The overarching goal of the program is to improve the timely prevention and detection of public health threats by reducing the burden of data exchange between public health agencies, health care, and the communities they serve. The outcomes that will achieve this goal include:

• Outcome 1: Participating PHAs are using the latest health IT standards to exchange data with healthcare, laboratories, and other data providers for at least one priority use case, such as electronic case reporting or immunizations.
• Outcome 2: PHAs are exchanging data via the Trusted Exchange Framework Common Agreement (TEFCA) network for at least one priority use case, such as electronic case reporting or immunizations.
• Outcome 3: Findings and lessons learned from the priority use cases are documented and shared with the broader community involved in public health data exchange, including non-participating PHAs, national associations, federal agencies, and existing consortiums and communities of practice focused on data modernization.

The Implementation Center Program builds upon previous investments made through PHIG, a major federal investment supporting U.S. infrastructure needs and will expand the number of public health agencies eligible to receive support.

Implementation Centers will provide resources and support to public health agencies for implementation activities that work towards the adoption of the latest health IT standards and participation in data exchange networks (e.g., TEFCA). This support includes: 

• Provision of holistic support across People, Process, Governance, and Technology domains to work towards program outcomes while meeting public health agency-specific needs. This may include strategic planning, process development and implementation, technical hands-on support, as well as policy and legal support.  
• Development of tailored sustainable approaches and solutions that help public health agencies continue to meet these outcomes. 
• Monitoring and evaluation support.

The Implementation Center Program aims to provide benefits to all public health agencies across the country, whether directly through participation in the program or indirectly through resources such as guidance documents, webinars, and other offerings that synthesize findings and emerging lessons learned from the program. Benefits of participation include: 

• Customized support based on public health agency-specific needs. 
• Support in adopting and using new technology and standards to exchange data with providers, other public health agencies, labs, and federal partners. 
• Support to build on existing data modernization initiative (DMI) funded projects that are focused on the adoption of health IT standards.  
• Assistance in participation in the national data exchange network that will be available through TEFCA. 
• Support for critical priority use cases identified by public health agencies.
  

One of the four Implementation Centers will focus exclusively on supporting Tribes and tribal-serving organizations with their data modernization priorities. This Implementation Center will ensure modernization approaches are legally and culturally appropriate for Tribes by:

• Ensuring that Tribes and delegated representatives are included and engaged in all aspects of this work. Supporting partnerships that help identify and implement solutions to challenges unique to Tribal communities, using technical and policy approaches that maintain Tribal data sovereignty.
• Fostering scalable technical solutions that can be shared and re-leveraged for implementation without infringing on Tribal data sovereignty. 
• Building Tribal capacity through governance frameworks and trust relationships established by the Tribal Implementation Center.

All public health agencies at the state, Tribal, local, territorial, and freely associated state levels are eligible for participation in the Implementation Center Program. To be considered for Wave 1 (2024) of the Implementation Center Program, public health agencies must complete an Expression of Interest (EOI) form by October 15, 2024. Navigate to the EOI page for details on submitting an EOI form. Public health agencies may complete an EOI at any time; agencies submitting an EOI after October 14 will be considered for future waves.

The National Partners – ASTHO, NNPHI, and PHAB – will disseminate information on the EOI form and provide educational materials and webinars to encourage participation. Information will be forthcoming.

The Implementation Center Program goal is for participating public health agencies to have certain foundational capacities that will support the technical implementation projects for advanced data exchange. Public health agencies selected to participate in the program will complete an initial assessment to identify existing and needed resources and develop implementation work plans to meet Implementation Center Program Outcomes.

• Public health agencies participating in the Implementation Center Program will receive direct technical implementation services including financial assistance, capacity-building, and technical guidance.

  For more information, contact phdmic@astho.org.

• Implementation Center Contact Form
• Implementation Center FAQs (PDF)
• Expression of Interest Downloadable Collaboration Working Document (Word)
• Example Letter of Support (Word)
• Example Letter of Attestation (Word)
• ASTHO’s Public Health Data Modernization and Informatics  
• Portfolio PHIG Success Stories, Resources, and Training/Events Calendar 
• CDC’s About Public Health Interoperability page