Management Information System for Public Health

The focus is to design a public health nursing clinical and management information systemutilizing a distributed networking scheme of personal computers. This type of system is low cost, butprovides the speed, reliability and security of larger more expensive systems making it ideal for small tomid-size health departments. The system will be implemented and tested in Snohomish Health District.The project has four AIMS: (1) determine what the user specifications for such a system are byreviewing the existing system and interviewing key decision makers and staff with the agency; (2)determine what the technical specifications for such a system are by reviewing available software andhardware; (3) develop a system design utilizing distributed networking schemes and personal computersthat will incorporate speed, reliability and security; and (4) survey projected users of the system in theWAMI region to determine their data needs. This is an innovative proposal to design and test a clinicaland management information system designed specifically for public health nursing. This type of systemhas significant market value because it is low cost and designed specifically for small to mid-size healthdepartments.