Executive Director's Corner | |  |
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House Bill Introduced: Improving DATA in Public Health Act
On July 21, 2022, Representatives Lauren Underwood (D-IL), Ami Bera (D-CA), Kathy Castor (D-FL), and Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) introduced the Improving DATA in Public Health Act. This bill gives explicit authority to the CDC to collect public health data directly from health care providers, laboratories, state and local public health departments, and other entities, as necessary. The data authority language begins on page 9 of the PDF of the bill with “Sec. 310B Improving information sharing and availability of public health data.” We are encouraging you to take a closer look at the language in the bill and have conversations with your State Health Officials about the expected impact this language could have on vital records data and the current contracts you have in place regarding data sharing with CDC and NCHS. Additionally, please share your thoughts on any legal implications with NAPHSIS, and we will work to compile feedback for CDC and Congress on the bill.
NAPA Releases Report on Death Data for SSA
After several months of delay, the National Academy for Public Administration (NAPA) has released its report to Congress on sources of and access to death data in the United States. Sources within NAPA indicate that the report has not yet been officially submitted to Congress. The reasons for this and the considerable delay (originally slated for publication in Spring 2022), remain unknown, but NAPHSIS is keeping close tabs on any response to the report – public or otherwise.
Meanwhile, SSA has not yet responded to the EDR Contract proposal we submitted on May 31, 2022. After reviewing the NAPA Report, NAPHSIS still believes it will help support elements of our proposal.
We know that SSA had the chance to edit the document before release, but NAPHSIS was not offered this opportunity. Therefore, SSA’s bias is clearly evident in the report. For instance, SSA’s poor technical performance was a key element of the VRO stakeholder interviews/surveys. Unfortunately, the report’s only description of this considerable issue is that there’s a “lack of trust” between both parties (the VROs and SSA). Despite being heavily edited by SSA, NAPA’s report did highlight some issues which will aid our negotiations:
- VROs are universally financially challenged
- VROs are ultimately responsible for the data
- VROs have little control over the timeliness
- VROs need funding for technology modernization (which SSA funded in the past – but hasn’t funded since & funding from the state is not dependable or easy to come by)
- SSA has no methodology or formula for calculating the price of the contracts
- Being a death data clearinghouse doesn’t align with SSA’s mission
Unfortunately, we have some major criticisms of the report as well:
- NAPA & NAPHSIS spent months and months collecting and analyzing VRO revenue/expenses, and only tidbits of this data made it into the final report.
- The report criticized VROS over and over again for not having a standard way to calculate the exact cost of death data after admitting that VROs don’t separate out costs for the death data flow because they can’t. Not to mention the fact that NAPHSIS and its team in 2016 DID come up with a way to calculate costs in 2016 – that SSA agreed to – and then they ignored it completely. This part, in particular, seems very unfair.
- The report never made it clear that VROs have been drastically underpaid for this contract – and instead – cite SSA’s statement that “the VRO price for data just keeps going up” several times, without indicating by how much – which has been pennies.
- The report never makes the point that VROs lose out on HALF of the total contract amount because of the time-based fee structure.
- Finally, it’s the VROs (NOT SSA) doing the majority of data quality work – which they get wrong several times in the report.
Their summary solution is for us to work together, which at first glance seems less than helpful. However, this lack of firm recommendation, one way or another, may leave the door open for a fair negotiation process. When that will begin in earnest is anyone’s guess. In the meantime, we at NAPHSIS will be looking into ways that the organization can respond to the report and perhaps highlight some key points that will further support our proposal. NAPHSIS will keep you informed either way!
-Shawna Webster, Executive Director
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EVVE User Group
Tuesday, September 13 @ 1pm ET
Email systems@naphsis.org
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VSCP Monthly Project Director's Call
Wednesday, September 14 @ 2 pm ET
Register today
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STEVE User Group
Thursday, September 15 @ 2 pm ET
Email systems@naphsis.org
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DRH STEVE Project Webinar
Monday, September 19 @ 1 pm ET
Register Today
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Field Services Interest Group
Tuesday, September 27 @ 3 pm ET
Email hq@naphsis.org
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Systems Special Interest Group
Thursday, September 29 @ 3 pm ET
Email systems@naphsis.org
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Birth Data Quality Workgroup
Thursday, October 6 @ 2pm ET
Email hq@naphsis.org
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Identity & Security Conference
April 4 & 5, 2023, Washington, DC
Register Today
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Please Welcome Steven Tang to NAPHSIS
Steven joins NAPHSIS as a Systems Developer with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of California, Irvine. He is excited to learn more about the world of vital records and eager to learn new technologies during the journey. He looks forward to developing as a professional with NAPHSIS and its members and is passionate about helping others in any way he can. Outside of work, he enjoys playing video games, talking with friends, discovering and eating delicious food, and visiting the beaches near his home in Orange County, CA. Steven is proud to join the NAPHSIS team and looks forward to meeting all of you!
