A Better Way To Kill Dragons: Parody on the Experience of Building an Integrated Information System in Missouri

The Missouri Department of Health has been developing an integrated information system for all state and local public health activities. When the project began, there were more than 60 separate information systems that supported the state and 115 local public health agencies. This parody describes the process of moving from separate data systems (implements of war) to MOHSAIC, a single information system with a common database (scroll). Considerable progress has been made in overcoming the political, financial, and technical challenges to make MOHSAIC a reality.