Lenert and Sundwall Respond
Year: 2012
Type: article
Abstract: We were glad to learn that Kass-Hout et al. also believe that cloud-based Platform as a Service (PaaS) technology is a potential solution to the crisis created by inadequate public health funding in the Meaningful Use (MUse) program. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) leadership is needed to respond to this crisis. In their letter, Kass-Hout et al. go on to quote from a First Look version of our article that appeared on the Journal Web site from January 19, 2012, to February 8, 2012, regarding certain assertions about the security of pilot versions of the BioSense 2.0 system. These comments were deleted from the final version of the article, reflecting a change in our opinion based on the progress made by the program in the time between acceptance of our article and its final publication. We hope that readers of the final published version are not confused by the reference Kass-Hout et al. have made to the First Look version of our article.
We agree with Kass-Hout et al. that BioSense 2.0 is an important advance in the design of public health information systems—one that deserves careful evaluation and study. However, we are concerned that, even as CDC promotes its leadership in public health informatics in this letter, CDC is reducing the overall resources devoted to it. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the BioSense 2.0 program, in which funding resources that once supported Centers of Excellence in Public Health Informatics and pilots of public health integration with regional health information exchanges have been redirected to other priorities. This redirection has contributed to the crisis referred to in the title of our original article. Taking advantage of the opportunity will require CDC to reconsider its priorities with regard to public health informatics.
Authors: Leslie Lenert, David N. Sundwall
Institution: University of Utah
Language: English
Subfield: Health Information Management
Field: Health Professions
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2035082245