What GAO found: Although significant work remains, federal agencies have made progress on major public health IT initiatives. These initiatives include one broad initiative at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)--known as the Public Health Information Network (PHIN)--which is intended to provide the nation with integrated information systems, and two initiatives at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which are focused on biosurveillance ... CDC's PHIN initiative has made progress by establishing communications systems and promoting standards, but more work remains on associated surveillance systems. For example, public health officials told GAO that they did not find PHIN's BioSense application useful because of limitations in the data currently collected. DHS also has major initiatives related to public health, both of which are in development. In addition, a system associated with one of the DHS initiatives--BioWatch--has been deployed. BioWatch, an early-warning environmental monitoring system that collects air samples in order to detect trace amounts of biological materials, recently underwent modification to solve an interoperability problem: its three IT components required redundant data entry in order to communicate with each other. According to DHS, it has developed a solution to this interoperability problem and implemented it at two locations; DHS plans to install that solution in the remaining BioWatch locations.

The anthrax incidents following the 9/11 terrorist attacks put the spotlight on the nation's public health agencies, placing it under an unprecedented scrutiny that added new dimensions to the complex issues considered in this report. The Future of the Public's Health in the 21st Century reaffirms the vision of Healthy People 2010, and outlines a systems approach to assuring the nation's health in practice, research, and policy. This approach focuses on joining the unique resources and perspectives of diverse sectors and entities and challenges these groups to work in a concerted, strategic way to promote and protect the public's health. Focusing on diverse partnerships as the framework for public health, the book discusses: The need for a shift from an individual to a population-based approach in practice, research, policy, and community engagement. The status of the governmental public health infrastructure and what needs to be improved, including its interface with the health care delivery system. The roles nongovernment actors, such as academia, business, local communities and the media can play in creating a healthy nation. Providing an accessible analysis, this book will be important to public health policy-makers and practitioners, business and community leaders, health advocates, educators and journalists.