Public Health Engagement Network

The U.S. public health system brings together diverse stakeholders to advance a common mission. Public and private organizations; state, tribal, local, territorial (STLT), and federal authorities; academics; and research institutes all play essential roles in collaborating with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to "equitably protect and promote the health of the American people."

Booz Allen has created the Public Health Engagement Network (PHEN), designed to listen, learn, and engage with STLTs and public health partners. It includes a broad set of industry partners and a network of offices, including the Public Health Engagement Network headquarters (HQ) in Atlanta, Georgia, which act as collaboration nodes to achieve public health objectives. The network supports the complex collaboration between CDC and STLT partners by giving them access to expertise, tools, in-person meetings, and virtual capabilities to deliver service. We offer these capabilities to support the data modernization objectives of our CDC clients to accelerate efforts to develop data and IT solutions that meet STLTs where they are.

Booz Allen has partnered with the CDC for more than 15 years, driving several of the agency's modernization initiatives focused on increasing the timeliness and quality of data collection from STLTs and respective public health agencies. Other examples include the development of the Enterprise Data Analytics and Visualization (EDAV) platform and implementing the Emergency Response Data Integration (HHS Protect & DCIPHER) platforms. Our firm and exclusive industry partners have also supported the setup of the new Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology (OPHDST), the design and implementation of the Public Health Data Strategy, and the rollout of two NorthStar Architecture workstreams that bring together programs, Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), and OPHDST stakeholders spanning STLTs and public health partners.

Our Public Health Engagement Network is comprised of more than 300 offices that serve as nodes on the network to support the American public health enterprise ecosystem through a variety of capability offerings:

• Accessibility to a broader nationwide talent pool for in-person and virtual STLT engagement
• Ability to leverage a technology-dense network of sites with robust infrastructure and visualization capability for more meaningful engagement with STLT and public health partners
• A commitment to create the Public Health Engagement Network HQ, outfitted with state-of-the-art remote collaboration tools, to connect with distant collaboration nodes across our broader network
• An innovation lab to identify, test, and exploit promising technologies and processes
• Portals and dashboards to provide immediate access to up-to-date information on plans, progress, and challenges
• Collaboration tools to enable industry technology vendors to develop new solutions for CDC 

To validate the value of this commitment for CDC and public health partners, we aligned with a network of leading affiliates, including the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL), National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD), Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE), Georgetown University, Harvard Medical School affiliate Boston Children's Hospital, and eHealth Exchange. These organizations provide valuable perspectives enabling us to tailor the design and capability offerings of the Public Health Engagement Network for CDC and public health partners.

Moving forward, we intend to engage with more public health leaders across the community to be a catalyst for the CDC to accelerate data modernization efforts and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its mission-critical operations. Learn more about our Public Health offerings and how you can help accomplish these missions.