Implementing Asynchronous Communication in Public Health Jon Reid & Susan Mottice Utah Department of Health And University of Utah Center of Excellence in Public Health Informatics

Synchronous Communication Direct communication, where all parties involved in the communication are present at the same time.

Synchronous Communication Methods Telephone / Conference Calls Meetings Video Conferences

Problems with Synchronous Communication Time Consuming –Meetings take time to get started –You may only be interested in a portion of the meeting Costly –Travel costs –Telecommunication costs Hard to schedule –Someone is always left out

Asynchronous Communication Asynchronous communication is a mediated form of communication in which the sender and receiver are not concurrently engaged in communication.

Asynchronous Communication Methods Web Sites (Blogs, Lists, Wiki) Fax Web 2.0 Applications

Benefits of Asynchronous Communication One message can be received by many –Local to Global Message can be viewed on receivers own time Messages can be archived and looked up again if needed Cost effective

Public Health Communication Survey Survey administered to 79 public health workers in December 2009 Purpose was to determine if public health workers: 1.If they feel they are well informed or disease events, issues, and outbreaks. 2.To identify barriers that exist that may prevent them from receiving/sharing information; 3.To gather information on the preferred communication methods for the receiving/sharing of information

Public Health Communication Survey Preferred method of communication Preference for staying informed on routine communicable disease issues Own Time Personal Interaction I feel I am well informed about events outside of my local health jurisdiction.

Public Health Access Secure Web-site Able to host secure applications Portal to public health information Allows secure asynchronous communication within public health and external users Single sign-on using the Utah Master Directory

Core Apps Secure Messaging Project Wiki Contact Manager Calendar Documents

Secure Apps User Administration Program/User Specific Applications Program Controls Access Easily add or change applications

Developing PHAccess Started first with epidemology need Issue Tracker Goals of Issue Tracker –High user acceptance –Low Cost –Expandable to local health departments –Functional and easy to learn and use

Messaging in PHAccess

PHAccess