Implementing Asynchronous Communication in Public Health

Implementing Asynchronous Communication in Public Health

Jon Reid & Susan Mottice

Utah Department of HealthAnd

University of UtahCenter of Excellence in Public Health Informatics

jreid@utah.gov

Synchronous CommunicationSynchronous Communication

Direct communication, where all parties involved in the communication are present at the same time.

Synchronous Communication Methods

Synchronous Communication Methods

• Telephone / Conference Calls

• Meetings

• Video Conferences

Problems with Synchronous Communication

Problems with Synchronous Communication

• Time Consuming– Meetings take time to get started– You may only be interested in a portion of the

meeting

• Costly– Travel costs– Telecommunication costs

• Hard to schedule– Someone is always left out

Asynchronous CommunicationAsynchronous Communication

Asynchronous communication is a mediated form of communication in which the sender and receiver are not concurrently engaged in communication.

Asynchronous Communication Methods

Asynchronous Communication Methods

• Email

• Web Sites (Blogs, Lists, Wiki)

• Fax

• Web 2.0 Applications

Benefits of Asynchronous Communication

Benefits of Asynchronous Communication

• One message can be received by many– Local to Global

• Message can be viewed on receivers own time

• Messages can be archived and looked up again if needed

• Cost effective

Public Health Communication Survey

Public Health Communication Survey

• Survey administered to 79 public health workers in December 2009

8%

14%

16%

22%

22%

18%

Health Officer

Nursing Director

Program Manager

Epidemiology Nurse

Epidemiology Investigator

Other• Purpose was to

determine if public health workers:

1. If they feel they are well informed or disease events, issues, and outbreaks.

2. To identify barriers that exist that may prevent them from receiving/sharing information;

3. To gather information on the preferred communication methods for the receiving/sharing of information

Public Health Communication Survey

Public Health Communication Survey

Preferred method of communication

23%

61%

12%

2%

2%

Secure Web-Site

Phone Call

Email

Fax

Video Conference

67% 33%

28% 18% 54%

Preference for staying informed on routine communicable disease issues

Own Time Personal Interaction

I feel I am well informed about events outside of my local health jurisdiction.

AgreeNeutralDisagree

Public Health AccessPublic Health Access

• Secure Web-site

• Able to host secure applications

• Portal to public health information

• Allows secure asynchronous communication within public health and external users

• Single sign-on using the Utah Master Directory

Core AppsCore Apps

• Secure Messaging• Project Wiki• Contact Manager• Calendar• Documents

Secure AppsSecure Apps• User Administration• Program/User Specific

Applications• Program Controls

Access• Easily add or change

applications

Developing PHAccessDeveloping PHAccess

• Started first with epidemology need

• Issue Tracker

• Goals of Issue Tracker– High user acceptance– Low Cost– Expandable to local health departments– Functional and easy to learn and use

Messaging in PHAccessMessaging in PHAccessSend email to external email

address

Email Contains PHI?

Store secure email in

PHAccess

Send email to recipient with link to secure email

Recipient logs into PHAccess using UMD

credentials

Sender Creates Email

No

Yes

PHAccessPHAccess

http://health.utah.gov/phaccesshttp://health.utah.gov/phaccess

http://health.utah.gov/phihttp://health.utah.gov/phi