gov’t

  • Now fielding survey to see range of tracking tools

• Unfunded efforts

  • AI

  • Cybersecurity

  • Wastewater

Mutual CoAg Walkthrough

NACCHO Informatics Team:

• 3 of them

• Hiring Informatics Director

• Project Manager

APHL CoAg Collaboration Ideas

• Committee work - liaison opportunities?

• Technical Assistance / ELRTA?

  • Biggest gaps, biggest opportunities to support local/state, or state/federal informatics needs?

  • Fairfax/VA; LA County data exchange; Pennsylvania/Philadelphia

  • Experience with discrete ELC grantees at local level - NYC, Houston, LA County

  • Maricopa is now part of ELC

  • Brainstorming ideas to get LHDs direct technical assistance

• Data strategy, data governance, system assessments

• AIMS is a single hub for data exchange

  • Hosting do-it-yourself tools

  • Validation tools, vocab transformation, sequencing

• Standards

  • Riki Merrick - HL7, FHIR

JPHIT Collaboration

What Data Modernization Activities does NACCHO have in progress?

Standards & Interoperability

Technical Assistance

Policy Engagement; comments for TEFCA, USCDI+

NACCHO 360 / APHL Annual Meeting - what’s the skinny on the next NACCHO Conference?

• Another preliminary conference this year

• In future, separate public health informatics conference

ELC Meeting 2/18-2/20 in Atlanta - APHL will have representation there, likely Brooke Beaulieu

Data Modernization - LHDs - are they involved, how do they get involved, where’s the money going, do they know what’s available? “Trickle-down DMI money.”

Follow-up:

• Separate meeting to talk about FHIR. (VH/Mel will close on APHL attendees for that.)

• NACCHO always looking for presentations, webinars on standards.

• Set up regular NACCHO/APHL Informatics checkpoint; every 2 months