Increasing chronic disease epidemiology capacity without increasing workforce: a success story in Ohio

In many states the epidemiology capacity of specific chronic disease programs, for example, cardiovascular disease or diabetes, is limited by the skill set of a single epidemiologist who has been assigned to that program. To improve epidemiology support across categorical programs, the Division of Prevention at the Ohio Department of Health initiated a new policy early in 2003 whereby each program epidemiologist is responsible for learning to analyze data from at least two datasets as well as continuing to be the lead data person for his or her program. Now, for each critical dataset at least one epidemiologist is capable of conducting data analysis and providing support to other programs. Without the addition of new epidemiology staff, this policy has enabled the Ohio Department of Health to produce reports that better describe the burden of chronic diseases, make more informed decisions on what populations to target, and plan well-thought-out interventions.