%0 Journal Article
%@ 2369-2960
%I JMIR Publications
%V 10
%N 
%P e52587
%T Data Sharing in a Decentralized Public Health System: Lessons From COVID-19 Syndromic Surveillance
%A Rigby,Ryan C
%A Ferdinand,Alva O
%A Kum,Hye-Chung
%A Schmit,Cason
%+ Population Informatics Lab, Department of Health Policy and Management, Texas A&M University School of Public Health, 212 Adriance Lab Rd, College Station, TX, 77845, United States, 1 9794360277, schmit@tamu.edu
%K syndromic surveillance
%K federalism
%K COVID-19
%K public health
%K SARS-CoV-2
%K COVID-19 pandemic
%K United States
%K decentralized
%K data sharing
%K digital health
%K ethical guidelines
%K risk score
%K technology
%K innovation
%K information system
%K collaborative framework
%K infodemiology
%K digital technology
%K health information
%K health data
%K health policy
%K surveillance
%D 2024
%7 28.3.2024
%9 Viewpoint
%J JMIR Public Health Surveill
%G English
%X The COVID-19 pandemic revealed that data sharing challenges persist across public health information systems. We examine the specific challenges in sharing syndromic surveillance data between state, local, and federal partners. These challenges are complicated by US federalism, which decentralizes public health response and creates friction between different government units. The current policies restrict federal access to state and local syndromic surveillance data without each jurisdiction’s consent. These policies frustrate legitimate federal governmental interests and are contrary to ethical guidelines for public health data sharing. Nevertheless, state and local public health agencies must continue to play a central role as there are important risks in interpreting syndromic surveillance data without understanding local contexts. Policies establishing a collaborative framework will be needed to support data sharing between federal, state, and local partners. A collaborative framework would be enhanced by a governance group with robust state and local involvement and policy guardrails to ensure the use of data is appropriate. These policy and relational challenges must be addressed to actualize a truly national public health information system.
%M 38546731
%R 10.2196/52587
%U https://publichealth.jmir.org/2024/1/e52587
%U https://doi.org/10.2196/52587
%U http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38546731