Digital Health Assessment of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Michigan’s public health system is seeking to advance progress of its strategy for digital health transformation. Recognizing the essential role of Local Public Health Departments (LPHD) and Tribal health systems in protecting and promoting population health, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), in partnership with the Michigan Public Health Institute (MPHI), undertook a comprehensive assessment of the progress of digitally enabled public health services and operations capacity across 38 of the LPHD teams, nine Tribal health department teams, and one State-level team.

The primary objective of this project was to evaluate the current State of digital health capacity within these departments in order to inform statewide planning to advance a modernized and robust digital health ecosystem to advance equitable public health services across the State of Michigan. To achieve this objective, the HIMSS Digital Health Indicator (DHI) tool was deployed as a measure of the “current State” of digital health capabilities, which generates both quantitative and qualitative data, organized into the four key domains of digital health ecosystems: interoperability, governance and workforce capacity, predictive analytics, and person-enabled health.

Digital health ecosystems are characterized by automated, secure, and private flow of data to inform decisions for community members, public health teams, and State-level decision makers. The DHI is a globally validated measure of digital transformation aligned with the World Health Organization digital health maturity domains and adapted for the unique mandates and responsibilities of public health organizations. This report presents the findings of the assessment, beginning with an overview of Michigan’s public health system, followed by the project methodology, analysis of digital maturity across local and Tribal Health Departments, key findings, and recommendations for advancing digital health ecosystems across the State. The insights and recommendations emerging from this project are designed to provide State government leaders, health system partners, and Tribal authorities with objective evidence of current digital strengths and opportunities to advance and build on existing strengths to achieve a digital health ecosystem across Michigan that is person- and community-centric, connected, equitable, and resilient.