Illinois Health Data Dissemination Initiative

Client: Illinois Public Health Institute

The Illinois Health Data Dissemination Initiative (IHDDI) focuses on re-engineering Illinois' data dissemination system through an expanded and improved web-based data query system (WDQS). Project partners are the Illinois Department of Public Health, (including several divisions within the Office of Policy, Planning and Statistics, the Office of Health Promotion, and the Office of Health Protection), the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS), and the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (IDHFS). They are supported by an Advisory Committee of public health system partners.

Implementation of the IHDDI was undertaken through the collaborative efforts of two primary entities; the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois Public Health Institute. Funding was made available for the implementation activities through a grant from the Center for Disease Control. During the first year of the project, planning was conducted to establish the framework for proceeding with a system initiative. During year two, the IPHI contracted with MSF&W to perform the systems requirements definition phase and later expanded the contract to assist IPHI with design, development and implementation activities.

The purpose of the project is to develop a web-based data query system (WDQS) to replace Illinois' IPLAN data dissemination system which was implemented in 1992. Currently, eight data sets have been identified as the source of data for the initial rollout of the IHDDI WDQS. Expanded presentation will be accommodated through graphical representations of the tabular data along with mapping functionality. Other possibilities included data mart linkages and data export capability. Another goal is for the system to offer both granular data query as well as pre-defined standard production reports.