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NAPHSIS Security Guide
NAPHSIS plans to begin review and revision of the NAPHSIS Security Guide in the next few months. A workgroup will be established to move this forward. Please contact us at hq@naphsis.org if you would like to be part of the workgroup.
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DRH STEVE Project Webinar, September 19 @ 1 pm, ET
Over the past three years, NAPHSIS has been working with The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Reproductive Health (DRH), to improve data collection and reporting through STEVE. Vital Records/Health Statistics offices play a key role in the collection and reporting of data to identify maternal deaths in the United States and to support the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) survey. This project has facilitated more timely data for both PRAMS and maternal mortality surveillance at the state level and within DRH.
Currently, there are 24 jurisdictions participating in the DRH-STEVE project, and we would like to include up to 12 more jurisdictions in the next few months. This webinar will allow you to learn more about the project and ask questions to help determine whether your jurisdiction would like to participate.
Monday, September 19, 2022, from 1-2pm ET Register today.
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Identity & Security Conference Rescheduled to April 4-5, 2023
Join colleagues across government sectors in Washington DC, April 4-5, 2023, for discussions on how the vital records community can work together towards the future of digital identity services. This one-of-a-kind event will bring vital records agency staff and industry leaders in identity services, fraud prevention, and technology together for mutual education, discussion, and standards development.
NAPHSIS made the strategic decision to move the Identity & Security Conference to April 2023, allowing members and key stakeholders to better budget and plan for attending.
Learn more and register today.
Stay tuned for information about the 2023 Annual Meeting by the end of September.
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Birth Data Quality Workgroup
The Birth Data Quality Workgroup (BDQW) is hosted by NAPHSIS with the coordination of NCHS and jurisdictional staff members. This workgroup now meets every other month and has a roster of over 66 jurisdictional members.
Every meeting consists of an update by NCHS on recent data releases, along with jurisdictions sharing relevant information regarding topics related to birth data quality and registration information. Examples of recent NCHS data briefs shared with the workgroup have been on maternal characteristics and infant outcomes of women born in and outside of the United States, provisional birth data for 2021, pre-pregnancy body mass index and infant outcomes by race and Hispanic origin, and updates on the birth e-Learning course and related training materials and communication outreach. Recent topics presented by jurisdictions have included how data quality checks can help with fraud detection and prevention, trends and characteristics of out-of-hospital births, making changes to birth data collection processes, infant death matching, and reporting of maternal drug use.
The next BDQW meeting is scheduled for October 6, 2022, from 2:00-3:00pm ET. If you are interested in joining this workgroup, please contact hq@naphsis.org.
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VSCP Monthly Project Director's Call
September 14 @ 2 pm ET - Register
Report: Changes in Home Births
Suicide Mortality in the United State during COVID-19
October 12 @ 2 pm ET - Register
Home Birth Panel
November 09 @ 2 pm ET - Register
December 14 @ 2 pm ET - Register
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EVVE User Group Resuming September 13
The next monthly EVVE User Group call will be Tuesday, September 13, @ 1pm, ET. Please join us with questions, suggestions, or discussion points. To join the call or provide topics for discussion, email the EVVE helpdesk, EVVE-Help-Desk@Naphsis.org.
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NAHDO Annual Conference - Putting Healthcare Data to Work
NAHDO's annual conference will include virtual sessions October 25-27, 2022 as well as several exciting pre-conference events. Topics covered include health equity and disparities, data linkage, the impacts of COVID-19 on data and data usage, national and state trends and priorities, and more. Learn more or register today
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Maternal Mortality Prevention Team Report
A new report from the Maternal Mortality Prevention Team and state-based partners is now available online. The report "Identifying Deaths During and After Pregnancy: New Approaches to a Perennial Challenge" outlines the pregnancy-associated death identification workgroup created in 2018 and describes the system improvements and major surveillance systems created as a result.
Read the report to learn more about the efforts to understand and prevent pregnancy-related deaths.
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CDC Birth E-Learning Course
This free, online course is a valuable tool to share with anyone responsible for recording or gathering birth and fetal death record information. This includes physicians, nurses, and midwives involved n labor and delivery as well as medical records staff. The course provides training on how to collect and record accurate information on births and fetal deaths as well as highlighting the importance of quality data.
Promotional materials are also available to help you promote this course with your key stakeholders.
Learn more and share this course today.
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Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) for Dads
This report is the first to adapt the PRAMS methodology to a sample of fathers, and how becoming a parent impacts men's health and wellbeing, while also contributing to the health and wellbeing of mothers and children. The important role that men play in improving reproductive health within their families is being increasingly recognized. Read the full report and article here.
