Constructing legal authority to facilitate multi-level interagency health data sharing in the United States

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to forward specific policy proposals permitting greater sharing of health data across multi-level government agencies with the purpose of improving rapid identification of bioterrorist attack or disease epidemics while protecting patient privacy. Design/methodology/approach – A systematic literature review searched the following keyword phrases: knowledge sharing in the public sector, raw data sharing, interagency information systems, federal data sharing technology network and network theory on five primary databases. Findings – The volunteer nature of data sharing must evolve through public health policy to permit interagency data access agreements while minimizing privacy infringement. A multi-level information infrastructure network linking agencies tasked to develop medical countermeasures is recommended. Originality/value – This study optimizes the health data collection process to create a medical countermeasure network, demonstrates the utility of operationalizing data metrics for a US federal agency and advances meaningful use of electronic medical records.