The Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists’ (CSTE) Electronic Health Information (EHI) Access Toolkit (herein referred to as the Toolkit) is designed to provide public health authorities (PHAs) with best practices for accessing EHI directly from HCPs and facilities’ medical record systems to utilize for public health surveillance and investigation. This Toolkit is intended to improve access to EHI, which may include data from medical records, laboratory results, treatment plans, immunization records, and other important information used by PHAs for public health surveillance, case follow-up, and outbreak investigation.

The Toolkit provides guidance, tools, and resources featuring real examples of PHA-based activities for epidemiologists and other public health professionals seeking to gain timely access to EHI to conduct effective disease monitoring and response activities in their communities. The guidance presented in this Toolkit reflects the tools identified and prepared through participation in the CSTE Electronic Health Information Workgroup, whose membership includes Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), state and local health department representatives, and CSTE staff members and consultants.