SRA to triage CDC health care data center

SRA International Inc. will assist the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention manage health care data under a three-year contract that has an estimated maximum value of $21 million.

The contract, which involves a series of 12 task areas, calls for SRA to provide program development, management and support to the CDC’s National Center for Public Health Informatics.

Public health informatics is the systematic application of information technology and computer sciences to public health practice, research and learning, SRA officials said. NCPHI uses public health informatics to support key public health goals and ensure that public health information is disseminated within CDC and other public health organizations as appropriate, the officials explained.

Under this contract, which will be managed by Wayne Myers, SRA’s director of Public Health Informatics, the contractor will provide NCPHI technical, program and management services across a broad range of initiatives.

The initiatives include program and performance management, enterprise architecture, information resource governance, communications and collaboration, applied research and development, and public health program development and management.

The goal is to enhance the availability of health data and the adoption of public health information standards across the public health community.

“Public health informatics — including enabling the availability of timely, quality health data — is critical to the success of a wide range of public health programs,” said SRA Chief Medical Officer Dr. Andrew Friede.

SRA International, of Fairfax, Va., ranks No. 32 on Washington Technology’s 2008 Top 100 list of the largest federal government prime contractors.