Page 40 - Driving Public Health in the Fast Lane

Expert Testimonial
Christine Steward
Health Protection Director,
Sedgwick County Health Dept.
Wichita, KS
Progress Made, but Silos Remain
Local health departments make it easier for people to be healthy
and safe. The Sedgwick County Health Department (SCHD)
in Wichita, Kansas improves the health of more than 513,000
county residents by preventing disease, promoting wellness, and protecting
the public from health threats. Every day, SCHD works with the state health
department, Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), and
local partners that use multiple inter-and intra-agency data systems to track
and report their work. SCHD must have a trained data workforce and
enhanced infrastructure, such as interoperable data systems automated
to exchange information, to quickly and effectively gather and apply data to
improve local health outcomes.
A workforce trained in data collection and analysis is critical for SCHD as it
positions itself as a data warehouse, information distributor and technical
advisor to local partners working to show community health program
effectiveness. Compared to most local health departments in Kansas, SCHD
has greater data analysis capacity and expertise. However, the large amount
of work requested of data staff means projects have to be prioritized. Students
working on data-oriented projects enhance data analysis capacity at SCHD.
Federal, state and local public health entities are linked together through
state statutes and local ordinances, common population health purpose,
and funding. Due to internally and externally siloed program management
through the years, multiple software systems used by all levels of public health
for managing work and reporting to each other have created inefficient
processes—such as duplicate data entry—and are a barrier to advancing
population health. SCHD is no exception. A 2018 internal SCHD survey
counted 85 software systems, spreadsheets, and databases in use to manage
and report data generated and received by SCHD.
Federal disease surveillance funding to CDC benefits local public health
through enhancing federal software systems that state and local health
departments use, and also through opportunities for state and local health
departments to create automated, interoperable, and secure systems for
rapid implementation of disease control measures.
• In Kansas, under public health statutes and guidelines, local health
departments like SCHD contact residents diagnosed with certain
notifiable diseases, such as whooping cough. SCHD staff record
disease investigation information in EpiTrax, a secure, internet-based
system maintained by KDHE. While not interoperable with other
SCHD systems, EpiTrax does allow real-time collaboration on disease
investigations by SCHD and KDHE.
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