Our Strategic Priorities
Our mission is to use data and technology to protect health and improve the lives of residents of Columbus and Worthington. Below are our current strategic priorities.
Data Governance
Build a foundation ensuring data are collected, managed, and analyzed ethically and effectively to improve public health outcomes.
Workforce Development
Build a stable workforce providing the necessary resources and capacity to use modern processes and technologies to communicate progress, make informed decisions, and improve population health.
PH Assessment, Surveillance and Response
Build and strengthen abilities to use data and technology to monitor and respond to public health threats.
Equity
Ensure the collection and analysis of key social, cultural and environmental variables where possible. Create a well-trained workforce, representative of the communities served.
Aligning with CDC priorities
Our Focus Areas
Automation and Analytics
We want our staff to work smarter, not harder. Automating manual tasks will allow us to collect data fast, and get insights faster as we try to better understand what is happening in public health across Columbus.
Data Governance and Security
Roles, responsibilities, and rules matter when working with public health data. Our goal is to provide better guidance, training, and control over the systems we use.
Interoperability and Access
This work includes identifying and eliminating data sharing bottlenecks, and providing guidance to help communicate data in a way that is easily accessible and understood by the public.
Milestones
Office of DME Formed
Reorganization at Columbus Public Health included combining expertise from our epidemiology, information technology, informatics, and business analysis teams.
Life Expectancy Story Map
Our “Life Expectancy in Columbus” story map is launched. This work highlights the almost 20 years difference in life expectancy between ZIP codes in our community – and the work that needs to be done to close the gap.
DME Summer of Innovation
Our office dedicated the summer to reimagining the ways in which we administer data. Fifteen unique projects were embarked upon over the course of three months (June through August 2025).
Epic Implementation Begins
Through partnership with OSU Wexner Medical Center, we will be modernizing our electronic health record systems by moving to Epic.
Accela Implementation Begins (EH)
Implementation for this long-awaited project begins, modernizing the way that our Environmental Health division manages their work. This new system allows integration with City 311, Building and Zoning, and Technology, allowing for a more unified experience for staff, and better overall experience for our citizens.
Epic Go-Live
Our department goes live with Epic!