IT Workforce Competencies: Issues for Local Public Health

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IT Workforce Competencies Issues forLocal
Public Health
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What are Public Health Core Competencies

• The core competencies represent a set of skills,
  knowledge, and attitudes necessary for the broad
  practice of public health. They transcend the
  boundaries of the specific disciplines within
  public health and help to unify the profession.
  Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public
  Health Practice
• 38 of the core competencies relate to
  informatics skills

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What are our priorities?

• Diminish chronic disease complications
• Identify and eliminate barriers to health care
• Sustain and improve air, land, and water quality.
  
• Sustain and improve systems to identify and track
  existing and emerging health issues.

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RELATIONSHIP TO INFORMATICS

• Todays public health professionals must be able
  to use information effectively to use
  information technology effectively and to manage
  information technology projects effectively.
• Informatics Competencies for Public Health
  Professionals, Version 1.0, August 2002

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Knowledge
DATA
Clinical services Environmental services Vital
Statistics Cancer Registry Community Assessments
Program planning, development,
evaluation Designing interventions --improve
health status Policy recommendations
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• In our local health department, the Health Data
  Evaluation and Information Fiscal Management
  Divisions share the responsibility for helping
  Department managers and staff achieve these
  competencies.

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GOAL Knowledge Management
The right knowledge in the right place at the
right time to make better informed and faster
decisions
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ISSUES

• Forty seven competencies is overwhelmingwhere do
  you start?
• Not all staff need the same level of
  proficiencyhow do you determine?
• Training is not the only approachwhat do you do?

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Prioritizing and Developing Competencies

• Review and prioritize competencies
• Survey staff

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Public Health Informatics Competencies

• Three classes
• Effective use of INFORMATION (24)
• Effective use of INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (9)
• Effective Management of INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
  PROJECTS (12)

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Public Health Informatics Competencies

• Level of competency for each skill is identified
  by three types of staff
• Front line
• Senior-level technical
• Supervisory/management.

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Initial Prioritization

• Based on current department priorities and use of
  technology. We recommended that for FY 2006, we
  would concentrate on ten of the competencies.

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Priorities for 2006 All Staff

• Effective use of INFORMATION
• Communicates effectively (11)
• Applies ethical principals (3)
• Effective use of Information TECHNOLOGY
• Utilizes personal computers (1)
• Utilizes modern information tools for
  communication (2)
• Maintains confidentiality (6)

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Priorities for 2006 Professional Staff

• Effective use of Information TECHNOLOGY
• Utilizes modern information technology to
  identify.interpret and use on-line public
  health-related information and data (4)
• Utilizes modern distance learning technologies
  (7)
• Utilizes modern information science and
  technology as a strategic tool (8)

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Priorities for 2006 Division Managers

• Effective MANAGEMENT of Information Technologies
• Composes and manages systems development teams in
  a manner that demonstrates recognition of
  appropriate roles and domains (1)
• Recognizes, participates in and applies accepted
  models and processes for developing information
  systems and for managing information resources
  (3)

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Priorities for 2006 Senior Level Technical Staff

• Effective MANAGEMENT of Information Technologies
• Work toward proficiency in all twelve management
  competencies

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Survey staff

• Conduct survey of staff perceptions of their own
  competency for each of these and their
  self-identified need for training.
• Analyze results to
• Identify the range of skills needed, type of job
  responsibilities and priority of skill
  development related to department and division
  strategic planning
• Recommend specific priorities for training

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Long Term Goals

• Individualized competency development plans
  managed by supervisors
• Method to track or certify competency level
• Annual report and goal setting

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References

• Northwest Center for Public Health Practice
  http//healthlinks.washington.edu/nwcphp/phi/comps
  /competencies.html
• Council on Linkages http//www.trainingfinder.or
  g/competencies/index.htm

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Contact Information

• Kathleen Cook
• Information Fiscal Division Manager
• Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department
• 3140 N Street
• Lincoln, NE
• 402-441-8092
• kcook_at_ci.lincoln.ne.us