Statistical Services
The Statistical Services Unit collects, analyzes, and disseminates data on the health status and health care use of North Carolinians. Staff also measure the effects that health services and programs have on the citizens of North Carolina. The Statistical Services Unit consists of three main work teams:
Survey Operations: Operates the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) for North Carolina, two CDC-sponsored health surveys. In addition, since 2005 the Survey Operations team has administered the Child Health Assessment and Monitoring Program (CHAMP) survey which measures the health characteristics of children ages 0 to 17. The team also provides survey and data analysis support to state and local public health programs in North Carolina and assists with the design, testing, and implementation of special public health surveys.
Vital Statistics: Produces the annual vital statistics files for data analysis and reporting, provides data for the national Vital Statistics Cooperative Program, and works with the Vital Records Section on data quality improvement efforts.
Health Services Analysis: Analyzes and disseminates data related to Medicaid, Health Choice, and hospital discharges. Staff work closely with the Division of Medical Assistance and the Office of Research, Demonstrations, and Rural Health Development on issues of mutual interest to these programs and the Division of Public Health.
Services
- Answer more than 5,000 requests a year from all segments of North Carolina's population
- Maintain and link together various data sets enabling the Center to do comprehensive data analysis and health research.
- Publish a number of special research and evaluation studies and about 7 annual publications.
- Present educational and training sessions to public health professionals, university students, and other groups on data use, analysis, and interpretation.
- Provide extensive data analyses and reports for state and local public health agencies.
- Update annually the County Data Book for community health assessments.
- Carry out special analyses of the Health Services Information System (HSIS), Medicaid, Health Choice, and hospital discharge data files.