The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on June 17 announced the establishment of a new $80 million Public Health Informatics and Technology Workforce Development Program to "strengthen U.S. public health informatics and data science" and to support efforts creating a diverse pipeline of professionals prepared to respond to future public health emergencies.

The Public Health IT Workforce Program intends to train over 4,000 individuals over a four-year period using an interdisciplinary approach in public health informatics and technology. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) is inviting minority serving institutions and other colleges and universities to apply for funding through a consortium that would implement or expand training, certification and degree programs in public health informatics and data. Additional opportunities created through the funding will include assistance in recruitment and career placement efforts, and paid internship opportunities.

"Federal efforts to center equity in the COVID-19 response and future public health responses will be improved by robust data collection and reporting around infection, hospitalization, and mortality rates, as well as underlying health and social vulnerabilities, that is disaggregated by race and ethnicity, age, gender, and other key variables," the agency said. "Representation is important – particularly when we are deploying technology to tackle our most pressing health care challenges. Ensuring that diverse representation is better reflected all throughout our health care system is priority," HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra added.

Read the HHS press release here and the notice of funding opportunity here.

Clinical Topics: COVID-19 Hub

Keywords: ACC Advocacy, Coronavirus, Public Health Informatics, Public Health, COVID-19, Medical Informatics, Delivery of Health Care, United States Dept. of Health and Human Services

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