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Query @ PHO:. Empowering public health professionals to ask questions using current reportable infectious disease information. CPHA conference , May 27, 2014. Brenda Lee, Michelle Policarpio, Michael Whelan and Ruth Sanderson Public Health Ontario. Outline. Concept
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Query @ PHO: Empowering public health professionals to ask questions using current reportable infectious disease information CPHA conference, May 27, 2014 Brenda Lee, Michelle Policarpio, Michael Whelan and Ruth SandersonPublic Health Ontario
Outline • Concept • Reportable infectious disease data • Technology • Process • Pilot test • Product • Implications • Future Directions
Public Health Ontario • Public Health Ontario (PHO) is a Crown corporation dedicated to protecting and promoting the health of all Ontarians and reducing inequities in health • Mandated to provide scientific and technical advice and support to clients working in government, public health, health care, and related sectors • Responsible for the surveillance of reportable infectious disease in the province
The concept • Develop a tool for use by Ontario’s public health sector to access and independently explore reportable disease data with the following attributes: • Timely • Flexible • Straightforward user interface • Easily maintained with minimal need for IT support
Reportable infectious disease data collection and extraction • Integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS) • Reportable disease data in Ontario are reported by public health units (PHUs) to the province via iPHIS • As specified under the Health Protection and Promotion Act, R.R.O. 1990, Regulation 569 • Cognos 10 • Business intelligence tool used by PHUs to extract data from iPHIS • Allows approved public health users to extract data from most fields in iPHIS • Specialized knowledge of the reporting tool is required • PHUs can only extract their own data
The software PowerPivot Software • Free add-in for Excel 2010 • Enables users to explore data on the fly • Features • Accommodates very large data sets (i.e., no limitations on rows) • Can combine data from different sources (i.e., relationships can be defined to link different datasets) • Can create visually appealing visuals (e.g., charts, tables) • Allows data to be viewed in different ways • Compatible with SharePoint
The process Includes: data extraction (iPHIS and intelliHEALTH), creation of custom tables, and data cleaning Based on: PHU needs, iPHIS data requests, surveillance reports Process: define structure and slicers, apply design format
Pilot test • Testers • Eight Ontario public health units • Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care • Internal Public Health Ontario (PHO) staff • Activities • Completed scenarios to test report functionality • Participated in ‘load test’ to determine impact of multiple users on the system • Feedback • User-friendly and relevant for exploring reportable disease data in Ontario • Adjust report layout for ease of use
The product • Query @ PHO • A user-friendly tool for interactive data exploration and drill-down analysis • Accessible to approved public health professionals • internal PHO users • external health unit users • Data includes information on 68 reportable diseases • Data are presented in dynamic chart and table format • Data are refreshed weekly
Available slicers Data notes and caveats Output graph Selected slicers Output data table
Implications • Easy and timely access to basic reportable disease data for approved Ontario users from public health sector • Allows users to easily make comparisons of infectious disease trends with between PHUs and the province • Fewer requests to the province for basic data • Has the potential to build public health capacity and productivity
Future Directions • Build Ontario user base • Refine existing reports and develop additional reports based on recommendations from users • Produce new models or enhanced models that incorporate different data sources • Explore approaches to incorporate other compatible software to display data from PowerPivot (e.g., PowerView)
Acknowledgements Thanks to our colleagues at PHO who have worked on and supported this project: • Tina Badiani • Stephen Beath • Jeremy Herring • Brenda Mitchell • Surinder Mohan • George Pasut • Jason Percival • Ruth Sanderson • Rachel Savage • Michael Whelan