Technical Assistance
We offer technical assistance services to health practitioners in order to strengthen their ability to apply information effectively and improve health outcomes worldwide. PHII has worked with domestic and international public health agencies to provide technical assistance services as a component of our project work since the 1990s.
Approach
We provide public health agencies and global ministries of health with services and tools to empower them to meet evolving agency needs. In other words, we seek to enable an increased capacity to address challenges with their own resources once our engagement with them has ended.
Values and philosophy
We are committed to continued learning, innovation and performance improvement. We take lessons learned from each engagement and embed them into our work with other agencies to continuously build capability across many organizations.
Method
Technical assistance is provided through distance-based phone consultations, access to guidance to conduct self-assessments, planning and facilitating in-person site visits and project team meetings when resources are available.
Tools
PHII offers technical assistance in strategic informatics planning, stakeholder engagement, requirements gathering, vendor assessment and other crucial work areas. Technical assistance can also encompass business process analysis and workforce development where it promotes operational improvement.
Examples of technical assistance
Informatics-Savvy Health Department
PHII created a guidance strategy and self-assessment tool for public health agencies. These freely available tools enable them assess where their agency falls along a continuum of specific informatics-related capabilities. By making use of these tools, agencies can understand where they stand, be provided with a starting point for further strategic discussion, and begin developing long-term action plans.
The Public Health Profile toolkit is based on work done by the Minnesota Department of Health. The toolkit is an adaptable set of resources designed for state and local health departments to self-assess needs and readiness for health information exchange in today’s rapidly changing health information environment. Agencies making use of this toolkit will emerge with a comprehensive summary of their current and projected information system needs and opportunities.
PHII’s Vendor Assessment Methodology was developed to assist public health departments tasked with choosing a suitable information system. The process is intended to assess each vendor product against an agency’s needs and requirements.