A new report found Missouri's public health agencies are not sharing information effectively and fixing the problem could lead to better health care for people in the state.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services released its first assessment of the state's digital health system, highlighting ways to improve how health data is shared and used. The evaluation uncovered significant gaps in sharing critical information such as disease rates, hospital visits, birth outcomes, and access to care.
Joshua Wymer, chief health information and strategy officer for the department, shared key insights from the report.
"Data is still often siloed," Wymer pointed out. "There was an opportunity with data to advance inoperability, there's an opportunity to always be better at privacy and security because we know that the threat of that is always evolving."
The report recommended establishing clear rules and strong leadership for better data management. More than 200 organizations took part in the assessment, through 25 meetings across nine regions.
A separate study found that health care providers said patient access to electronic health records improved communication and treatment discussions. Wymer also shared what citizens expect from the systems as health data grows in importance.
"They expect their data to not only be available and readily accessible, but they expect it to be private and secure," Wymer reported. "And they expect an experience that moves closer and closer to them and their routine and their priority."
The assessment revealed Missouri's public health agencies have different digital capabilities but are ready to adopt new data systems.
The Missouri Public News Service is a partner with KRCU Public Radio.
