The Health Informatics team at Tarrant County Public Health (TCPH) is central to the support and the evolution of the department. It gathers and structures health data in ways useful to decision-makers. The team maintains multiple surveillance systems and manages a network that collects data from nearly 60 hospitals in 49 North Texas counties.

In developing a regional syndromic surveillance network for North Texas that is both a public health learning laboratory and a model for other public health agencies across the nation, TCPH’s Health Informatics team has captured and shared important lessons in many aspects of public health informatics, including but not limited to:

• Understanding the needs and interests of hospitals and other health providers;
• Negotiating effective, flexible data use agreements;
• Finding champions for syndromic surveillance among prospective data providers;
• Setting and monitoring project plans and timelines;
• Identifying affordable, replicable tools and resources to facilitate project success;
• Writing guidance materials to help health departments and hospitals get started; and
  
• Promoting the contributions and achievements of data providers and system users.