Introduction
National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) is a division of the United States federal agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). NCHS is under the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Its headquarters is located at University Town Center in Hyattsville, Maryland, near Washington, D.C.
The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) is responsible for improving the American public health by providing statistical information for different health events within USA. The NCHS is a unique public resource for health information. By providing health statistical information, the NCHS is devoted to improvise the policies and actions for the betterment of health of the people in USA. It’s a once complete source of information about America's health. This is beneficial to everyone who knows the use and advantage of it
History
In 1960, the National Office of Vital Statistics and the National Health Survey merged to form the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). NCHS is one of 13 principal statistical agencies in the federal government. The Center has been located in a number of organizations within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and since 1987 has been part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Collaborating with other public and private health partners, NCHS employs a variety of data collection mechanisms to obtain accurate information from multiple sources. This process provides a broad perspective to help us understand the population’s health, influences on its health, and health outcomes. We collect data from birth and death records, medical records, interview surveys, and through direct physical examinations and laboratory testing.
Features
NCHS use a variety of approaches to efficiently obtain information from the sources in collaborations with the partners. The data is collected from birth and death records, medical records, interview surveys, and through direct physical exams and laboratory testing. NCHS is a key element of national public health infrastructure, providing important surveillance information that helps identify and address critical health problems. The health statistics allows to carry out the following activities:
document the health status of the population and of important subgroups
identify disparities in health status and use of health care by race or ethnicity, socioeconomic status, region, and other population characteristics
describe our experiences with the health care system
monitor trends in health status and health care delivery
identify health problems
support biomedical and health services research
provide information for making changes in public policies and programs
evaluate the impact of health policies and programs
Tips and comments
At NCHS, information is at the core of mission. The NCHS statistics are designed to provide quick and easy access to the wide range of information and data available about the health. The official website has links to additional sources of health information and provides a way for people to ask queries electronically to obtain answers to their specific questions. However, it is advisable and also advertised by the NCHS to counter check the data once with the sites or from the centre itself because many other centers gives their data by the name of NCHS.
