Assessing Public Health Workforce Informatics Competencies: A Study of 3 District Health Departments in Georgia

Abstract

Context: Despite the increased recognition of the importance of having informatics-competent public health professionals, the competency level of the public health workforce in public health informatics (PHI) has not been examined extensively in the literature. Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess public health workforce informatics competencies in select Georgia health districts and determine the correlates of PHI proficiency. Methods: This study is based on a cross-sectional quantitative study design. We conducted an online self-administered survey of employees from 3 selected district health departments to assess proficiency in foundational PHI competency domains. Three hundred thirty-three respondents completed the survey, with a response rate of 32.5%. A gap score was calculated as a proxy to identify informatics training needs. A path analysis was conducted to assess the relationships among contextual factors and foundational PHI competency domains. Results: The public health employees participating in this study reported relatively high proficiency in foundational PHI competency. Psychometric testing of the competency assessment instrument revealed 2 foundational informatics competency domains-effective information technology (IT) use and effective use of information. The effective use of IT mediated the relationship between employee-level factors of age and past informatics training and the effective use of information. Conclusion:The study highlights the importance of improving the ability of public health professionals to leverage IT and information to advance population health. Periodic assessment of staff PHI competencies can help proactively identify competency gaps and address needs for additional training. Short assessment tools, such as presented in this study, can be validated and used for such assessments.

Digital competencies and training approaches to enhance the capacity of practitioners to support the digital transformation of public health: A Rapid review of current recommendations (Preprint)

“…Table 3 describes the 12 publications included in this review, all by authors in North America. [34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45] Eleven out of twelve publications were written by first authors in the United States, [34,[36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45] (5/12) were published between 2010-2015[36, 39, 40, 42, 45] and (6/12) were commentaries or perspectives. [35,37,38,[42][43][44] Of these, the 4 studies included in the quality appraisal showed variable quality with 3 being observational studies (Multimedia Appendix 2).…”

“…Practice competencies were most described in relation to public health research (10 articles), [34-42, 44, 45] epidemiology and surveillance (9 articles), [34-38, 40, 41, 44, 45] risk assessment (3 articles), [34,35,40] and health promotion (3 articles) [40,43,45] (Table 3).…”

“…programming and geographic information systems), [34] using, protecting, and interpreting large linked datasets from multiple sources using a blend of traditional and modern analytic techniques (assessment and analyses),[36, 37, 39] communicating with the public using tools like social media for public health (communications), [38,43] establishing frameworks for evaluating health information systems and communication efforts using tools like social media and web analytics (communication, policy and program planning, implementation and evaluation) [43]. Additional to ensure integrity and protection of confidential information in electronic files and computer systems while maximizing the benefits to public health.…”

“…[34,36,37,40,41] These recommendations mainly included competencybased learning on digital technologies through short courses, workshops, and certification programs in partnerships with academic institutions [34,36,37] and online trainings targeting specific global workforce deficiencies. [40,41] Disciplines relevant in implementing digital competencies and training programs for the digital transformation of public health Disciplines identified as relevant to digital public health training include Public Health, [34-38, 43, 45] Public Health informatics, [34,36,37,[39][40][41][42]44] Computer Science, [35-37, 42, 44] Data Science, [35][36][37] Mathematics, [35,42] Statistics/Biostatistics, [35,42,45] Health Communication, [36][37][38]45] Sociology/Social Sciences,[36, 37, 42] Business, [38] Economics, [38] Management Sciences, [38,42,44] and Information Sciences. [38,44,45]…”

“…competencies in this category included supporting the development of information technology systems using systems thinking (leadership),[39,41] applying procedures and technical means to ensure the integrity and protection of confidential information in electronic files and computer systems, and developing interoperable data systems (data, and data systems management and governance). [36,37,40] One recommendation was identified for basic literacy competencies specific to digital technologies regarding effectively communicating with teams through emails, word processing, spreadsheets, and presentation software (communication) [34]. …”