History

Since 1992, PHII has assisted public health organizations in defining and leveraging the power of information systems to meet public health needs. PHII grew out of All Kids Count, a program funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

All Kids Count was instrumental in the development of immunization registries – one of the first widely implemented public health information systems – and in the development of integrated child health information systems.

We evolved into the Public Health Informatics Institute in 2002, building on the lessons learned in All Kids Count, to formulate the Collaborative Requirements Development Methodology™ (CRDM), a strategic approach to assisting public health organizations to apply and manage information effectively to advance their population health goals.

In 2009, PHII branched out into global health, working with organizations like PATH and the WHO. Today, our global work continues in partnership with various ministries of health, the Emory Global Health Institute and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Internationally, our projects touch on supply chain optimization through information systems, child mortality reduction through data-driven surveillance, and health care workforce allocation in developing nations.

In 2009, PHII also launched the Informatics Academy. Originally conceived as a weeklong course in informatics, the Academy has grown into a robust workforce development program offering a range of courses that build informatics capacity across foundational areas in U.S. public health departments and global public health practice. Today, the curriculum from the Academy’s original weeklong course is used by Emory University, and the Academy has developed a diverse offering of courses covering a range of competencies, relying upon a network of seasoned subject matter experts to build new curriculum.