DMI Advisory Committees Kick Off Across the Pacific

July 16, 2024 | Heidi Westermann

Public Health Infrastructure Grant (PHIG) recipients are thoughtfully engaging key partners to improve data systems as part of the Data Modernization Initiative (DMI). In 2024, DMI teams in the Republic of Palau, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), and Guam have each kicked off a DMI Advisory Committee and are demonstrating how to leverage the diverse expertise of their advisors to advance DMI assessment, planning, and implementation of modernization strategies.

Advisory Committees Matter

Engaging partners through advisory committees helps to advance data modernization efforts because it is essential to gather feedback across partner organizations and disciplines. To realize an enterprise-wide approach, a health agency needs to gather input, perspective, and data from more than one public health program. Similarly, to fund data systems that support multiple public health strategies, health agencies need to solicit requirements and restrictions across different groups.

An advisory committee structure provides a way to establish norms for collaboration so that the group can better guide, inform, connect, and deconflict issues across multiple data users. Starting in October 2023, PHIG teams in Palau, CNMI, and Guam launched DMI advisory committees based on CDC recommendations.

A Successful Committee Launch Sets the Stage for Strategic DMI Planning

Palau, CNMI, and Guam each followed best practices for engaging partners but adapted to needs unique in their jurisdictions. The ability to self-define, to be nimble, and to be responsive to jurisdiction-specific needs, has been and will be essential to successful DMI implementation.

Palau’s Collaborative Approach

The Palau Ministry of Health and Human Services PHIG team drafted its initial invitation to advisory committee members by 1) building on existing advisory groups including partners supporting the National Initiative to Address COVID-19 Health Disparities (OT21-2103), and 2) emphasizing the role of data sources and data users. This led the Palau PHIG team to focus on partners both inside and outside the Ministry who could influence national policies, wield regulatory authority, and build mutual understanding as data gatherers and consumers.

Naming several instances where data sharing was successful in the response to COVID-19, the Palau PHIG team worked together to draft what would be in and out of scope for the advisory committee before proposing these considerations during the first meeting. Items in scope included input on assessment and planning methods, feedback on a draft DMI plan, recommended strategies to advance DMI, and acting as advocates for public health data modernization efforts. Items out of scope included administering PHIG and specific funding decisions for implementing PHIG strategies.

When reflecting on the first advisory committee meeting, the Palau team noted that investing time to prepare for the meeting and building on personal relationships was key to setting the foundation for thoughtful engagement.

CNMI’s Coordinated Health Care and Public Health Efforts

The Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation (CHCC) already manages both health care and public health strategies and data in the CNMI. In preparing to launch an advisory committee to support DMI assessment and planning, the PHIG team at CHCC articulated the value of the committee to help align activities across PHIG and funding for the ELC grant program. With one laboratory supporting both the hospital and the public health needs for the islands, the CHCC PHIG team prioritized engaging hospital and lab representatives alongside staff managing public health programs. Learning from other agency-wide planning efforts, the CHCC PHIG team recognized that many staff would be taking on committee duties in addition to their day-to-day programmatic roles.

To support clear expectations and accountability, the CHCC PHIG team helped draft and solicit feedback on an advisory committee charter that emphasized expectations for attendance and preparation as well as the central objective to support alignment of DMI activities across grant programs, the hospital, and public health systems.

Guam’s Partnership-Driven Strategy

Guam’s PHIG team built the advisory committee on the foundation of partnership between two government agencies—the Department of Public Health and Social Services (DPHSS) and the Office of Technology. With leadership support from both agencies, the DMI Director conducted a series of informational interviews with staff managing key program data, starting with staff on CDC-recommended list such as vital statistics and immunization.

Building on these conversations and sanctioned by the Director of DPHSS, the Guam PHIG team formally invited staff to participate in the DMI advisory committee and began drafting a committee charter. At the initial and subsequent meetings, the committee focused on building awareness across programs and understanding common opportunities and challenges. As DMI Director Rhonda Padmore-Hill reported, the committee acknowledges that to make substantive change, they must work together in new ways and determine the best modernization approaches for Guam.

“It's great to feel their excitement around our DMI efforts. The DMI team feels motivated that we have their full support and guidance along the way. In our journey so far, we have learned from our counterparts that there is no right or wrong way to our approach. We are all structured differently and through collaboration and networking with peers we may find similarities that we can build on and learn from the mistakes that others share. I feel very confident with our strategy, and I believe that while there is a fear of the unknown and a fear of leaving the comfort of the known, there is also an understanding that, if we want to continue to make significant strides in improving the health of our communities, DMI efforts need to be embraced.”

Commitment to Communication and Simplification

Palau, CNMI, and Guam’s PHIG teams entered this work with a wealth of expertise and commitment to communicating about the multifaceted and evolving nature of DMI. To balance some of the complexity, PHIG teams should continue to seek ways to simplify the work and strengthen connections among partners. This aspect of the work does not require special degrees or highly technical knowledge. One of the best ways to demonstrate how everyone can engage in DMI is to ask partners, “what decisions you make with data? or what kinds of stories can you tell with your data?” This simple activity helps to establish different types of expertise, interest in different data systems, and to increase awareness and understanding for different data priorities.

Tips for Sustaining DMI Partnerships

All three island jurisdictions carefully considered scope for their advisory committees and independently invited committee members who will best support their DMI assessment, planning, and implementation goals. While it is too early to gauge the full impact of these groups, the jurisdiction can build on early successes and lessons learned through this initial phase.

• Tip 1: Define the committee’s scope and invite partners who can best support those objectives.
• Tip 2: Set clear expectations and consider accountability tools like team charters.
• Tip 3: Invest time in building relationships to co-create and sustain trust.

Establishing and sustaining trust among advisory committee participants is key to meaningful engagement. In Palau this involved several partners outside the Ministry of Health and Human Services whereas in CNMI, the team focused on internal alignment between health care and public health. Guam followed another model still in building on the foundational relationship between technology infrastructure and public health programs. Each advisory committee necessarily adapted its structure and scope to meet the priority needs identified by each PHIG team while still honoring CDC requirements to engage partners who can advise, support, and align for DMI priorities.