This Toolkit seeks to help public health departments understand: health information exchange (HIE) services, and the types of organizations providing them; how a health department might use or support such services; and how to assess whether the value of participating in HIE will be worthwhile. It also seeks to orient HIE organizations (HIOs) to the functions of health departments, and their value as customers and partners in HIE. Using This Toolkit The different elements of this Toolkit are outlined below. They can be used in the order outlined, or used independently. Wondering if you need to learn about HIE? Complete the Does My Health Department Need HIE Today? to see if this Toolkit is important for you. A PDF of the complete Toolkit can be downloaded on the Public Health & HIE Toolkit Downloads page. The PDF includes illustrations, footnotes and references not visible using the web version. Individual tools and reference materials can also be downloaded from the Downloads page. Continue to Next Page: Introduction to Public Health and HIE