Public Health and Information Sharing Toolkit
The Public Health & Information Sharing (PH&IS) Toolkit addresses key concepts regarding public health agencies' authority to collect, use, and share information to prepare and respond to a public health emergency. This toolkit addresses information sharing issues in general and when information sharing involves the workplace or law enforcement. The toolkit's component documents are designed to assist in education, training, and planning activities to prepare for emergencies, as well as to serve as a quick reference resource during an emergency response to an event. The PH&IS Toolkit is one of six toolkits in ASTHO's Legal Preparedness Series.
Intended Audiences
These documents are specifically designed to address the different needs of discrete audiences within a state health agency, including:
- Executive overviews and fact sheets that are tailored to state health officers, agency directors, or other senior governmental officials.
- Fact sheets, issue briefs, state analysis guides, and resource materials to help preparedness directors and other programmatic staff and privacy officers understand and gain more in-depth knowledge about concepts and legal issues.
- Fact sheets about federal laws and regulations and the array of state laws that apply to public health information sharing; issue briefs; state analysis guides; and citations within the resource materials that legal counsel can use as a basis from which to conduct additional research and analyze their state’s authorities on these issues.
Public Health & Information Sharing Toolkit Contents
All documents are listed alphabetically within each document category
Executive Overviews
One-page snapshots of key concepts and issues
Fact Sheets
Short documents addressing fundamental issues or legal authorities
- Americans with Disabilities Act
- Public Health Legal Authorities to Collect, Use, Share, and Protect Information
Issue Briefs
In-depth information and analyses of fundamental issues
- Authorities and Limitations in Sharing Information Between Public Health Agencies and Law Enforcement
- Public Health Agencies as Employers: Obtaining and Using Employee Health Information for Preparedness Planning and Response
- Public Health Collection, Use, Sharing, and Protection of Information
State Analysis Guides
Aids to assist states in identifying and analyzing their own statutes, regulations, and policies
- Public Health and Employee Information (Word document)
- Public Health Authorities and Information Sharing (Word document)
- Public Health Information Sharing with Law Enforcement (Word document)