VidaGIS

This solution was implemented in South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.

 

Problem
A public health organization needed an efficient way to serve health data and emergency information to the public

 

State-level public health agencies regularly deal with issues that require large amounts of data to be processed, integrated, analyzed, and distributed to many different end users. End users comprise a diverse internal and external group including concerned citizens, community organizations, health care workers and administrators, university researchers, and other state agencies. Within each group, technical capabilities and needs vary. With limited resources, these agencies need to determine the most appropriate way to make information available. Time and budget constraints, agency cooperation and collaboration, enterprise architecture, legacy processes, privacy concerns, and existing infrastructure are some of the issues. To facilitate most of this data processing, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SC DHEC) has turned to geographic information system (GIS) technology.

 

The Challenge
Division of Biostatistics and Health GIS, a subset of the Public Health Statistics and Information
Services (PHSIS) program within SC DHEC, knew it needed a way to serve its users’ geographically based public health and emergency management information. With limited resources, the agency had to determine the most appropriate way to leverage this information. It needed to allow access in a way that accommodates its diverse audience while aiding the daily decision-making process in public health assessment and surveillance. Different levels of access to this information had to be available with ample security measures in place. In addition, since the data resided in various formats on multiple servers running different operating systems and relational database management systems, it all needed to be integrated and accessible
to everyone. Once the data was integrated, it also needed to be current and well documented. Knowing these challenges, SC DHEC went looking for an innovative solution to serving the public necessary information.

 

The Solution
To address these issues, the division employed a diverse set of GIS technologies from ESRI, chosen because most state and city organizations in South Carolina used ESRI®  software as a standard. SC DHEC adopted ArxcSDE® and Microsoft SQL Server for managing the statewide maps and data and ArcIMS®  and ArcIMS Route Server to serve information and provide driving directions and routing capabilities on the Internet. SC DHEC deployed the system on HP ProLiant rack-mounted servers to streamline integration and facilitate load-balancing requests.

 

Using ArcGIS®  and various extensions including StreetMap™, along with the state E-911 street centerline file for accurate street data, users can create tables, charts, and maps according to their interests and specifications at the SC DHEC region, county, or ZIP Code level. Birth and death certificate data and demographics were the first datasets available on the South Carolina Community Assessment Network (SCAN) system (http://scangis.dhec.sc.gov/scan). Newer datasets include Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, cancer incidence data from the South Carolina Central Cancer Registry, and more.