EHS-Net Information System (EHSNIS)

Overview

The Environmental Health Specialists Network Information System (EHSNIS) is an Internet application developed at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). EHSNIS currently supports the data collection activities of the National Environmental Assessment Reporting System (NEARS) and the Environmental Health Specialists Network (EHS-Net) in the area of foodborne illness outbreak prevention.

EHSNIS is also available for use by government agencies and nonprofit organizations to support their data collection needs relating to environmental health. We anticipate expanding use of EHSNIS to support improved environmental public health studies in a number of areas, namely air, food, land, waste, and water.

EHSNIS users may independently design data collection instruments to achieve their data collection and analysis objectives in those areas. However, CDC staff must review and clear each data collection instrument before its use in EHSNIS to ensure continuing compliance with security, data privacy, and other federal mandates. Organizations such as the National Environmental Health Association, East Oklahoma State University, and the Uniformed Services Environmental Health Association have used the system.

EHSNIS Use

EHS-Net participants and EHSNIS users load EHS-approved data collection instruments into EHSNIS. Responses are submitted to CDC via the Internet. EHS-Net participants and EHSNIS users can download the data into a comma-separated value file for analysis using analytic software packages (e.g., SAS, SPSS, Microsoft Excel).

EHSNIS supports two methods of data collection:

• Interview or observation—collecting data in the field;
• Internet survey—sending invitations by e-mail to a target audience, with a URL and code for EHSNIS access; EHSNIS supports anonymous and non-anonymous survey designs.

Registered EHSNIS Users

EHSNIS users may log on to the information system by selecting the following link: https://wwwn.cdc.gov/ehsnet/default.aspx

Contact Information

If you would like to use EHSNIS for your data collection activities, contact us by e-mail (ehsnis@cdc.gov) or phone (770-488-3642).