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NAPHSIS Systems Updates
FHIR: NAPHSIS will reach out to jurisdictions in late August/early September to begin testing the STEVE RHIR API. If you or your jurisdiction is willing and able to participate, we welcome early volunteers!
COSY: NAPHSIS has created a code repository meant for jurisdictions to share their code and other technical artifacts that could benefit the community as a whole. Thank you to those that have already provided submissions! We welcome anyone to check out the projects. If you are interested in contributing, sign up to find out more.
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EPHT Heat Tracker
CDC has released the newest version of the Heat & Health Tracker. You can now track and download daily cases of heat-related illness. This tracker can help communities prevent heat-related deaths by informing public health decisions, determining resources and potential needs, and more.
Take a look at how vital records data is used to compile a complex tracking mechanism to help communities better prepare for and respond to extreme heat events.
This tracker was created with collaboration between the CDC Climate and Health Program and the CDC Environmental Public Health Tracking Program.
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Member Spotlight - Annual Awards
In June, at the NAPHSIS Annual Meeting, we recognized outstanding professionals, teams, and leaders in vital records and health statistics. We are featuring all award winners in our monthly newsletters. This month, take a look at the winners for the Early Career Professional, the Excellence Award - Individual and Teams, and the Partner of the Year.
View full award descriptions and criteria on the NAPHSIS website.
Early Career Professional: Jonathan Downs WA
In the year and a half since starting at the Washington Center for Health Statistics, Jon has automated the majority of their death quality checks and fixes. Prior to Jon's arrival, many data quality issues had to be caught and fixed manually; with his hard work, many are now fixed before they ever enter the final database. Additionally, Jon has automated and streamlined import and export processes for birth and death vital records, removed countless hours of tedious manual review, and improved the overall data quality significantly. The importance of his work for the Center for Health Statistics cannot be overstated.
Excellence Award Individual: Ren Marshall, ID
Ren Marshall has been with the Bureau for six years, serving as team lead replacing the 36 year old mainframe system with a modern web-based system in 2019. Most recently, Ren has served as team lead to replace an outdated financial tracking system with a modern financial and order integration system that went live in February 2022.
Excellence Award Team: Field Services Team, VA
In 2016, the Virginia Office of Vital Records was placed on a Corrective Action Plan by NCHS because their natality data quality had slipped as the priorities of reporting entities had diverged from the priorities of the Office of Vital Records, and speed was prioritized above quality. The previously eliminated Field Services team was reinstated and worked with their user community to understand the statistical data that was being collected on the birth certificate and why, as well as the importance of obtaining correct information. Next, they worked with the reporting entities to place focus on those with the highest number of data elements out of compliance with reporting standards. The Field Services Team in the Virginia Office of Vital Records has shown incredible adaptability, competency, and leadership, blazing a trail for innovation to bring success for years to come.
Excellence Award Team: Teamwork Makes the Dreamwork COVID-19 Death Certification Collaboration, MN
Soon after the COVID-19 pandemic began, much scrutiny of death records and suspicion of the accuracy of causes of death circulated through the media and the public. The Minnesota Department of Health took this reality as an opportunity to partner and collaborate in a new way with the Office of Vital Records and the Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Prevention and Control Division. These two teams worked hard to build awareness and to educate the public on COVID-19 death counts and death certification.
Partner of the Year: Prachi Mehta and Kelly Brown with the CDC/NCHS/NVSS Community of Practice
Prachi Mehta and Kelly Brown have demonstrated outstanding collaboration with jurisdictions and other partners in the Community of Practice (COP). Prachi and Kelly have significantly strengthened the vital records community nationwide by creating a space for guidance, technical assistance, and training to ensure the adoption of interoperability best practices among jurisdictions. The COP is a community of authentic collaboration amongst jurisdictions, giving participants an opportunity to pay it forward by sharing findings, lessons learned, and innovations to accelerate data modernization projects.
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Congratulations to Iowa for Receiving VRHS Accreditation
Iowa Bureau of Health Statistics received Vital Records Health Statistics Accreditation. They are the fifth vital records and health statistics unit to do so. Congratulations to the Iowa team!
To learn more about how your jurisdiction can accomplish VRHS Accreditation please email VRHSaccred@naphsis.org.
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Members Only Listserv
As a NAPHSIS member with access to the NAPHSIS Members Only site, you also have access to the Members Only listserv. By emailing members@naphsis.org you have direct access to all NAPHSIS Members and staff. Other members often use this resource to ask questions of all jurisdictions on a variety of subjects.
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Member Benefit Highlight
Did you know that each jurisdiction can have as many active members as they want? Each jurisdiction has five (5) voting members included in their annual dues, but for an extra $50 per member, additional non-voting members can be added. Keep this in mind as you think about who should be included as a member for 2023, or reach out to membership@naphsis.org to add new members today.
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