/ The Basement /

Welcome to The Basement! You might have guessed that it's a storage area, but unlike most basements, this is a place that you'll probably want to visit frequently. In fact, each time you have to write an RFP for an information system, develop a job description for an IT position, or a create a project plan, you just might come here to see if somebody has a sample you can use as a starting point. While it's unlikely that you can use any of this information word-for-word, you can probably re-purpose the content in these documents to meet your needs.

We welcome any feedback on this area of the site, and especially encourage people to contribute similar documents. When submitting documents, please ensure that you have the right to post them. We also request that you include a brief description of the item you are sending. If you have an item you'd like to submit,

DISCLAIMER: These documents were provided by NAPHIT members or other individuals working in public health IT. NAPHIT nor its members guarantee the accuracy or usefulness of these documents.

Disaster Recovery Templates and Checklists
Emergency Call List Template
Continuity of Operations Plan
Disaster Recovery Application List
Hurricane Checklist

Job Descriptions for Public Health IT Positions
Business Analyst Job Description
IT Systems Project Manager Job Description

Project Management Templates and Checklists
Project Status Report Template
Project Checklist Template
Project Charter Template
New Server Checklist
Change Control Form Template
Project Statement Template
Communication Plan Template
Training Plan Template
Quality Indicator Template
Server Documentation Template
Risk Assessment Template
Technical Alternative Approach Template
Issue Log Template
Project Status Template
Small Project Template

Project Planning Documents
Health Alert Network (HAN) Statement of Work (SOW) Example
Natural Language Processing Application RFI
Natural Language Processing Application Requirements for Vendor Proof of Demonstration

Policies
Disruption of Telecommunications/Information Technology Infrastructure Announcement Policy
Help Desk Operations Policies
Change Management Policy

Security (NEW! - 6/28/06)
Sensitive Agency Information Protection Checklist

Disaster Recovery Templates and Checklists
Emergency Call List Template. An Excel spreadsheet with contact information of people critical to performing disaster recovery. These individuals may be part of your organization, but they may also be from other divisions or departments. Information includes not only phone numbers, but also who to contact in the event that you can't reach a given individual.

Continuity of Operations Plan for Disaster Recovery. A plan for keeping IT operations running when a natural or man-made disaster strikes. This plan has been developed by the Florida Department of Health as a detailed guide to help their IT department continue offering support following a hurricanes or other emergency event.

Hurricane Checklist for IT. An extensive checklist developed by the State of Florida DOH to help them in the event of a hurricane. This checklist has been applied several times, and has been refined through the department's recent experiences with multiple hurricanes.

Job Descriptions for Public Health IT Positions
Business Analyst Job Description. This document is a position description form that defines the responsibilities for a Business Analyst with the Iowa Department of Public Health. This form would be used as a basis for posting a similar job or for describing the expectations and responsibilities of somebody currently in a Business Analyst position. You could strip out the specific details about this job and use this as a basic position description template.

IT Systems Project Manager Job Description. This document is a position description form that defines the responsibilities for an IT Systems Project Manager with the Iowa Department of Public Health. This form would be used as a basis for posting a similar job or for describing the expectations and responsibilities of somebody currently in an IT Systems Project Manager position. You could strip out the specific details about this job and use this as a basic position description template.

Project Management Templates and Checklists
Project Status Report Template. A basic project status report template from Kentucky's Cabinet for Health Services. The template includes information such as a project description, key milestones met, budget review, and next steps.

Project Checklist Template. This checklist developed by Kentucky's Cabinet for Health Services helps project managers determine if they've addressed necessary steps before launching a project. Checklist items include steps such as identifying funding and developing a communications plan for the project.

New Server Checklist. The IT manager at the Public Health Informatics Institute submitted this checklist that is used to ensure that a server has been properly installed and configured. Whenever a modification is made to a server, this checklist should be reviewed, with various items addressed as needed.

Change Control Form Template. When a change to a project component or detail is requested, the state of Kentucky's Cabinet for Health Services, Technology Administration Branch requires the requestor to fill out a change control document. This document requires the requestor to justify the request, and describe any impacts on the project, both positive and negative.

Project Statement Template. At the State of Minnesota Department of Health, after a project charter has been approved, the project manager must complete a statement scope document. This document is basically a project plan, which outlines the purpose of the project, team members, responsibilities, a timeline, budgets, and many other components of a project plan.

Communication Plan Template. When the State of Minnesota Department of Health undertakes a project, the project team is responsible for providing project stakeholders with project information. This document tracks what information has been requested, who requested it, how often the information should be provided, who should provide it, and generally, how the information will be managed (media format, where and how stored, etc.).

