Human Services & Public Health Epidemiologist

The Epidemiologist will support Island County Public Health and Human Services to:

• Apply health informatics principles to design, create, and improve data collection tools and methodologies, and integrate data across internal and external data systems
• Evaluate programs and services
• Conduct epidemiological analyses
• Communicate population health and service data through visualizations and reports

This full time position supports the programs of Island County Human Services, and works under the supervision of the Public Health Assessment and Healthy Communities Manager. The person in this position should have training and experience in epidemiology, program evaluation and Public Health informatics, which is the systematic application of information, computer science and technology to health practice. The Epidemiologist coordinates the acquisition and integration of data; improves surveillance infrastructures; monitors and ensures data integrity; conducts analyses; develops reports and data visualizations for internal and external audiences, interprets and presents data, and supports management and program staff in the development and implementation of evaluation plans. During the first year, the duties will have a strong emphasis on data collection and reporting systems for Human Services' behavioral health programs, and integrating data across county departments for the evaluation of service and referral systems1. HEALTH INFORMATICS: Design infrastructure, tools and methodologies for integrating data for the purpose of evaluation of county service and referral systems.

• Participate in software selection and acquisition in collaboration with IT.
• Facilitate local discussion and decision-making regarding county-level early warning system feasibility, design, and implementation.
• Advise on data sharing practices and procedures in compliance with HIPAA.
• Identify opportunities to integrate data from Island County Human Services, Public Health, Jail, Law Enforcement, Courts, and community partners as needed.
• Identify costs/benefits of informatics approaches and consult on best strategies for meeting project goals.
• Develop and deliver documentation and training materials.

2. EVALUATION: Support Human Services management and program staff in the development and implementation of program evaluation plans.
In collaboration with Human Services Staff:

• Select indicators to measure and monitor process and outcomes for programmatic activities.
• Establish data collection systems, ensuring quality and availability of data.
• Create surveillance and performance monitoring reporting systems, including the development of data visualizations and dashboards.
• Identify and develop research and evaluation questions, and apply the data to answer questions and improve program performance.

3. EPIDEMIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS: Conduct epidemiological and statistical analyses using existing local, regional, state and federal databases to support needs assessments, surveillance, and program evaluation. (Examples: Healthy Youth Survey, Housing Management Information System, Vital Records, Electronic Surveillance System for the Early Notification of Community-based Epidemics, Washington Disease Reporting System, Washington State SCOPE, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System,).

• Conduct analysis and surveillance of existing databases for assessment reports, fact sheets, web updates and other publications.
• Develop data analysis and reporting plans ensuring equitable representation and inclusion, especially those for historically underrepresented groups and groups subject to health disparities.
• Respond to ad-hoc and outbreak-related data requests by creating custom queries and reports.
• Create reporting mechanisms based on data extracted from local, regional, state, and federal databases, and establish schedule and protocol for regular reporting.
• Recommend standards for, and assist in the conduct of, data quality assurance and control. Ensure data integrity during/following installation and conversion processing
• Design and create data visualizations and dashboards for internal and external audiences. Includes working with the Island County Geographic Information Systems Coordinator, when applicable.

4. HEALTH COMMUNICATIONS AND DATA VISUALIZATION:

• Working with county staff and community partners, develop surveillance and performance reporting systems for population health data and program data, including the use of data visualization software
• Lead and/or support communication of data analysis and findings to groups included in, and affected by, the analysis. Provide appropriate and accessible written reports, presentations, and other forms of communication as needed.
• Design and create data visualizations and dashboard for internal and external audiences

5. COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE:

• Participate in agency and community work groups and coalitions to provide evaluation and health informatics expertise to help ensure data-driven and evidence-based practices. Represent Island County Public Health and Human Services on community coalitions and partnerships.
• Comply with HIPAA confidentiality requirements.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

• Knowledge of principles of Public Health and behavioral health practice. Includes practice standards, disease processes, and risk and protective factors, including those for historically underrepresented groups and groups subject to health disparities.
• Proficiency in creating and managing databases in Microsoft Access and Excel.
• Proficiency in data collection, manipulation (re-cording, transformation cross formats and structure, integration across sources), and analysis using statistical software such as STATA, SPSS, or R. Includes ability to use basic statistical techniques, identify the need for advanced statistical analysis, and design and implement an analysis plan with limited supervision.
• Experienced in data visualization. Experience in designing and building data dashboards preferred. Experience in geographic information systems preferred.
• Knowledge of professional principles for study design and data collection, data dissemination and use, the protection of human subjects and health information, and data sharing between organizations.
• Experienced in program evaluation design and implementation. Knowledge of evaluation approaches and theories, with ability to select the best evaluation method depending on the constraints and needs of the project.
• Proficient written, oral and interpersonal communication skills, with demonstrated ability to prepare and present sound data and conclusions in reports and presentations. Basic knowledge of facilitation techniques and ability to use tools for effective meetings and multidisciplinary teams.
• Ability to communicate culturally sensitive data and findings to populations affected, and establish relationships with people from different cultural and socio-political backgrounds. Ability to discern the implications of cultural context on analyses and results.
• Ability and willingness to work independently under general supervision in a self-directed manner and as part of a team. Has knowledge of negotiation and conflict resolution approaches, and can employ skills to successfully mitigate project challenges and barriers.
• Demonstrated ability to conduct projects within timeline and budget; contribute to funding proposals and grants; and respond to grant deliverables.

• Master's degree in Public Health, Health Sciences, Psychology, Health Informatics, Health Information Technology, Health Policy and/or Administration, Statistics, Evaluation, Prevention Science or closely related field. Coursework in research methods or epidemiology, statistics or biostatistics, and health information technology or management required.
• Bachelor's degree with demonstrated coursework in research methods and statistics, and four or more years of experience conducting epidemiologic, assessment or programmatic evaluation studies in Public Health or related field may be considered in lieu of Master's degree.

Island County is an Equal Opportunity Employer.Employment Type: Full Time Regular