HEALTH ALERT NETWORK (HAN)

The Kentucky Health Alert Network (HAN) is the primary communication and collaboration tool for public health in Kentucky.  HAN is a secure, Internet-based system that provides the ability to instantly be in contact and work together with other government and non-government personnel playing a role in public health.  HAN provides simple tools for alerting, sharing and reviewing documentation and retrieving contact information.  The system is administered at the state level as well as at the local level by Health Department Public Health Preparedness Planner.

The innovative role based directory allows for appropriate people to be notified of a public health event without specific knowledge of who each individual is by name.  Each participant in HAN specifies the manner in which they prefer to be contacted based on the alert level.  Each participant may specify up to five methods of contact for each priority level of alert including the following: work phone, work email, home phone, cell phone, alternate phone, alternate email, alpha pager and none.  Alert priorities are High (public health emergency) Medium (public health advisory) and Low (public health information or update).  The alerts can be sent by participants to utilize profiles or work email.  The system utilizes a text-to-speech engine to alert participants via phone.  For security, the system will not read the participant the message until their personal four digit pin is entered following the standard introduction. 

Current contact data is paramount in the occurrence of a public health event.  To maintain current contact data, participants maintain their own profiles and the system requires all participants to verify their profile every 30 days.