Using Electronic Health Data for Community Health

A report jointly released by the de Beaumont Foundation and Johns Hopkins University, Using Electronic Health Data for Community Health: Example Cases and Legal Analysis provides public health departments with a framework that will allow them to request data from hospitals and health systems in order to move the needle on critical public health challenges.

Using Electronic Health Data for Community Health contains six illustrative examples of how a public health agency might use electronic health data to make progress on childhood asthma, a common and preventable chronic illness. It also provides answers to some frequently asked questions about the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).