Northern Kentucky Health Department (NKY Health) is an independent health district serving more than 400,000 residents across Boone, Kenton, Campbell, and Grant counties. For most of its history, the agency had one IT person, data siloed across dozens of programs, and no infrastructure to tie any of it together.
When COVID-19 hit, it became clear NKY Health needed a better way to track fast-moving public health data, both within their own district and at the state and national level. In response, the agency stood up a dedicated data team for the first time and launched a Data Modernization Initiative to reshape how it collects, stores, and acts on the information behind every public health decision.
Promevo stepped in as a hands-on collaborator, helping NKY Health design and implement a Google BigQuery environment that unifies data across clinical services, epidemiology, environmental health, and harm reduction for the first time in the agency's history.
Industry: Public Health / Government
Organization Size: ~150 employees, serving 400,000+ residents across 4 counties
Solutions: Google Cloud, BigQuery, Looker Studio, Document AI
The Challenge
NKY Health's data landscape mirrored the struggles of most local health departments: fragmentation and siloed workflows. The agency was building a plane while flying it: standing up a brand-new data team, learning what modern data infrastructure could even look like, and trying to make decisions that wouldn't need to be undone in five years.
- Data Was Siloed Across Every Program: Every department, including clinical services, environmental health, epidemiology, and harm reduction, collected data in its own system with its own processes. A request like "How many people did we provide family planning services to?" could take a week to turn around.
- Most of the Budget Was One-Time Funding: The project was backed by a one-time allocation from the state of Kentucky. Whatever NKY Health built needed to stay affordable to maintain long-term, even if future funding disappeared.
- No In-House Capacity or Expertise: As an independent health district, NKY Health had no data warehouse, no cloud infrastructure experience, and no database programmers on staff.
- They Needed a Guide, Not Just a Contractor: The data team wasn't looking to hand over requirements and wait for a deliverable. They needed a partner willing to learn public health systems and data needs from the ground up.
"Everything that we do in public health should be data-driven. And if we don't have access to the right data, then we're not driving in the right direction."
– Philip Graham
Informatics & Surveillance Programs Manager, NKY Health
The Solution
Promevo designed and implemented a Google BigQuery environment that consolidated data across NKY Health's divisions while remaining financially sustainable under public-sector budget constraints.
- Unified Data Platform: Built a Google BigQuery environment connecting clinical services, epidemiology, environmental health, and other departments into a single accessible platform.
- REDCap Integration: Refined NKY Health's complex REDCap environment over time, turning what were major technical challenges into repeatable, automated one-day processes.
- Licensing Cost Reduction: Identified that NKY Health was paying $130/month per Tableau creator license plus additional viewer costs, despite already having access to Google Looker Studio through Workspace, and led the transition to Looker Studio.
- Document AI Pilot Revived: When a planned reportable disease form automation project was paused by a government shutdown that disrupted federal funding, Promevo worked directly with Google to secure funding and get the project back on track.
"When funding disappeared, Promevo went to Google and advocated for us. We didn't have to do anything. We just told them what we needed, and they said, 'Awesome, let's get this funded.'"
– Phil Graham
Informatics & Surveillance Programs Manager, NKY Health
The Outcome
The data warehouse is still being built out, but the impact is already tangible, and the long-term trajectory is transformative for how NKY Health's data team works.
- Data Unified for the First Time: Data from dozens of previously siloed programs is now consolidated into a single queryable system, an agency first.
- Document AI Funding Secured: Funding for a Document AI pilot project was secured through Promevo's direct advocacy with Google.
- Significant Projected Savings: Tens of thousands of dollars in annual savings identified through the Tableau-to-Looker Studio transition alone.
- A Five-Year Data Plan: Discovery findings and ongoing conversations have set a five-year data roadmap in motion.
- Staff Time Freed Up: An estimated 2–5 FTEs worth of staff time freed up through improved data access and automation, significant for a ~150-person agency.
NKY Health didn't need someone to build a database. They needed a partner willing to learn an entirely new domain, public health data, and build solutions that match how the data team actually works, not how the industry typically does it.
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At Promevo, we regularly work with incredible organizations like the Northern Kentucky Health Department to develop transformative solutions designed to scale with your business as it grows. As your trusted service partner, we support your organization with a full suite of services, including:
- Consulting, implementation, and training across the entire Google ecosystem
- Google Workspace administration through gPanel
- Chrome device deployment and management
- Google Cloud solutions tailored to your environment
- Expert guidance on the latest Google technologies
- Access to additional Google partners like CloudM, JumpCloud, and others
With our consultation, hands-on support, and service from end to end, your team moves forward with clear momentum and a cloud environment that supports your most ambitious goals.
