Division of Public Health
Office of Health Informatics
(OHI)
The Office of Health Informatics has a primary responsibility to collect,
maintain and provide vital records for the citizens of the state; to collect, protect, disseminate and
analyze health care and
population-based health data needed to conduct critical state business;
and to integrate and manage major public health-
related information systems. It is also responsible for
promoting the statewide adoption and use of electronic health records, and health
information exchange among Wisconsin providers.
The Office includes three sections: State Registrar/Vital Records; Health
Analytics; and Informatics Architecture. It also includes a Senior Epidemiologist for Informatics and
Communication, and the State HIT (Health Information Technology) Coordinator.
- The State Registrar/Vital Records Section carries out state vital
statistics functions as established in Chapter 69, Wisconsin Statutes. The
Registration and Statistics Unit registers all vital events - births, deaths, fetal deaths, marriages,
divorces, declarations of domestic partnership, and terminations of
domestic partnership. The unit also trains
personnel in local vital records offices to assure vital records policies
and procedures are followed uniformly throughout the state. The Special
Records and Preservation Unit files, amends, preserves, stores and issues
copies of all Wisconsin vital records. The Customer Service Unit accepts
and processes applications for copies of vital
records from citizens.
- The Health Analytics Section provides analysis of health
data, including linked data bases and reports, based on its data
collection systems and other data sources. The section maintains the Wisconsin Cancer Reporting System
(cancer registry), the
Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS), and the Wisconsin Violent Death Reporting System; and
conducts two population surveys, the Behavioral Risk Factor
Survey and the
Family Health Survey. The section provides demographic data and constructs
population estimates.
The section also provides data on health care providers and health care services to the
Department for epidemiological and administrative use. The section develops and maintains
WISH, a Web-based interactive query system
providing local and statewide health information.
It also edits and reviews all Office publications and oversees
Office websites, including Health Statistics, the
Consumer Guide to Health Care,
and others.
- The PHIN Coordinator/Informatics Architecture Section
focuses on integrating information contributed by the public health
community and its partners so that it can be appropriately and quickly
retrieved, analyzed,and shared. The
Public Health Information Network (PHIN) will support the entire spectrum of public health activities
in the state through disease detection and monitoring, data analysis, secure network
communications, emergency alert and response, and knowledge management.
- The Senior Epidemiologist for Informatics and Communication furthers a knowledge-sharing and
knowledge-management culture by establishing best practices for data collection, management,
analysis and dissemination, and by fostering more effective use of the Public Health Information Network.
- The State HIT (Health Information Technology) Coordinator works with public and private partners
to develop a secure, trusted, technically compatible statewide health information exchange across the
public and private sectors; the purpose is to link HIT and health information exchange plans with prevention
and disease management activities to improve the quality, safety and value of health care in Wisconsin.
The Office of Health Informatics has key relationships with other entities in the
Department, local health departments,
universities, health care providers, and federal public health agencies.
Return to DPH Programs and Services
Last Revised:
September 11, 2012
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