This website is designed to keep Iowans informed about an important advancement in promoting and protecting the health of Iowans-the development of the Iowa Department of Public Health Data Warehouse.
The Data Warehouse (DWH) and Environmental Public Health Tacking (EPHT) programs have completed an extensive data needs assessment. The DWH project is utilizing these data to develop a business plan for expansion. The department responses were combined with feedback from external public health partners to prioritize content and functionality requirements for the warehouse. The data warehouse project is being expanded in 2011 and 2012 to include environmental health data. The primary driver for the modifications to the DWH and inclusion of environmental health data are driven by the Environmental Public Health Tracking (EPHT) program. More information about the EPHT program is available at http://www.idph.state.ia.us/eh/epht.asp.
The data warehouse is an active, web-based application that organizes and stores health data from a variety of sources. The application also provides basic reports that summarize health data. By having a number of important datasets in one central place, users are able to easily obtain snapshots of the health of individual counties and the state of Iowa as a whole.
The vision of the data warehouse is to provide access to health data to help Iowans make more efficient and effective decisions in promoting and protecting the public's health.
The data in the warehouse are health-related and organized by subject area. There are four major datasets currently in the data warehouse -birth, death, behavioral, and hospitalization data. These data are obtained from birth and death certificates, the national Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, and the Statewide Inpatient Discharge data.
In addition to the datasets, County Health Snapshots are available. These snapshots are updated every year and may be accessed by users.
New datasets, reports, and tools for viewing data are being added each year.
There are two types of users who may access the data warehouse. Basic users include local public health agency staff who accesses the data through a web-based portal. Advanced users are IDPH staff with secure access to the data warehouse. Both basic and advanced users must request access to the data warehouse through the project coordinator.
Access to the data warehouse is currently limited. However, a public access portal will be developed over the next two years. While the public portal is being developed, access will remain limited. This document provides screenshots of the data warehouse when viewed by the basic and advanced users.
There are several major initiatives planned for the data warehouse. The following is a breakdown of the goals for improving and expanding the application over the next few years:
For more detailed information on short-term goals and objective, view the Data Warehouse Strategic and Operational Plan 
.
For information about the IDPH Data Warehouse, please contact:
Meg Harris
Data Warehouse Coordinator
Bureau of Communication and Planning
Iowa Department of Public Health
321 E. 12th Street
Des Moines, IA 50319
Phone: (515) 725-2179
Join the mailing list! Send a blank e-mail to join-idphdatawarehouse@lists.ia.gov.
