Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

2017-2022

Background

The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), provides accurate, relevant, and timely statistical data for use in guiding actions and policies to improve the health of the American people. NCHS convenes its Board of Scientific Counselors (BSC) to make recommendations regarding its scientific and technical program goals, examines innovative methods for data collection and analysis, and assists in reviewing grant applications for research/demonstrations/training that focus on NCHS core strategies.

NCHS also serves as the Executive Secretariat for the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS), which is established to advise the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) on policies and plans to develop major national health data collection systems, based on analyses of general health issues, health care resources, the use of health care services, and health care financing issues. NCVHS facilitates interactions with federal and nonfederal organizations, conducting public hearings to obtain testimony from industry leaders and stakeholders, and gathering information necessary to make recommendations for data standards, transactions, rules, and procedures.

How We Helped

RLA provides comprehensive support to the NCVHS and the NCHS BSC. RLA Meeting Support Specialists assist with logistical matters for meetings and hearings, including securing meeting facilities, arranging travel for speakers, obtaining equipment, and arranging for broadcast of the meetings. RLA also provides transcripts, meeting minutes, report writing, editing services, and data analytics.

Work Products and Links

In 2018, an RLA writer attended an NCVHS Standards Subcommittee meeting on the implementation of the administrative simplification provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and worked with NCVHS staff to produce the associated The Thirteenth Report to Congress.

In August 2019, an RLA writer produced a report on an expert roundtable on the International Classification of Diseases, Eleventh Revision. The work of the roundtable resulted in a letter to the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

In August 2018, an RLA writer produced a report that summarized the discussions and findings of an NCVHS-convened expert roundtable on health terminologies and vocabularies.

In May 2018, RLA launched a redesigned NCVHS website to publish meeting notes and to make the information easily accessible and compliant with the Section 508 Amendment to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.