1003: Anniversary Accomplishments, FHIR Pilot Program

0:03 This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Thursday, October 2nd, 2025. I'm Jansen Silvers. Now today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. You know, we've got more than 5 million people here, and we cannot and should not do this work alone. But by including all these other groups working together as a team, I think we can accomplish anything. The South Carolina Department of Public Health recently celebrated its first anniversary, or one year since it parted with Environmental Services to become an independent agency. In the past year, the department has accomplished several significant achievements, including the state's best health ranking to date in United Health Foundation's 2024 Health Rankings Annual Report. Doctor Edward Simmer, interim director of South Carolina's Department of Public Health and an ASTO member, joins us to share more.

0:54 I think a major reason for the improvement is that we're really focused more now on listening. We have made a concerted effort to hear from our state's residents. Ensure our programs reflect your thoughts, ideas and needs. Another achievement, South Carolina saw a decrease in overdose deaths for the first time in more than a decade. I think naloxone has been a big piece of that, but I think the other piece has been increasing access to harm reduction efforts, extending linkage to care through warm handoff programs and peer recovery services, and also ensuring that care is provided as early as possible. The department also launched its South Carolina Health Compass and Interactive Data Dashboard that makes information from the most recent state health assessment available online.

1:38 This data, which we are going to update regularly so you won't have to wait five years anymore, can be used in community health assessments and by community coalitions, municipalities, students and anyone else who's interested to inform health program planning, policy, education and grant activities. Simmer says he hopes the Health Compass will help the state use resources more effectively and make public health decisions that are supported by current data. To learn more about what South Carolina has accomplished this year or to check out its new Health Compass, just head to the show notes. We'll have a link. This is a transformation that's going to take time, but modernization is worth the effort.

2:20 The Washington State Department of Health recently participated in a pilot program to test out the implementation of fire, or FAST Healthcare Interoperable Resources. Fire is the latest generation of HL7, which is the international standard for the exchange of electronic health information. Doctor Bryant Thomas Karas is the department's chief medical informatics officer and chair of the pilot program. I really see this opportunity to get some hands on experience with technical assistance from experts mentoring the roll out as a chance for for States and locals to build confidence with fire before before needing to interact with the HealthCare Partners. Karis says the pilot program was like a road map for the participating departments and allowed them to identify what they want to do next.

3:14 We've got a data structure that's future proof that we can grow with and that we can update every time a new version of FIRE comes out. We're ready for it. A new version of US Core data for interoperability is published. We're ready for it. And we can grow and continue to invest in an enterprise solution that can help every program area eventually. To help foster support and build comfort with the new system, the Washington State Department of Health Co sponsored an educational activity. All of the staff within our tech OPS or IT shop within our agency were able to participate in a 2 day workshop called Fireworks to help demystify Fire Explain that it's really just a bunch of Jason resources and the same kind of building blocks that any good web application leverages.

4:20 To learn more about insight from the pilot program, you can check out Asto's report by clicking on the link in the show notes. Coming U next week on Thursday, October 9th. It's the final session in the third series of the Ignite, Accelerate and Activate workshop. This session will draw together everything participants have of learned so far and help you to alley emotional intelligence strategies to make a meaningful impact as a leader. That's AT2M Eastern Time next Thursday. You can sign U using the link in the show notes. Finally, to make sure you never miss your daily dose of opportunities, initiatives and insights from local, state and federal public health leaders, remember to subscribe to Asto's Public Health Review Morning Edition newscast new episodes every weekday morning at 5:00 AM.

5:07 Just head to the show notes for a link to subscribe. That'll do it for today. We're back tomorrow morning with more ASTO news and information. I'm Jansen Silbert, you're listening to the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition. Have a great day.