Action Plan for Child Health Information Systems
Representatives of 55 organizations and government agencies met in Atlanta in early December to recommend next steps for development of child health information systems that meet medical care and public health needs. The diverse group of stakeholders identified actions that should be taken immediately and in the next three to five years to integrate the information about the health care that a child receives, from the moment he or she is born, in a simple yet comprehensive format so that the end user (parents, families, health professionals, insurers and policymakers) can take all appropriate actions.
The meeting was convened by All Kids Count, a program of the Public Health Informatics Institute. All Kids Count is supported by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to foster integration of child health information systems. The conference was co-sponsored by 17 organizations and government agencies.
Recommendations
Meeting participants worked in groups for two days to forge recommendations in the areas of governance, economic issues, information infrastructure, and data use. Common threads in the recommendations were:
The need to develop a national coalition of stakeholders to promote integration of separate child health information systems within the context of ongoing national initiatives such as NHII and PHIN;
