NCPHI Overview

The National Center for Public Health Informatics (NCPHI) is one of three National Centers within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Coordinating Center for Health Information and Service. NCPHI was established in 2005 and is under the leadership of Dr. Leslie Lenert. The Center is comprised of the Office of the Director and five divisions with numerous programmatic areas of emphasis. The five divisions are the Division of Alliance Management and Consultation, Division of Emergency Preparedness and Response, Division of Informatics Shared Services, Division of Integrated Surveillance Systems and Services, and the Division of Knowledge Management Services.

Mission

NCPHI protects the public’s health, promotes health equity, and transforms public health practice through the advancement of the science of biomedical informatics in public health practice and through collaborative development of information systems for public health.

Vision

NCPHI provides innovation and leadership to transform the public health systems through informatics.

Informatics

Public health informatics is defined as the application of information, computer science, and technology to public health practice, research, and learning. Application of the principles and practices of public health informatics enables the development and use of interoperable information systems for public health functions such as biosurveillance, outbreak response, and electronic laboratory reporting. The benefits include more coordinated public health surveillance, monitoring and research, access to more timely and complete information, and more appropriate response to routine and emergency events.

NCPHI provides leadership with programs and strategies designed to address the myriad of needs in the field of public health informatics. Major NCPHI programs and initiatives include biosurveillance, grid technology, the National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS), and the Communities of Practice framework to advance the development of best practices and standards for the Public Health Information Network.

NCPHI also supports the Centers of Excellence in Public Health Informatics. The five funded Centers are the University of Washington, University of Utah, Johns Hopkins University, New York City Health Department, and Harvard Medical School.