Local clinics, state health offices, and federal health partners will be linked, improving communication and information exchange among public health professionals. Florida's state and local public health departments now linked through wide area network connectivity. Florida has an infrastructure to network the computers of state agencies. This eliminates the need for specialized terminals, modems, or mainframe connections. Instead the regular workstation computer can access data systems through high-speed telecommunications lines, providing faster, cheaper, and simpler connectivity.
Internet access is also available.
The vision is for an employee to be able to reach any computer system needed through a single workstation. This seed money provided the lump sums up front that were needed to undertake connectivity on a statewide basis. Simple documentation and instructions are keys to local implementation. This document gave instructions for ordering connections, obtaining network addresses, and ordering necessary hardware and software. Currently, all but 2 CMS sites have connections and they will be connected this year.