A Community Health Record: Improving Health Through Multisector Collaboration, Information Sharing, and Technology
SPECIAL TOPIC — Volume 13 — September 8, 2016
PEER REVIEWED
An overview of the community health record framework is illustrated. The process of developing the framework begins with collaboration and facilitating the development of a multisector collaborative. It then moves to generating a shared approach among stakeholders through development of a shared understanding of community health problems and solutions and a common agenda for resolving as well as identifying related stakeholder needs and requirements. The process then focuses on enhancing workforce and infrastructure capacity and investigating proposed solutions for community health improvement through capacity-building and pilot projects. The lessons learned and knowledge gained are then used in the final step to develop a new way of doing business in this multisector environment through the development of new business processes, information flows, and tools.
Figure 1. The community health record framework. The framework presents a multitiered, multisector model illustrating an iterative, flexible, and participatory process for achieving collaboration and information exchange among health care, public health, and community groups and organizations to aid population health decision making. Abbreviations: CHR, community health record; CH, community health.
The model illustrates the 1) the multisector data sources, 2) the implementation of a secure federated data store and warehouse with complementary web services, and 3) tools for providing multisector end-users with information to facilitate collectively improve health outcomes.
Figure 2. Conceptual model of the multisector community health record (CHR) tool. The underlying infrastructure consists of open-source software, services, and tools that leverage open standards. The model is illustrative of 1) the multisector data sources, 2) the implementation of a secure federated data store and warehouse with complementary web services, and 3) tools for providing multisector end-users with information to collectively improve health outcomes.
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