Dashboards Are Trendy, Visible Components of Data Management in Public Health: Sustaining Their Use After the Pandemic Requires a Broader View

• Published in: American journal of public health (1971) Vol. 112; no. 6; pp. 900 - 903
• Main Authors: Dixon, Brian E., Dearth, Shandy, Duszynski, Thomas J., Grannis, Shaun J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Public Health Association 01.06.2022
• Subjects: Algorithms; Clinics; Collaboration; Contact tracing; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 diagnostic tests; COVID-19 vaccines; Data; Data management; Decision making; Departments; Emergency medical care; Emergency medical services; Epidemiology; Facsimile communication; Fax machines; Health informatics; Health surveillance; Hospitals; Immunization; Information sharing; Information systems; Intensive care; Management; Medical laboratories; Pandemics; Public health; Public Health Dashboards; Public Health Practice; Public Health Workers; Quarantine; Resource utilization; Rumors; School districts; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Software; Viral diseases; Visualization; Wildfires; Workforce; United States > US
• ISSN: 0090-0036; 1541-0048; 1541-0048
• DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2022.306849

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted significant deficiencies in the US public health system,1 especially data management challenges faced by public health agencies. Many data elements that are now routinely reported and available publicly, such as intensive care unit bed availability, were not measured by public health before the pandemic. It took months before public health could consistently receive critical data from hospitals, emergency departments, and clinics on facility resource utilization and case details for individuals infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). At the beginning of the pandemic, fax machines and human data entry powered the information pipelines to public health officers. Limited capacity to collect, store, and manage data resulted in delays with respect to case identification and contact tracing, delaying mitigation efforts through isolation and quarantine of individuals. Equally important, inefficiencies in data management delayed public health agencies from reporting information to decision-makers and the public, delaying community-level response efforts and limiting transparency. And when there is a vacuum of information, rumors and misinformation spread like wildfire, further complicating the vital work of public health.