With major investments from Congress and technology in hand, what will it take to make public health data modernization a reality?

Abstract

The public health practice community has reached a turning point. To accelerate how we detect, respond to, and mitigate public health threats, we must improve public health's data infrastructure. The COVID-19 pandemic is a stark reminder of the vital, centuries-old role that hundreds of thousands of public health professionals play in protecting the health and safety of communities in the United States. Historically, public health's impact has been “behind the scenes.” When it works, communities are vital, well, and healthy. COVID-19 has shown what happens when public health faces challenges due to chronic underfunding and a lack of clear transformational planning for modernizing data systems, which are the critical backbone of all public health programs.