What is a Public Health Electronic Health Record (EHR)
Article answers the question, What is a public health EHR? A Public Health EHR (Electronic Health Record) is a designed to support public health agencies in managing patient and population-level data. Unlike traditional EHRs that document individual clinical encounters, Public Health EHRs emphasize population health, disease surveillance, regulatory reporting, and community-wide care coordination.
Standardized Language: Importance for EHRs and Public Health Documentation
The Omaha System provides a holistic, interdisciplinary structure that covers environmental, psychosocial, physiological and health-related behavior. For EHRs, standardized languages, like the Omaha System, improve data quality, interoperability, outcomes measurement and reporting.
Adverse Childhood Experiences Impact on Long-Term Health: Public Health Lens- 2
Public health workers, especially with a strong EHR, can take actions to prevent, mitigate and measure Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) which have long-term negative health impacts.
Adverse Childhood Experiences Impact on Long-Term Health: Public Health Lens- 1
Adverse Childhood Experiences impact long-term health. Documentation of ACEs screenings can help identify patterns and provide actionable insights.
Redefining Value — When an EHR Becomes a Public Health Improvement Tool
Part 4 in a 4 part series on how Webster County found Unexpected Wins with their Public Health EHR, Nightingale Notes.
Seeing the Whole Picture — Grant Management, Reporting, and Data Visibility in One System
Part 3 in a 4 part series on how Webster County found Unexpected Wins with their Public Health EHR, Nightingale Notes.
A Platform for Connection — How a Public Health EHR Strengthened Departmental Collaboration
Part 2 in a 4 part series on how Webster County found Unexpected Wins with their Public Health EHR, Nightingale Notes.
Unexpected Wins – How the Right Public Health EHR Solves Challenges
Part 1 in a 4 part series on how Webster County Found Unexpected Solutions with their Public Health EHR, Nightingale Notes.
Bridges Out of Poverty + Omaha System + SDOH: Public Health Playbook
When you combine the Bridges Out of Poverty framework with the Omaha System taxonomy—grounded in the social determinants/drivers of health (SDOH/SDOH)—you get a shared language for practice and measurement.
6 Community Health EHR Challenges and Solutions
Based on feedback from public health agencies, the most common EHR pain points fall into six key challenges. We offer practical solutions to help agencies overcome these obstacles and use EHRs more effectively to serve their communities.