Environmental Public Health Tracking

Environmental Public Health Tracking (EPHT) involves the ongoing collection, integration, and analysis of data about environmental hazards, exposure to environmental hazards, and health effects potentially related to exposure to those hazards. The goal of EPHT is to protect communities by providing federal, state, and local agencies with information they can use to plan, apply, and evaluate environmental public health actions.

Since joining the program in 2002, Missouri has collaborated with federal, state, and local partners to bring together its distributed environmental data. These efforts have provided a means to evaluate the effectiveness of environmental monitoring in the state.

New enterprise data systems, like Lead Application MOHSAIC, provide access to child and address information to assist in case management and risk activities. Providers, local public health agencies, and Medicaid managed care plans can access child health information from multiple data sources through the application’s Child Web Summary.

The use of emerging technologies like Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) has further enhanced tracking efforts. The Local Environmental Public Health Initiative has provided GIS and GPS software, equipment, and training to local public health agency staff throughout the state to improve their monitoring and response capacities.

For more information on the National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program, click here.