Training Plan Template. The state of Kentucky's Cabinet for Health Services, Technology Administration Branch requires that a plan be developed whenever staff must be instructed on the use of a new technology or process. This document outlines what material must be addressed when creating a training course.

Quality Indicator Template. When testing a component of a project, the State of Minnesota requires that the component be evaluated with defined criteria. This project management template tracks the Indicator, Acceptance Criteria, and Measurement.

Server Documentation Template. The IT manager at the Public Health Informatics Institute submitted this template to help manage servers by recording detailed server information. Information required on this server documentation template includes: hardware details, software installed, networks the server is on, system configuration, disaster recovery and backup information, vendor contact info and service agreement, and after hours contact info.

Risk Assessment Template. A template used by the State of Minnesota Department of Health to assess and identify a plan to mitigate the risks associated with a project.

Technical Alternative Approach Template. When an alternative technical approach to a process or issue is suggest, the State of Minnesota Department of Health requires a thorough examination of possible alternatives before recommending one. This document serves as a template for identifying the situation where the alternative approach must be identified, outlining details associated with several alternative approaches to resolving the situation, and then a place to recommend an approach with a justification for that recommendation.

Issue Log Template. Any time an issue is brought up against a project, the State of Minnesota Department of Health requires the issue to be detailed in an issue log. This template provides a format for logging issues, allowing the submitter to describe the issue, enter a date that the issue was logged, and then track the status of the issue.

Project Status Template. A basic project status report template from the state of Minnesota Department of Health. The template includes information such as overall project progress, a project description, what's going well, costs, risks, key milestones, and issue resolution strategies.

Small Project Template. Often, a full-blown project definition and project plan are not required when the scope of a project is relatively small. The State of Minnesota Department of Health developed this streamlined, one-page project plan template to get necessary information for smaller projects.

Project Planning Documents
Health Alert Network (HAN) Statement of Work (SOW) Example. The Iowa Department of Health asked the CDC to help the state obtain a contract with a vendor to purchase, install, and implement a health alert network (HAN) system for alert notifications, auto-dial communication, and fax-blast messaging via a secure, web-based portal. This document explains why the HAN system is needed, the broad objectives it must meet, detailed business and technical requirements, a time frame for milestones and deliverables, contract specifics, a definition of contractor and Department of Health responsibilities, and expectations of Requests for Proposals.

Natural Language Processing Application RFI. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) needed to acquire natural language processing (semantic analysis) software to help in its bio-terrorism prevention and public health surveillance initiatives. Specifically, the software needed to analyze major complaints (stomach ache, coughing, fever, etc.) from Missouri hospital emergency rooms and match them to syndromes (flu-like illness, chemical agent, acute gastro-intestinal illness, etc.) that are important for public health syndromic surveillance. This document describes what requirements they have of the software, and then requests that a proof-of-concept be demonstrated. The document also includes a questionnaire designed to determine the capabilities and features of the vendor's software and licensing information.

Natural Language Processing Application Requirements for Vendor Proof of Demonstration. The state of Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) sent out a request for information (RFI) to vendors for a natural language processing (semantic analysis) solution to help in its bio-terrorism prevention and public health surveillance initiatives. The software needed to analyze major complaints (stomach ache, coughing, fever, etc.) from Missouri hospital emergency rooms and match them to syndromes (flu-like illness, chemical agent, acute gastro-intestinal illness, etc.) that are important for public health syndromic surveillance. This document was sent out to those vendors who were selected as a result of the RFI, and describes what each vendor's proof-of-concept must demonstrate.

Policies
Disruption of Telecommunications/Information Technology Infrastructure Announcement Policy. The Minnesota Department of Health has a policy for how the Information Systems and Technology Management staff should handle being notified about a change in the performance of the telecommunications/information technology infrastructure. The policy contains guidelines and procedures that staff should follow when announcing a disruption of performance.

Help Desk Operations Policies. The IT manager at the Public Health Informatics Institute submitted this policy document that outlines how employees can use their information systems help desk operations.

Change Management Policy. The Minnesota Department of Health requires its system administrators to follow a change management procedure when they make a change to an information system that will affect the department's shared networks, databases, applications, or systems. This document outlines that procedure in a policy document.

Security Policies, Procedures, and Checklists (NEW! - 6/28/06)
Checklist for Protecting Sensitive Agency Information issued by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget . This document provides guidelines to heads of US departments and agencies for protecting sensitive data. The guidelines, which were developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), discuss using data encryption, controlling remote data access through authentication and time-out functions during periods of inactivity, and procedures/policies for data storage and removal.

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