Public Health Decision Support

Abstract

This chapter presents potential uses of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for public health, with a special focus on decision-making and decisional support systems. An overview of public health sub-domains is given as potential functional areas for ICTs and business intelligence. The specifics and principles of decision-making for public health policy are explained. Main methods and observational tools used in epidemiology are overviewed. Relevant decisional support architectures are presented, ranging from data warehouse techniques, geographical information systems and simulation tools. The relevance and reusability of medico-administrative data sources is discussed, and balanced with data from registries and cohort studies in the perspective of evidence-based decisional support systems for public health. Last, public health decisional support systems are discussed as tools for translational research in public health.