Data Modernization Initiative (DMI)
What is the DMI?
What is the DMI?
DASH is strengthening U.S. Public Health Infrastructure by providing technical assistance as part of the CDC’s Data Modernization Initiative (DMI).
As part of the Public Health Infrastructure Grant of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), DASH will support state, local, and territorial health department efforts to modernize data systems, recruit and retain a skilled public health workforce, and address longstanding public health infrastructure needs.
The Public Health Infrastructure Grant
In 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced a $4.5 billion grant to create a stronger, more resilient public health system. The three focus areas of the 5-year grant are Workforce, Foundational Capabilities, and Data Modernization.
To date, CDC has awarded $3.84 billion to 107 public health departments in all 50 states, Washington D.C., 8 territories/freely associated states, and 48 large localities. Over $3 billion of that award came from the American Rescue Plan Act.
Three national partners, the National Network of Public Health Institutes (NNPHI), the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), and the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB), support the work of the 107 funded health departments. These three organizations provide training and technical assistance, evaluate the program, and facilitate coordination and communication across recipients and CDC.
DASH is working with NNPHI to provide technical assistance on data modernization to public health departments.
How data modernization looks like…
A community health worker
knows precisely which neighborhood needs a pop-up vaccine clinic
A public health analyst
produces a report that used to take two days in just two clicks of a button
A research team
analyzes more than 12 million health records to understand latent tuberculosis infection
A multi-state healthcare network
saves 160,000 staff hours that would have been spent on paperwork
A policymaker
uses a real-time wastewater surveillance dashboard to send resources where they’re needed most
Data Modernization Training & Technical Assistance
DASH is supporting the CDC’s DMI by launching a Data Modernization Training & Technical Assistance program.
The program will help to build the capacity of grant-recipient public health departments (state, territories, and large metropolitan jurisdictions) to enhance the data and information infrastructure used by public health and help jurisdictions achieve more efficiency, interoperability, data availability, use, and reach of public health programs.
Since 2016, DASH has provided technical assistance, funding, resources, and tools to help organizations in the public health, social services, and healthcare sectors share data. DASH programs have focused on equity, multi-sector data sharing, and building internal and external collaborations.
Our DASH Framework demonstrates how sharing data across sectors can contribute to better health, well-being, and equity by supporting better practices, informing policy, holding systems accountable, identifying how current systems reinforce inequity, and challenging dominant narratives.
Data modernization will result in…
20,000+
healthcare facilities delivering automated, real-time case reports — up from just 187 before the pandemic
91%
complete race information in syndromic surveillance – up from 80% in 2019 – which is critically important for understanding health disparities
~90%
of death records coded automatically using natural language processing – up from 75% with the previous system – with data to jurisdictions in minutes
~80%
decrease in development time for CDC’s response and surveillance programs using new Cloud components
~5.5
days from sample collection to data available in CDC’s wastewater surveillance system – down from about 4 weeks
DASH Expertise
As part of its Data Modernization Training & Technical Assistance program, DASH is offering assistance to grantee public health departments on collaborative multi-sector data ecosystems and has expertise in the following areas:
Data Governance
Data Standards
Technology
Building Collaborative Partnerships
Shared Vision
Trust
Systems Change
Equitable Policy and Practice
Building Connections and Sharing Power
Narrative Change
Through our DMI Stakeholder Integration Advisory Group interviews and literature review, we have identified the following key technical assistance topics:
Interoperability
Data Governance
Breaking Down Silos
Data Standards
Partnerships
Trust
Legal Challenges
